Chamber and committees

As of 1 November 2023, we have introduced significant dental payment reform with the aim of encouraging dentists to provide more NHS dentistry. Official statistics from Public Health Scotland published in February 2024 and reflecting system activity following reform show that nearly 400,000 patients were seen by an NHS primary care dentist in November. This is an early indication that the system changes have been received favourably by many NHS dentists. In addition to improving conditions for existing workforce through reform, we are also continuing to work with our counterparts across the UK and devolved governments to expedite process and bolster the number of dental practitioners working in Scotland now and into the future with a view to supporting greater availability of appointments.

The official measure of participation is the number of patients that have been seen in the last 2 years, and official statistics show that before the pandemic, participation was around 70%. Participation provides an indication of patient contacts within the system at a point in time but is not, in itself, an indicator of access noting that there may be many reasons why registered patients do not attend the dentist. We therefore use a range of data to understand the position in NHS dentistry, including regular qualitative discussion with NHS Boards to support local and national interventions to improve patient access.

The Scottish Government has provided a total of £755,626 to epilepsy charities between March 2017 and March 2024.

SEPA’s 2018 National Flood Risk Assessment set out the numbers of properties at risk of flooding now and in the future. The numbers have not changed since that assessment, which are that 284,000 properties are at risk of flooding now and by the 2080s this number is expected to increase by 110,000 through climate change.

Improving resilience to flooding is a priority for the Scottish Government and we continue to work with, and support, local authorities to fulfil their obligations to deliver flood risk management. To support flood protection measures, the Scottish Government provides £42 million each year to local authorities. In August 2020, the Programme for Government also committed an additional £150 million over 5 years to support flood risk management actions.

It is clear that climate change must become a core consideration in decision making for our places and communities if they are to achieve a level of flood resilience. We will consult on a Flood Resilience Strategy for Scotland this spring. The Strategy will initiate a transformational change to flood management to adapt our places and set Scotland on a long-term course towards a sustainable level of flood resilience.

Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where an exception to the real Living Wage requirement is approved, the relevant funder is asked to record these. Officials are in the process of commissioning this information which will be collated and published in due course. There are no exceptions to the effective voice requirement, however funders may apply flexibility to recognise the different forms of voice appropriate for different organisations.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as it is a matter for NHS Boards.

The SCTS is committed to exploring new technologies, including the potential for Artificial Intelligence, to help improve its services. During the 2024-25 financial year the SCTS will assess the potential to use AI-supported natural language processing in support of transcription services.

Transport Scotland, through its four Trunk Road Operating Companies and five Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Transport Scotland specify requirements for regular surveys and inspections to ensure that the trunk road network is safe and fit for purpose, and to provide appropriate information to support maintenance decisions. Transport Scotland commission contractors to undertake annual machine-based surveys on trunk roads using specialist vehicles to gather information on the surface integrity of the road; the friction characteristics of the surface; and the structural capacity (strength) of the underlying road construction. This is supplemented with a series of targeted inspections to obtain specific information about the road asset undertaken by Operating Companies under the term maintenance contract. The combined information is used to determine future maintenance programmes and investment requirements.

In addition Operating Companies have a contractual obligation to inspect the trunk road network at 7-day intervals. These inspections are primarily to identify defects that require prompt attention because they present, or could present, an immediate hazard to road users. The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all such defects, and the term maintenance contract sets out strict timescales for their repair.

With regard to local roads, local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic. Neither the Scottish Ministers nor the Scottish Government would become directly involved in their day-to-day duties.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure that the planning system is better equipped to deal with current and future challenges, and supports our net zero ambitions. Work is underway to deliver the commitments from the Onshore Wind Sector Deal relating to the standardisation of relevant templates, such as Environmental Impact Assessment Reports. Similarly, a Transmission Network Short Life Working Group provided recommendations to increase and develop resources to ensure planning authorities and statutory consultees are well equipped to accelerate decisions on grid applications.

Public Health Scotland published a summary of evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption and harm in Scotland and England looking at data up to around 2021. This found that, overall, alcohol consumption decreased following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, changes in drinking behaviours were polarised with some increasing their alcohol consumption and others decreasing . This was associated with drinking behaviour before the pandemic: those who increased their alcohol consumption tended to drink more before the pandemic, and those who decreased consumption tended to drink less. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol-related hospitalisations decreased, and alcohol-related deaths increased – potentially due to changing patterns of consumption and to the decrease in access to services over the pandemic.

More recent data shows that:

• For all adults, prevalence of hazardous or harmful drinking has generally decreased over time, with levels dropping from 34% in 2003 to 22% in 2022.
• In 2022/23, there were 31,206 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland, a decrease of 11% since 2021/22.
• In 2022, 1,276 people in Scotland died from alcohol-specific causes, a 2% increase from 2021 and the highest number of annual deaths recorded since 2008

It is not possible to know the extent to which these trends are attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, increases in alcohol-specific mortality since 2019 are observed across many other countries including all 4 nations of the UK, other European countries, the US and Canada. It is widely observed, including by The Office for National Statistics, that these rises are likely in part to be the result of increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health Scotland’s evaluation has found that the evidence points to minimum unit price having a positive impact on health outcomes. It is estimated to have cut alcohol consumption, alcohol-attributable deaths and likely to have reduced hospital admissions during the study period.

The resource for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care Services was published in June 2022. The resource was developed to support staff working as part of a multi disciplinary team within GP settings. The resource provides a directory of additional sources of help, which patients can access, to complement the support, assessment and treatment they receive from the team. It brings together a range of national resources and tools that support and improve mental health and wellbeing. Section 7 of the resource contains links to sources of support specifically for Perinatal and Parent Support. The resource was promoted via the Mental Health in Primary Care National Oversight Group, Mental Health in Primary Care Leads and NHS Board Mental Health Leads.

The Scottish Government recognises the document is not exhaustive and there will be a number of local resources and tools that staff will also want to use. The resource can be found at the following link the link for the resource Resources for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care Services (www.gov.scot) .

In addition to this wider work, there is also a resource dedicated to promoting third sector perinatal and infant mental health services. This resource is available to provide information to families and professionals, including in primary care, to raise awareness of over 110 local third sector services. In the last year the resource page has received 2,693 views. Inspiring Scotland have been promoting the tool on X and in their recent newsletter which reaches NHS staff as well as wider partners. The resource can be found here: Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Third Sector Service Directory - Inspiring Scotland .