Chamber and committees

We will publish a national gender-based violence framework for schools in the coming weeks. We are working closely with our key stakeholders on the Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group to ensure that the Framework supports schools in tackling gender-based violence and sexual harassment, and ensures that all children and young people in schools are protected, cared for, and their rights and needs are respected.

The following NHS Scotland Health Boards are preparing adaptation plans:

• Forth Valley
• Greater Glasgow & Clyde
• Lothian
• Orkney
• Golden Jubilee University National Hospital
• The State Hospital Board for Scotland

All other Health Boards have prepared an adaptation plan.

We have surveyed NHS Boards on their local policies regarding reimbursement of electricity costs for home dialysis. We are working with health boards to understand how best to achieve national consistency so that patients undergoing home dialysis are protected from the impact of high electricity prices, wherever they live.

In 2022 National Services Division (NSD) carried out an internal minor review specifically on the Scottish National Pain Management Programme. The Scottish Government does not hold information on its publication, this would be a matter for NSD.

The budget process is underway and we are prioritising programmes of work which have the greatest impact on the delivery of our three core missions of equality, opportunity, and community. We will set out our spending plans in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget on 19 December.

The National Digital Platform continues to undergo development, with core components that will enable individual access, such as standards-based data storage and integration, access controls and user authentication for the workforce now largely in place.

However, the Platform itself will not provide patients digital access to their medical records or the ability to book appointments, rather it will power the underlying data requirements and systems integration for digital services that are public facing. Examples of such services include the Scotland-wide national vaccine service, where patients could access their vaccine information and book appointments through systems that relied on the capabilities of the National Digital Platform. Additionally the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) digital application, which is designed, delivered and deployed on the National Digital Platform is currently live in two Boards, and being implemented in several others. The Platform is also being used to power the developing OpenEyes Ophthalmology electronic patient record and the development of a Stroke Assessment tool.

A more detailed update on the National Digital Platform, along with detail on how patient access to their medical information and how appointments will be able to be booked online, will be provided to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee in February 2024 in response to their correspondence on 05 December related to electronic patient records.

The Scottish Government welcomes the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation that the four nations should move towards implementing a targeted lung screening programme for those aged 55-74 with a history of smoking. However, the roll-out of any screening programme is a complex undertaking, and the UK NSC acknowledged in its recommendation that there remain a number of significant issues that must be worked through before a full programme of lung screening can be implemented. Scotland is a member of the four nations group established to explore some of these issues, and has also established its own targeted lung cancer screening Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG).

The SEAG’s remit is to provide the Scottish Government with advice on the scoping, implementation, establishment and delivery of a targeted lung cancer screening programme. The first stage of this work is underway and will support development of an evidence-based assessment of timescales for design and implementation.

Information on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 for 2021-22, 2022-23 and April to September 2023 is provided in the following tables. Data for the full year of 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Offences of Protection of livestock from dogs, by local authority, 2021-22 to 2022-23

The latest 2022-23 Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data, published last week, show that the proportions of pupils in primary achieving expected levels of literacy and numeracy have reached record highs for children from both the most and least deprived areas, with the poverty-related attainment gap in primary literacy decreasing to its lowest on record, and the gap in primary numeracy also narrowing from 2021-22 levels. These latest figures also show improvements at secondary level compared to 2021-22, with increases in attainment across the board and the gap between those from the most and least deprived areas narrowing.

Last week’s ACEL results build on the good progress already made this year, shown in both the 2023 Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) results and the 2023 Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations (SSAILD). The latest SQA results show the poverty-related attainment gap remains narrower than it was pre-pandemic (2019) for National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers, at grades A-C and SSAILD data shows a record low poverty-related attainment gap in positive destinations for 2021-22 school leavers 9 months after leaving school. We have also seen a record high number of students from deprived areas entering university, with 5,595 Scots getting places, up 41% since 2014-15.

A detailed breakdown of attainment and the poverty-related attainment gap can be found on the Scottish Government website - Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels: 2022/23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 5: 2023 Edition - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

All of this, as well as the ambitious stretch aims local authorities had set for 2022-23 and have now set for 2023-24 to 2025-26, gives me confidence that we are making progress; and the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme, in which we are investing £1bn this parliamentary term, is having an impact.

But while there is clear evidence of progress, there is much more to do. I recognise the need to continuously improve our Curriculum in a planned and systematic way, as recommended by the OECD. We need to do so, to ensure it remains relevant, forward looking and ultimately supports high quality teaching and learning. That is why in 2024 we will begin a regular Curriculum improvement cycle. Our programme of reform across the education and skills system will help identify where further improvements can be made and I will look to drive enhanced attainment and make further progress in closing the poverty-related attainment gap, to ensure all young people meet their full potential.

We are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan which we expect to be published early in the new year.

We will update parliament on the action plan in due course.