The Women’s Health Champion, Professor Anna Glasier, has highlighted the impact of polycystic ovarian syndrome and its effect on women as one of her priorities.

Given the impact PCOS can have on women’s lives, and in particular the way in which symptoms such as these can affect relationships, work, education and mental health, we have ensured that our Women’s Health Platform on NHS Inform provides accurate and comprehensive information about PCOS including the options for care, treatment and support.

The Platform also offers a wide range of information to support people with their mental health including a self-help guide focussed on menstrual health and mental health.

Neonatal clinical outcomes data is gathered from neonatal units in Scotland and routinely published by Public Health Scotland on their Scottish Pregnancy, Births and Neonatal Data Dashboard. The National Neonatal Audit Programme run by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health also provides a further level of detailed comparable neonatal clinical outcomes data for units in England, Scotland and Wales on their Data Dashboard, and in their annual reports.

Scottish Government welcomes the comments of the British Dental Association Scotland that the new system represents an improvement on the previous Statement of Dental Renumeration.

Official statistics published by Public Health Scotland on 28 May 2024 show that in the quarter ending 31 March 2024, over 1 million patient contacts were delivered by NHS dentists and there were three quarters of a million free at the point of use enhanced examinations.

This is indicative that Scottish Government intervention is supporting patient access to care.Ongoing assessment of the sector will provide information to support any future interventions, in particular around equality.

As at the end of July 2024, 98 applications to the reopened Independent Living Fund have been received. Of these, eight have completed all steps of the application process and are now in payment. The total annual value of these awards in payment is £162,446, and £7,443 has been paid out to new recipients so far.

Battery storage will play a role in the future energy mix of Scotland. As set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, battery storage offers fast responding, dispatchable power when required. They also provide a number of ancillary services required to maintain stability within the electricity networks.

The Marine Directorate has recorded no collisions between its Marine Protection Vessels and (a) whales, (b) dolphins, (c) porpoises, (d) basking sharks, (e) seals and (f) other large marine species since 2021, and is not aware of any collisions.

The Scottish Government recognises that all parents are entitled to support throughout their parenting journey, and parents with disabilities will have specific needs that should be met.

This support begins in pregnancy and one of the key recommendations in The Best Start, which sets out our vision for maternity care in Scotland is the introduction of continuity of carer. Through this model, women will receive the majority of their care through their primary midwife, supported by the wider team, which helps to build a continuous caring relationship, understanding that such personalised care will be particularly important for disabled women.

Health visitors play a vital role in supporting families from pre-birth to age 5 and where additional needs of the parent are identified, the health visitor can facilitate additional support and referrals to specialised services. In recognition of their unique role, we invested over £40 million over four years to recruit an additional 500 health visitors between 2014-18.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, however, it is local authorities and health and social care partnerships who have the responsibility to ensure that the right social care support is available to meet the needs of those who rely on local services. Local and national government have committed to respecting each other’s democratic mandates as part of the Verity House Agreement.

Scotland’s Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach underpins the delivery of high-quality universal and targeted support through a single, coordinated approach to planning across education, social work, and health and social care; and between public services, the third sector and community partners. The Scottish Government published a series of GIRFEC policy and practice guidance Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in 2022-23 to provide practitioners and professionals with confidence, clarity and practical support to continue to embed the 'Getting it right for every child' approach across children’s and related services.

Self-directed Support (SDS) is Scotland’s approach to social care that enables disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers to manage and choose the support they require. The Scottish Government published Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013: statutory guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in 2014, and reviewed and updated this in November 2022, making it clearer that self-directed support is for everyone in Scotland who needs social care services or support. In June last year we also published our Self-directed support: improvement plan 2023 to 2027 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) which builds on the progress of the previous plan, aiming to set out priorities in a clear and helpful way, and to ensure that there is regular and appropriate reporting, monitoring and evaluation of what is being done.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to develop and implement a plan that is informed by the lived experience of disabled people and will deliver actions to help with the significant challenges they are currently facing.

The Scottish Government recognises that supporting parents is key to improving outcomes for children and young people and that monitoring and evaluating of our parenting support programmes is an essential component to ensure the effectiveness of these programmes. Monitoring and evaluation are a key element of all grant funding conditions issued by the Scottish Government.

In respect of both the Bookbug and PlayTalkRead/Pathways Through Play programmes, they provide quarterly reports on progress against outcomes along with a final annual report showing all activities undertaken, the outputs and outcomes achieved as well as an overall evaluation of the programme.

The Psychology of Parenting Programme is monitored through outcomes briefings provided by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The most recent is available in the Psychology of Parenting Programme section of the NES website alongside a published evaluation of the programme. NES also provide monthly updates on the rollout of Solihull Online.

With regards to our third sector funding programmes – the Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities fund (CYPFEI & ALEC) and the Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learners fund (CYPFAL) - all 137 CYPFEI & ALEC and CYPFAL funded organisation provide six monthly and annual progress reports. The reports provide key information on the outcomes achieved through the provision of funding, including the number of people directly supported and the work delivered in the reporting period.

Independent external evaluation of the Programme is a core component of delivery. A Year 1 process evaluation report of the programme was published on 31 January 2024: Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) - year 1 process evaluation: final report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and evaluation of Year 2 is currently underway. Both focus on impact of the Programme in relation to short-, medium- and long-term outcomes set out in our WFWF logic model. A full evaluation report of Year 2 will be available in early 2025. Planning for the evaluation of Year 3 and beyond is underway, supported by a Research Advisory Group comprised of external experts and stakeholders.

The Scottish Government has a distinctive way of delivering policy and public services. This has become known as the Scottish Approach and prioritises working in partnership to co-produce policy and shape services. In the development of policies related to care of children, co-production with parents and caregivers is achieved in a variety of ways. These include lived-experience panels, public consultations, citizens assemblies, and ensuring parents and caregiver organisations are involved in key stakeholder groups.