Chamber and committees

Current Public Health Campaigns targeting rural communities:

1. Right Care Right Place (increasing awareness of, and encouraging the public to use, appropriate health services).

• Purchased media space for this campaign includes community radio running in a number of rural locations that network radio does not reach, including Argyll FM, Caithness FM, Radio Skye, Radio Wester Ross, Radio Nevis (Fort William) and Shetlands (SIBC). Network radio advertising space has also been purchased for this campaign to ensure reach of the public Scotland wide.
• Campaign paid-for media also includes a print content partnership in a press pack which includes local publications such as Ellon Times, Buchan Observer, East Fife Mail, Berwickshire Advertiser and Ayrshire Post.

The Scottish Government has a centrally-managed contract with Office Papers to supply newspapers on an ad-hoc rather than subscription basis. Costs are recharged to requesting cost centres. The contract allows for newspapers to be bought according to requirement, and cancelled when not required, for example during Parliamentary recesses. Details of purchases made under the contract in the last five financial years are in the following table.

Purchases in Financial Year 2020-21 were made by the Directorate for Learning, Directorate for Economic Development, Directorate for Legal Services, Directorate for Commercial and Procurement, Directorate for Communications and Ministerial Support and the Directorate for Fair Work.

Purchases for 2021-22 were made by the Directorate for Learning, Directorate for Communications and Ministerial Support and the Directorate for Commercial and Procurement.

All purchases in Financial Years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 were made by the Directorate for Communications and Ministerial Support.

Some units may be subscribing to newspapers using their delegated budgets. This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government draft budget 2025-26 has been informed by planning forecasts provided by the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG). Clinicians and third sector organisations, as well as NHS planning colleagues, are represented on the TAG and the information provided by them helps to inform decisions taken by the National Thrombectomy Programme Board.

Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.

Everyone has the right to be, and feel, safe in their community. Passengers and staff must feel safe when travelling or working on our public transport networks, including bus stations. We have established an Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour in November 2023. The Group reported its findings and recommendations in late December and the report will be published shortly.

Bus stations are owned and operated by local authorities, bus operators or local transport authorities. The Scottish Government has no locus to intervene on decisions relating to the management of bus stations.

Local authorities, in conjunction with Police Scotland, lead on preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour within the geographical areas they cover. Those working on the ground are best placed to understand the issues that local communities are facing, and work with them to resolve these issues.

Transport Scotland is working closely with the Confederation for Passenger Transport (Scotland) to make progress on the issue of antisocial behaviour on the bus network, including sharing of best practice between operators, developing options for on the ground support to bus operators and work to develop a process for temporary suspension or withdrawal of concessionary travel entitlement.

The Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy, launched on 31 October 2023, is for NHS Scotland. There are 22 NHS Scotland Boards, who have all adopted this policy (each being separate employers). There are 124,032.8 whole time equivalent (WTE) female staff working across NHS Scotland and women represent 77.1% of the NHS Scotland workforce as of September 2024.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities to deliver infrastructure and behaviour change projects that deliver on modal shift outcomes and a range of benefits for physical and mental wellbeing.

In 2024-25, £35 million has been allocated for the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) Tier 1 funding. This investment, delivered by block grant, gives local authorities the autonomy to support the design, development, and delivery of active travel infrastructure measures across all 32 Local Authorities in Scotland, including in rural locations. £10 million has been allocated for ATIF Tier 2 fund for construction ready projects delivered by Local Authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships.

Also in 2024-25, £46.7 million of funding has been allocated for the Sustrans Places for Everyone programme, delivering high quality infrastructure across Scotland, and £15.85 million for the continued development of the National Cycle Network in both rural and urban areas.

In terms of support provided to local authorities for behaviour change measures that improve the uptake of walking, wheeling, and cycling, £4.5 million has been allocated to the Local Authority Direct Award (LADA) in 2024-25, and £1.7 million for the Bikeability programme.

The Regional Transport Partnership-led People and Place programme is £19m for 2024-25 is designed to build on the partnership working of RTPs and local authorities to work together and identify key priorities for improving the opportunities for more people to make more of their everyday journeys by walking, wheeling or cycling.

The efforts of these programmes and infrastructure delivery will lead to positive health outcomes through increasing the number of people choosing walking, cycling and wheeling in Scotland for everyday journeys. This is why active travel is a key Strategic Delivery Outcome in the Physical Activity for Health Framework published on 4 October 2024. The outcome aims to see multiple sectors working collaboratively on action that prioritises active travel infrastructure and supports and encourages active travel behaviour.

My officials continue to engage with local authorities, Public Health Scotland and Active Scotland to identify synergies and opportunities to strengthen the links between active and sustainable interventons and health outcomes.

A key way in which Scottish Government is looking to expand home healthcare services in rural areas is through the expansion of Hospital at Home.

Hospital at Home is a short-term, targeted intervention that provides a level of acute hospital care in an individual’s own home that is equivalent to that provided within a hospital.

There is strong clinical evidence for Hospital at Home, which has improved patient outcomes such as being able to manage their own care, being more independent and being able to keep their care package whilst receiving care. The service also reduces admissions to nursing homes and reduces the likelihood that patients will be living in residential care in the months after being in hospital.

All hospital at home services capture patient feedback via Care Opinion (www.careopinion.org.uk) as well as locally developed feedback forms. That information is used to understand the impact of their service and inform improvement.

Every Health Board in Scotland operates a Hospital at Home service for adults, including some of the most remote and rural areas of the country. Between April 2023 and March 2024 Hospital at Home Older People’s services treated 14479 patients. Specifically, services in Western Isles treated 383 patients and Oban treated 91.

Further expansion of the service was set out in the 2025-26 draft budget statement where set out plans to expand the number of Hospital at Home beds to at least 2,000 by December 2026.

Further to question S6W-33178 please see the following table which provides the number of street lamps replaced or upgraded on the A90 trunk road by year.

From 1 April 2025, all ScotRail fares will increase by 3.8%, including season tickets and flexipasses.

We want more people to choose to travel by public transport for work, study and leisure but we know that people are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures and don’t always see public transport as affordable or attractive. That is why we have kept the rise this year as low as possible, while also supporting the generation of sufficient revenue to help maintain existing services, and contribute towards investment in infrastructure and fleets.

We are also continuing our 20% discounts on season tickets until September 2025 as planned.

Flexipass will also continue to offer 12 single (6 return) journeys and has recently been expanded to include the following stations: Exhibition Centre (Glasgow), Anderston, Motherwell, High Street (Glasgow), Charing Cross (Glasgow), Perth, Stirling, and Bathgate.

Prevention of theft is a matter for Network Rail and railway operators working in collaboration with the British Transport Police. The Member may wish to note that safety and security of the rail network is a reserved matter under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. Scottish Government officials liaise with Network Rail and British Transport Police to ensure that they are working to minimise the impact of theft on passengers and freight users.