Chamber and committees

Scottish Government is working closely with ADPs to ensure further roll-out of Alcohol Harms Groups and Alcohol Death Reviews across Scotland.

The ADP Survey highlights that in addition to the 30% of ADPs with specific Alcohol Harms Groups in place a further third report having other structures in place for informing surveillance. These include multi-agency groups working on wider public health monitoring including drug and alcohol harms and sudden death groups whose remits include both death reviews and suicide reviews.

Several ADPs have indicated that alcohol harm and death review groups are currently in development.

Scottish Government is working in partnership with Alcohol Focus Scotland to ensure that all ADPs in Scotland have agreed processes to review alcohol deaths and build on the learning of the 27% of ADPs already delivering.

The Scottish Government has no involvement in the decision making on length of residential rehabilitation programmes, it is the responsibility of professionals and clinicians to ensure appropriate guidelines are followed and appropriate training is provided to ensure consistency with these decisions.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Public Health Scotland to carry out an evaluation of the residential rehabilitation programme. On 13 February 2024 PHS published their baseline report, covering the first two years of the National Mission and a final evaluation report will be published after the National Mission ends in 2026.

Scottish Government is working closely with ADPs to ensure further roll-out of Alcohol Harms Groups and Alcohol Death Reviews across Scotland.

We are working in partnership with Alcohol Focus Scotland is ensure that all ADPs in Scotland have structures in place to carry out alcohol death reviews and build on the learning of the 27% of ADPs already delivering these.

The First Minister wrote to Friends of the Earth Scotland on 21 August and again on 25 October to set out his detailed considerations of their allegations and his conclusion that the Code had not been breached.

The application under consideration in these exchanges and as noted above was received on 18 February 2022 and that this application has yet to be determined.

Scottish Government is working in partnership with ADPs and local Health Boards to develop a nationwide model for the early detection of alcohol-related liver disease.

This work will build on learning taken from the innovative intelligent Liver Function Testing (iLFT) pilot pioneered by NHS Tayside and Scottish Government through its national Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) has formed a Specialty Delivery Group for Liver Disease.

The first meeting was held on 6 November 2024 and Early Detection is one of the pathways being prioritised.

The Scottish Government has no plans to undertake a national hedgehog census in Scotland.

Hedgehogs are protected in Scotland under the Wildlife and Countryside (Scotland) Act 1981. Alongside this legal protection, steps are being taken to halt the decline of hedgehogs in our towns and cities including the promotion of green space and green networks.

It is important to recognise that hedgehogs exist in some parts of Scotland where they are a non-native species. In those areas, such as South Uist, work is being done to manage the population through methods such as trapping and translocation.

We are committed to ensuring that people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and person-centred.

Significant additional activity is already underway following the allocation of £30 million funding to target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This includes over 40,000 extra diagnostic procedures.

Our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan has so far delivered four mobile endoscopy units across Scotland, providing 5-6 additional endoscopy rooms, and a Dyce facility to provide additional endoscopy procedures for NHS Grampian. Additionally, the national endoscopy surveillance framework, introduced in February 2022, has been implemented in all Health Boards.

We have also funded the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) with a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in IBD care which is being taken forward through the MPPPs National Gastroenterology Speciality Delivery Group (SDG). They have developed a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland which is due to be published imminently.

In addition, the Gastroenterology SDG is developing a lower gastrointestinal pathway which will provide primary care guidance about testing and diagnosis for people with IBD and Coeliac Disease in Scotland.

There is a package of national and local support available to assist schools in planning how to use their Pupil Equity Funding (PEF). Local authorities issue specific complementary guidance and headteachers can use their professional judgement to identify children in their school who may benefit from targeted interventions. Headteachers must develop a clear rationale for their use of PEF and plans must be grounded in evidence of what is known to be effective at raising attainment.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling the child-poverty related attainment gap and is already ensuring eligible pupils in Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 can receive free school meals.

Local authorities issue specific complementary guidance about how Pupil Equity Funding operates locally. This varies across Local Authorities and is designed to provide targeted support for children and young people affected by poverty to achieve their full potential. Headteachers have the flexibility to use this funding to help support children in their schools to close the poverty related attainment gap.

In light of the challenging financial context, we have been clear that our initial focus will be on expanding Free School Meals to Primary 6 and 7 pupils who are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, which will be delivered in this Parliament.