We don’t hold the data that provides the total number of all events of near-fatal overdoses across Scotland.

The need for improved data sharing has been identified as key for the improvement of near-fatal overdose follow-up pathways. Through the Directors of Public Health National Drug Deaths Incident Management Team (NDDIMT), the need for improved data sharing is being taken forward as matter of priority in relation to MAT standard 3 - that all people at high risk of drug related harm are proactively identified and offered support to access treatment or care and support.

I am actively pursuing options for clarifying the position on information-sharing and discussions are ongoing with the Data Protection Officer around potential action they can take to assist with the sharing of essential information.

£10.3million a year has been made available to ADPs for the implementation of the 10 MAT Standards. This is the specific funding for MAT implementation, and is in addition to the general funding for specific MAT-related activities such as outreach and near-fatal overdose pathways.

The guidance on the pharmacological and psychological management of benzodiazepine dependency published by the Drug deaths Taskforce has now been endorsed as the most up-to-date guidance available and will be updated following further research currently being undertaken and following engagement with prescribers.

Transport Scotland conducts machine-based based surveys using specialist vehicles each year to gather information on the surface integrity of the road; the friction characteristics of the surface; and the structural capacity (strength) of the underling road construction. This is similar in nature to the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey conducted by Scottish Local Authorities and it provides an annual snapshot of the road condition across the network. This is supplemented with a series of targeted inspections completed under the term maintenance contract to obtain specific information about the road asset. The combined information is used to determine maintenance programmes and investment requirements.

Network Rail advise that the list of 18 high priority stations to have tactile paving installed is as follows:

The Scottish Government has drawn upon a range of evidence and analysis, including the The Carbon Capture Crux: Lessons Learned report, during the development of the draft version of the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

The UK Government’s decision to not award the Scottish Cluster Track-1 status in their CCUS cluster sequencing process has generated significant uncertainty on the timely deployment of CCUS in Scotland and, therefore, our ability to achieve our emissions reduction targets and economic ambitions as part of a just transition.

Delays in the deployment of CCUS infrastructure in Scotland will require contingency planning (Plan B) to identify the additional emissions reduction effort that may be needed from other sectors to meet Scotland’s net zero commitments. This will be explored in the 2023 Climate Change Plan.

The Low Carbon Transport Loan, launched in 2011, provides interest free loans to help households and businesses purchase electric vehicles. Since its launch, the scheme has invested over £176 million, helped purchase 6,148 low emission vehicles, and saved over 113,000 tonnes of CO2. The LCTL has several distinct streams, including the domestic, business and taxi loan streams.

The Energy Saving Trust deliver the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of the Scottish Government. The target for processing submitted claims containing all requisite information is within 10 working days.

The following table shows the percentage of payments made to businesses within 10 working days of all the necessary information being submitted by the applicant. Despite the challenges posed by COVID, for the vast majority of cases falling outside of the target, payments have only been delayed by 1 or 2 days.

Public Health Scotland is working with partners to develop and publish data on the prevalence rate for problematic drug use in Scotland. The next publication will include an estimate of the number of people with problematic opioid use during 2018-19 and this will be published by the end of 2023.

The most recent figures on the prevalence rate for problematic drug use in Scotland were published in 2018 and covered 2015-16.

The financial costs of implementing standards in each local area are being assessed locally as plans are developed and implemented and so the Scottish Government has not centrally modelled the financial costs of implementing Medication Assisted Treatment standards.

Official Statistics on Adult Disability Payment were published on 13 December 2022 and provided information on processing times up to 31 October 2022. This publication is available from: https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance.

Information on average processing time and the profile of processing times is available in Table 9 of the accompanying Excel tables.