Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government are awaiting the outcome of the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Administration Committee (FPAC) inquiry on the cost-effectiveness and timescales of public inquiries in Scotland before making any legislative and non-legislative commitments.

The SPPA is required to issue annual benefit statements to scheme members by 31 August of each year. Where statements have not been issued by that date, it is not solely due to delays on the part of SPPA. In some cases it is not possible due to insufficient data, and statements were subsequently issued when that data became available. In the years 2023 to 2025, there was an additional requirement to issue remediable service statements to scheme members eligible for the McCloud remedy. The following tables set the available information out, and reflect numbers reported to the Pensions Regulator in each year.

Table 1: Scheme members that did not receive an annual benefit statement in 2021 and 2022, by scheme.

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency may incur costs for rectifying errors through interest payable on delayed pensions or lump sums, or through the payment of compensation for upheld complaints or appeals.

The following table records the information held for the full financial years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 and is a total costs for the four public service pension schemes administered by the Agency.

Scottish Government funding and grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will be issued through third sector intermediary organisations.

Funding allocated to the third sector is not always specifically classified as such. Consequently, the information requested is not available.

Scottish Government funding and grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will be issued through third sector intermediary organisations.

Funding allocated to the third sector is not always specifically classified as such. Consequently, the information requested is not available.

A commitment to a round-the-clock thrombectomy service was set out in our Stroke Improvement Plan and this remains our aim for the thrombectomy service in Scotland.

NHS National Services Division have been commissioned by Scottish Government to lead on the development of a national thrombectomy service and have undertaken work to establish the current position of thrombectomy services. A task and finish group has been established, to undertake an assessment of updated capacity and analysis of clinical, operational, financial and workforce challenges to inform work on increasing provision.

Included in this will be to steps to benchmark against NHS England and international models.

The requested information on how many working days have been lost in the NHS in the last five years due to staff stress and other mental health conditions is not held centrally.

Historic real terms cuts to our block grant from the UK Government have put pressure on our capital budget and the delay in the UK Government setting the Autumn budget is having a knock-on effect on our planning.

As a result of budget constraints, in December 2023, all NHS Boards were advised to pause development of all projects not already in construction.

We are currently working with all NHS Health Boards to develop a whole system NHS infrastructure plan to inform long-term investment priorities across Scotland – this includes consideration of National Treatment Centres.

Prioritising the mental wellbeing of health and care professionals, including nurses, midwives and other frontline NHS staff, is vital to help them to navigate complex challenges and continue to provide person-centred, high-quality support. The Scottish Government are supporting staff throughout the NHS through funding of over £2.5m annually to support staff wellbeing.

This funding provides our workforce with access to psychological interventions and therapies, self-service resources through the National Wellbeing Hub and the National Wellbeing Helpline delivered by NHS 24. Registered staff also have access to confidential mental health services through the Workforce Specialist Service (WSS).

Further, the national ‘Supporting Work Life Balance’ workforce policies provide staff with a range of flexible working options to help them to balance their lifestyle, to improve their mental wellbeing, whilst maintaining and promoting the best possible service to our patients and service users.

The Scottish Government actively works with stakeholders to support and enhance workforce wellbeing. In September, National Wellbeing Week, delivered by our National Wellbeing Champions Network with Scottish Government support, provided healthcare staff with valuable tools, practical insights and positive mental health benefits.

The requested information on what the total financial cost has been of staff absences related to stress, anxiety and depression in NHS Scotland since 1 January 2020 is not held centrally.