Chamber and committees

The development of the National Digital Platform (NDP) is a core commitment from the joint SG/COSLA Digital Health and Care Strategy (2018). This strategy was refreshed in 2021. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was commissioned as the lead delivery partner.

Information on this important work is available via the website: www.nationaldigitalplatform.scot .

Up to 31 March 2022, a total of £6.838m was spent on the design, development and support for the NDP. NES accounts for spend during 2022-23 financial year have yet to be finalised and so associated costs for the NDP in this financial year cannot be provided as part of the answer.

We don’t hold the data that provides the total number of all events of near-fatal overdoses across Scotland.

The need for improved data sharing has been identified as key for the improvement of near-fatal overdose follow-up pathways. Through the Directors of Public Health National Drug Deaths Incident Management Team (NDDIMT), the need for improved data sharing is being taken forward as matter of priority in relation to MAT standard 3 - that all people at high risk of drug related harm are proactively identified and offered support to access treatment or care and support.

I am actively pursuing options for clarifying the position on information-sharing and discussions are ongoing with the Data Protection Officer around potential action they can take to assist with the sharing of essential information.

The annual Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey is arranged by Scottish Local Authorities and not by the Scottish Government. The 2022 survey was completed in September and the next survey will commence during March 2023 subject to favourable weather conditions at that time.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland indicate that as of the end of November 2022, a total of 3,444 referrals have been made to the charity’s long COVID Support Service since its inception in February 2021.

Scottish Government funding of £156,924 has been made available to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland to support the continuation and development of the service over 2022-23. This funding has not been drawn from the long COVID Support Fund.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13019 on 16 December 2022. 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 drawn upon a range of evidence and analysis, including the The Carbon Capture Crux: Lessons Learned report, during the development of the draft version of the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

The UK Government’s decision to not award the Scottish Cluster Track-1 status in their CCUS cluster sequencing process has generated significant uncertainty on the timely deployment of CCUS in Scotland and, therefore, our ability to achieve our emissions reduction targets and economic ambitions as part of a just transition.

Delays in the deployment of CCUS infrastructure in Scotland will require contingency planning (Plan B) to identify the additional emissions reduction effort that may be needed from other sectors to meet Scotland’s net zero commitments. This will be explored in the 2023 Climate Change Plan.

This information is not held centrally. Public Health Scotland do not hold the information that would allow us to identify the amount of delayed breast reconstruction operations that have been carried out in 2022, broken down by month and NHS Board.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12895 on 16 December 2022. 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 .

A breakdown of the £191 million was provided in the Guide to the Autumn Budget Revision which is available on the Finance and Public Administration’s website here https://www.parliament.scot/~/media/committ/4489

This guide document will also be published on the Scottish Government’s website following the consideration of the Autumn Budget Revision by the committee.

The Scottish Government supports the development of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage as a decarbonisation infrastructure for hard to decarbonise sectors. Its deployment must enable decarbonisation at pace and cannot be used to justify unsustainable levels of fossil fuel extraction or impede Scotland’s just transition to net zero. Scottish planning policy states that the construction of new thermal generation power stations may be acceptable where that proposal includes or commits to carbon capture and storage. Any application made to the Scottish Ministers for the construction and operation of such power stations in Scotland is determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into account responses from key consultees and representations made by members of the public, and in light of careful consideration of the benefits and environmental impacts of the proposal.