Chamber and committees

2014-15 funding allocations for alcohol and drug partnership (ADPs) have not yet been issued. However, indicative allocations for 2014-15 were shared with ADPs in their 2013-14 funding allocation letters issued in May 2013, and this information is provided in the following table.

Information about the percentage of the overall budget for ADPs that has been allocated for each ADP area for 2014-15 is not held centrally.

Under the national delivery framework for ADPs, NHS boards as well as being members of local partnerships have an additional role in receiving and accounting for Scottish Government funding for alcohol and drug prevention, treatment and support services on behalf of their local partners. These allocations represent the minimum amount that an ADP(s) will spend on these issues. All partners are free to supplement funds from their main budgets in order to meet the needs of the local population.

In NHS board areas where there is more than one ADP, the NHS board should agree with the partnerships how the funding should be distributed between ADPs within the board area:

Potential support for footpaths is proposed under the next Scotland Rural Development Programme, but final decisions have yet to be made. Scottish Ministers will carefully consider all feedback received from the latest consultation which closed on 28 February 2014, before our proposals are finalised.

The Scottish Government also provides support through one-off projects funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland, the two National Park Authorities and through the Sustrans’ Community Links programme. Furthermore, a number of ad hoc walk/cycle path projects to construct new path networks have been funded by contributions from the Scottish Government’s Sustainable Action Fund – Indeed I had the pleasure of opening one such project at the Tweed Valley Railway Path near Peebles in August 2013.

National annual statistics for NHS Complaints are published by the Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland. The 2012-13 statistics were published on 24 September 2013 and are available at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Quality-indicators/Publications/index.asp#1143.

This publication includes a specific table that sets out the NHS 24 complaints, by issue, since 2003-04.

The civil service are the primary source of health and wellbeing policy advice provided to Scottish Ministers. The costs of the Scottish Administration are published in the Scottish Government’s accounts.

The Scottish Government has established two working groups to support partnerships in bringing together a workforce for integration. The first, the Workforce Development Strategic Group is looking at the culture, behaviour and language of the workforce and the second, the HR Working Group, is looking at the technical complexities of bringing a workforce together.

As part of the Local Delivery Plan (LDP) process NHS 24 agree with the Scottish Government the annual performance levels they are expected to deliver. The 2013-14 LDP can be found at:

http://www.nhs24.com/AboutUs/NHS24Board/Local-Delivery-Plan

NHS boards are accountable for their performance to patients and the public, and to Scottish Ministers, and each year undertake a public annual review and publish an annual report. Information related to this, including the NHS 24 self-assessment document and the follow-up letter from the annual review can be found at:

http://www.nhs24.com/AboutUs/NHS24Board/AnnualReview

http://www.nhs24.com/AboutUs/NHS24Board/AnnualReport

This information demonstrates that NHS 24 have consistently achieved or exceeded almost all of their performance targets over recent years.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government values the independent advice of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Pay Review Body. We will take a view at the appropriate time as to whether to continue to access advice from the current body, or whether a Scottish specific body would best serve the needs of Scotland.

This is an operational matter for NHS 24, but they advise that no IT systems have been shelved.

I meet with the chairs of all NHS boards on a monthly basis, this includes the chair of NHS 24, and Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with the NHS 24 senior management team about a range of matters.

Specific information about ministerial meetings and engagements is published periodically and can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements