The Scottish Government cannot mandate that a proportion of GP surgeries offer enhanced services: GP practices are contracted to provide essential services with any enhanced services provided over and above that carried out on an optional basis. Practices which provide enhanced services are paid agreed rates for doing so in addition to their funding for essential services. These services are determined locally by Health Boards so that service planning reflects local needs and circumstances and makes the best use of GPs and other clinicians.

The Scottish Government does not intend to change this model.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing Health Board expenditure on drug treatment enhanced services by GPs to determine whether the existing funding arrangements for enhanced services are sufficiently prioritising drug treatment services.

The Scottish Government is in the process of agreeing a timeline for the development of the Palliative Care Strategy with the Strategy Steering Group for Palliative Care, and will publish this once agreed.

Table 1 presents the expected gross income from the Higher Property Rate (HPR), after the application of the revaluation Transitional Relief (TR), in 2023-2024. In 2023-2024, HPR is applied to all properties with a rateable value above £100,000. The values presented in Table 1 relate to the supplement of 2.6p above the Basic Property Rate only. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 1 July 2023. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000.

Table 1: Estimated gross income from HPR after revaluation transitional relief in 2023-2024 by property class

There are no opt-out clauses included in the R100 Contracts. These are grant funding agreements which subsidise the supplier (Openreach) to deliver its own network to specific contracted premises.

The Scottish Government continues to support other providers to extend their broadband networks via the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme but this is focused on premises that will not be connected commercially or via the R100 contracts.

Under the leadership of Public Health Scotland (PHS), the long COVID Strategic Network has developed a theory of change and logframe which form the basis of a comprehensive framework to evaluate long COVID services. Both the theory of change and logframe were developed in close consultation with representatives across the Network, including people with lived experience of long COVID, clinicians, researchers, service planners, local boards, PHS and Scottish Government officials.

The theory of change provides the context around what the Network is aiming to achieve, while the logframe is the complementary tool enabling the tracking of milestone indicators linked to process, outputs, and outcomes. For example, indicators include those linked to the implementation of long COVID service pathways, generation of research and evidence, and the development of an education and training strategy.

In addition, patient related experience and patient outcome measures will be recorded through NHS Boards’ use of the C-19 YRS digital screening tool. The provision of heath data through this tool will be of vital importance in understanding the provision and effectiveness of long COVID services. Where possible, the data will be disaggregated by age, gender, ethnicity, and deprivation quintile. This will support understanding of any inequitable variation in service provision, experience and outcomes which may need to be addressed through service changes.

A data and intelligence group has been established to oversee reporting against the monitoring and evaluation framework. This will allow the Network to have an informed understanding of overall progress of its support to the provision of long COID services.

As part of the work to develop a new Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy, the Strategy Steering Group for Palliative Care will consider the financial implications of delivery.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21155 on‎ 22 September 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21155 on‎ 22 September 2023. 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 review of deer management by the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) found that deer populations in Scotland have grown significantly since 1990, when the population estimate was approximately 512,000 wild deer. The DWG estimated the current deer population to be in excess of one million animals through analysis of data published by NatureScot in recent years. We have no reason to doubt the credibility of this estimate.

The number of properties liable for the Higher Property Rate (HPR) in 2023-2024 before any reliefs are applied is presented in the following below, broken down in Table 1 by property class, and in Table 2 by local authority. In 2023-2024, HPR is applied to all properties with a rateable value above £100,000. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property. The Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors.

These tables are based on the valuation roll as at 1 July 2023.

Figures in these tables are rounded to the nearest 10, with values greater than zero but lower than five displayed as ‘[low]’.

Table 1: Number of properties liable for HPR in 2023-2024 by property class