Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office supports open competitive grant and fellowship schemes for applied health research in Scotland across a wide remit that is inclusive of consideration of applications for research relating to prostate cancer. Applications submitted to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees. While projects on prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment have been awarded funding in the course of these schemes, in the period from 2019 to date, no funding awards have been made for research specifically relating to prostate cancer screening test development.

Information presented in the annual and bi-annual Homelessness in Scotland publications is based on quarterly homelessness applications and temporary accommodation data provided to the Scottish Government by local authorities.

There are rigorous quality assurance processes in place for the data provided by local authorities. Validation checks are in place with summary reports prepared for checking by local authorities. Scottish Government statisticians undertake further in-depth quality assurance on the data and follows up with local authorities to confirm or correct data as necessary prior to publication. This has included enhanced quality assurance on the reporting of breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO), following on from reporting inconsistencies and inaccuracies that were uncovered due to COVID-19 exceptions that were put in place, and the extension of the UAO (to all households) over the same period.

Where specific data issues are brought to the attention of Scottish Government, these are investigated and followed up on with local authorities as necessary. Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities to ensure the data provided is as accurate as possible for future publications.

Further information on the quality assurance of homelessness data collections is available on the homelessness statistics webpages.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults is distributed in all 32 regions of Scotland by Third Sector Interface (TSI) organisations who allocate funding in line with the National Fund Guidance.

TSIs are required to submit monitoring and reporting data annually, including information on the number and value of awards granted, types of organisations funded, key priorities and target groups reached, aims of funded projects and overall spend including any underspend.

This data informs the content of the Reporting and Monitoring Summary which is published for each year of the Fund.

The published reports can be found here. Wellbeing and prevention - Mental health - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

From Year 2 of the Fund (2022-23) Scottish Government has also requested that TSIs collect standard evaluation data from organisations to demonstrate the impact of the Fund on their specific projects. This includes information on: what the project expected to do compared to what they did; the activities and level of participants; and the outcomes and challenges/changes of the project.

An external evaluation of Year 1 of the Fund was commissioned by the Scottish Government. The findings were published in July 2023 and can be found here:

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The £15 million per annum funding for Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services is provided by grants from the Scottish Government to all 32 local authorities. The funding allocations are calculated and distributed based on the number of children and young people in each local authority area, with appropriate adjustments made to take account of the deprivation level and rurality of each area.

Local authorities administer the funding at a local level and determine which supports and services to implement on the basis of locally-identified need and in line with the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services Framework.

Local authorities are required to provide the Scottish Government with annual profiles of expenditure and statements of compliance at the end of the financial year, and must keep the Scottish Government informed of any changes to estimated expenditure each year.

Local authorities also report annually on data including numbers of people accessing support, age and gender of service users, reasons for presenting at the services, and numbers of people reporting an improved outcome. Summaries of this information are published retrospectively by the Scottish Government at https://www.gov.scot/publications/access-to-counsellors-in-secondary-schools-and-children-and-young-peoples-community-mental-health-services-summary-reports/.

The decision to enhance public authorities' inclusive communication through guidance, tools, and training was communicated in a letter by myself, issued to stakeholders on 14 August 2024. Officials are now undertaking a scoping exercise and gap analysis endeavouring to work with partners in this and will continue to communicate updates on this work as it progresses.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Practices must apply to their Health Boards to close their lists and agree the conditions and timelines for reopening them.

Circumstances will arise where GP practices experience capacity issues and are unable to routinely accept new patients onto their lists. We expect Health Boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to help manage these situations and ensure that all patients have access to GP services.

The accounts are published and available for download on the Scottish Government website for the financial years 2015-16 to 2023-24:

2023-24 (page 89) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2024/

2022-23 (page 109) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2023/

2021-22 (page 100) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2022/

2020-21 (page 95) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2021/

2019-20 (page 63) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2019-2020/

2018-19 (page 55) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2019/

2017-18 (page 44) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2018/

2016-17 (page 41) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2017/

2015-16 (page 46) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2015-16/

The accounts prior to 2015-16 are not published online, with information back to 2004-05 held within Scottish Government electronic records. Years prior to 2004-05 are not held.

Tables showing staff numbers by portfolio, in line with the published accounts, for the years 2004-05 to 2014-15 have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 65408).

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-03714 on 12 September 2024. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website Meeting of the Parliament: 12/09/2024 | Scottish Parliament Website.

The Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland series now includes attendance on an annual basis. Headline statistics on school attendance for the 2023-24 school year will be published in December 2024. Detailed statistics on school attendance, including a measure of pupils with an absence rate of 50% or more, will be published in March 2025.

If passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will prohibit certain sales of over 1,000 hectares, until Ministers can consider the impact on the local community. Ministerial consideration of a lotting decision and what factors may be expected to make a community more sustainable will be based on the individual circumstances of the landholding and the particular communities in question.

While this assessment will depend on these individual factors, it is anticipated that the assessment of potential contributions to the sustainability of communities would include having regard to high level objectives such as economic development, repopulation, maintenance of populations, regeneration, public health, social wellbeing and environmental wellbeing.

Further information can also be found in my letter to the Convener of Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee: cabsecralriproviding-further-information-following-informal-briefing-on-the-land-reform-bill-14-may.pdf (parliament.scot)