The Scottish Government are funding a total of £1.5 million to Winning Scotland for Planet Youth. This is £750,000 per year in financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Every life lost to alcohol is a tragedy and the recent alcohol specific deaths statistics, published by the National Records of Scotland, is a stark reminder of the challenge we face in tackling alcohol harm across Scotland.

The Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to deliver independent evaluation of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP). That evaluation estimated that MUP had reduced alcohol specific deaths by 13.4%, compared to what would have been the case if MUP wasn’t in place. A letter published in the Lancet authored by a number of internationally renowned public health experts stated that, “policy makers can be confident that there are several hundred people with low income in Scotland who would have died as a result of alcohol, who are alive today as a result of minimum unit pricing.”

The Scottish Government is continuing to develop work on the range of options to consider the uprating of minimum unit pricing in future. As part of that activity the Scottish Government will consider the appropriate way to continue to review the effects and impacts of MUP. Appropriate stakeholder engagement will be undertaken with industry, business and public health stakeholders in advance of any decisions on uprating being taken.

The Scottish Government is committed to expanding the thrombectomy service, and to ensuring that access to this treatment is as equitable as possible. We recognise, however that achieving an equitable service access across diverse geographical areas is challenging. That is why the Scottish Government has asked the National Thrombectomy Planning Board (NTPB) to plan a phased approach to service expansion, to ensure that all plans and decisions consider the access requirements of patients, and reflect the appropriate workforce, infrastructure and resourcing required across Scotland.

There have been no occasions where there have been insufficient staff to operate the convoy.

The Scottish Government Review of Purpose Built Student Accommodation recommended convening a national roundtable discussion which included representation from all those involved with the provision of purpose-built student accommodation, including developers and the investment community. The first roundtable discussion, chaired by myself, took place on 23 August. A further meeting will be convened later this year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30105 on 7 October 2024 for what initiatives the Scottish Government is currently pursuing to protect capercaillie. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government has not conducted any formal assessment of the impact of the initiatives to protect capercaillie. However, a review commissioned by NatureScot, A Review of Capercaillie Conservation and Management - Report to the Scientific Advisory Committee, was published on 25 February 2022. The Report is the output of a sub-group of NatureScot’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) who were asked to review the evidence and advise on further measures for the conservation and management of capercaillie in Scotland, with emphasis on the core area of the species in the Cairngorms.

The plan of positive management measures based on the SAC Report recommendations, along with best available evidence and learning from work recently delivered to benefit capercaillie, including through the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project and Cairngorms Connect, is being taken forward through the Capercaillie Emergency Plan which was published on the 30 September 2024.

Through the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, NatureScot can enter into Management Agreements to compensate land owners for stopping or not adopting management practices which would damage nature on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Positive Management Agreements can also be agreed to support specialist management for nature which is not available through agri-environment or forestry support mechanisms. The amounts provided each year since 2020-21 are:

The Scottish Government accepted, in principle, the recommendations set out by the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland and are fully committed to seeing improvement in Audiology services.

Audiology is now being considered as a clinical priority area, and work is being progressed through the National Planning and Delivery Board arrangements led by the Chief Operating Officer – NHS Scotland.

In order to support with long waits, our NHS Recovery Plan sets out our plans for health and social care over the course of this parliament. The plan will support an increase in inpatient, day case, and outpatient activity to address the backlogs of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.

The practice level workforce survey was administered on behalf of The Scottish Government by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). A closing date of 31 July was set for responses. Analysis of the data is ongoing and while no specific date has been set NES are working towards a publication date towards the end of October.

The minimum number of road workers that are required to be onsite at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is 5 and 6 at the Old Military Road.