Chamber and committees

The information requested on how many NHS Scotland staff are currently employed in primarily equality and diversity-focused roles, and how much of the NHS budget has been allocated towards employing equality and diversity staff in each year since 2020 is not centrally available.

The information requested is not held centrally and is a matter for Public Health Scotland.

The Scottish Government regularly reviews its plans for public awareness campaigns and raising awareness of conditions such as thrombosis. We do not intend to run a public awareness campaign for deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, venous thromboembolism, and thrombosis at this time.

NHSinform.scot provides clear and accessible information on thrombosis related conditions, including, symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and prevention.

In February 2021, we published the refresh of our Diabetes Improvement Plan (DIP), which sets out our aims and priorities to deliver safe, effective and person-centred healthcare, treatment and support for people living with diabetes. Implementation of the Plan is governed by the Scottish Diabetes Group and a number of project groups.  

The Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG) and Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) meet regularly to discuss concerns and share good practice. The Chair of the SDG also hosts an advisory group to discuss issues relating to endocrinology services. NHS Ayrshire & Arran have representation on these national meetings and we will continue to support the diabetes teams to improve their services.  

Wider support for service improvements comes from the NHS Recovery Plan, published in August 2021. This Plan is backed by over £1 billion of funding and will support an increase in both inpatient and outpatient activity to ensure adequate provision of services and tackle backlogs in care from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Scottish Government has spent £37,698 including VAT on administration costs for the Home Energy Efficiency Equity Loan pilot over the current contractual period of 2019 – 2023. The reduction in costs for 2022-2023 reflects the end of the pilot in March 2022 resulting in the closure of the scheme to new applicants.

A Call for Evidence in August 2021 sought feedback on the pilot. The pilot’s findings will inform the Green Heat Finance Taskforce’s deliberations on future finance mechanisms to support the greening of Scotland’s buildings.

Scottish Government officials met with representatives from Scottish Power Renewables on 15 February 2023 to discuss the use of diesel generators at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.

The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter entirely reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.

The Scottish Government has spent £292,985 (inc vat) on administering the SME Loan and Grant Scheme over the period 2019-20 – 2022-23 as set out in the following table. This scheme has provided significant financial support to SMEs in Scotland to decarbonise, improve their energy efficiency, cut energy bills and become more economically competitive over the Scheme’s lifespan.

The Scottish Government does not hold complete information on the expenditure of public money on town centre regeneration in local areas. Local authorities are responsible for delivering local economic development and local regeneration in their areas and public money from the wider public sector will contribute to regeneration of town centres.

While noting that many wider public sector budgets and funds contribute to town centre regeneration, the Scottish Government has provided targeted funding to support regeneration, including in town centres. This includes support available through the:

• Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which includes the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
• Town Centre Fund (TCF).
• Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP); and
• Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF).
  

Allocations to North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk from these funds are in the following tables:

Note: The above RCGF figures include investment awarded to support regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The VDLIP was launched in 2021. The table above includes projects that were awarded funding for regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The above table shows the full allocation of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for each local authority. Each local authority is responsible for developing proposals based on its local regeneration priorities and funding may have been allocated across the local authority.

The Scottish Government, as Sponsor, works closely with ILF Scotland on financial monitoring to ensure that funds are available to meet operational requirements whilst not being provided in advance of need or building up large reserves balances. This is consistent with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. In the current financial year, the Scottish Government has provided £47.72 million to ILF Scotland which covers the funding requirement for 2022-23. Financial reserves, held by ILF Scotland that are in excess of minimum requirements, have been used in addition to funds made available by the Scottish Government to meet operational demands.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, are at the discretion of each individual local authority. Local authorities' approaches to school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, should be compassionate, proportionate, and seek to minimise as far as possible the stigmatisation of children, young people, and their families.