Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is currently working on a National Treatment Specification for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Scotland.

This document will be informed by numerous sources including the forthcoming UK Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment and the recently published Public Health Scotland review into Alcohol Brief Interventions as well as key independent reports such as Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) report, Exploring the delivery of alcohol-related health advice in dental practice settings: A scoping review.

Officials will work closely with colleagues within Primary Care including the team of the Chief Dental Officer to ensure that the National Treatment Specification fully reflects the importance of dentistry as an integral part of Scotland’s alcohol treatment provision.

The Scottish Government is currently working on a National Treatment Specification for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Scotland.

This document will be informed by numerous sources including the forthcoming UK Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment and the recently published Public Health Scotland review into Alcohol Brief Interventions as well as key independent reports such as Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) report, Exploring the delivery of alcohol-related health advice in dental practice settings: A scoping review.

Officials will work closely with colleagues within Primary Care including the team of the Chief Dental Officer to ensure that the National Treatment Specification fully reflects the importance of dentistry as an integral part of Scotland’s alcohol treatment provision.

The Scottish Government recognises the gradual reduction of alcohol-related hospital admissions over the past decade and is working closely with Public Health Scotland, local services and other stakeholders to ensure the reasons behind the gradual reduction are factored in to service provision.

Scotland’s first Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDSs) – established within existing NHS infrastructure – are operational in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway NHS Fife, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Borders.

Our Programme for Government has committed to establishing a further Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Service in NHS Forth Valley, bringing our national total to six. It is expected the RCDS in NHS Forth Valley will start accepting referrals by Spring 2025.

The transitional arrangements in the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 mean the fit and proper person test under the draft Regulations will automatically apply to all relevant activities without SEPA needing to take any action.

SEPA will include fit and proper person checks of existing authorisation holders as part of its targeted monitoring and inspection programme and where relevant in investigating environmental events and complaints. Where authorisations are varied SEPA must be satisfied that the person is a fit and proper person taking account of the changes being proposed to the authorisation.

SEPA has been preparing for implementation of the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 for several years, investing in new systems, people, processes and support mechanisms to ensure a smooth transition to the integrated authorisation framework.

Since 2021, SEPA has developed and launched on-line services for waste carrier registrations, existing private sewage treatment systems, simple waste exemptions, and radioactive substance notification. In July 2024, SEPA launched a new digital service for those who want to apply for an authorisation for a new small-scale sewage treatment system.

When the draft Regulations come into force, SEPA will have a system that will allow all new applications to be received, paid for and issued digitally. To ensure that this system will be ready, SEPA has been developing and testing prototypes of the systems and webpages that easily direct customers and stakeholders to the information they need and takes them through the application process.

The 2024-25 Budget increased funding for SEPA by 7.3% recognising the pivotal role it plays to protect and maintain a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for the people of Scotland. The draft budget for 2025-26 includes a budget increase for SEPA of 5% compared to 2024-25 budget bill allocations.

Implementing the integrated authorisation framework is identified as a high priority in SEPA’s 2024-27 Corporate Plan. Thereafter in each year, SEPA’s annual operating plan sets out how it will deliver these priorities, alongside meeting its statutory obligations, and what resources will be allocated.

Our most recent Detect Cancer Earlier campaign – Be The Early Bird – first launched on March 2023, aiming to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early. Following successful independent evaluation, the campaign re-ran in September 2023 and August 2024 to prompt health-seeking behaviour.

In parallel, a Detect Cancer Earlier roadshow visited communities across Scotland in March and September 2024 to reinforce key messages, with further activity planned for March 2025.

We continue to work with NHS Scotland to ensure that the NHS Inform website provides cancer information that best meets patient needs, including symptoms and treatments.

Work is ongoing with third sector organisations to support them in any awareness raising efforts within schools, including the provision of Be The Early Bird resources that may be helpful.

As SEPA are directly responsible for its day-to-day operations, I have asked Nicole Paterson, Chief Executive of SEPA to respond. Her response is as follows:

During normal working hours the customer hub will handle any queries it receives in relation to SEPA’s role and operation which will be directed as appropriate. This includes any queries received in relation to activities controlled through the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025. During out of hours periods, the customer hub service continues to provide an immediate response to emergency calls. Any non-urgent calls not requiring escalation, e.g. not related to an urgent environmental event, are triaged and responded to during standard working hours.

The Land Reform Bill will support community ownership through advance notice of certain sales from large landholdings. Communities may then be able to purchase this land, including through existing community rights to buy powers, where a community body may not have expected that the land would be sold.

On sustainable land use practices, Part 2 of the Bill provides for a new land management tenancy to enable people and communities to undertake a range of land management activities; helping to deliver net zero, biodiversity and sustainable and regenerative agricultural ambitions.