Chamber and committees

We published our NHS Recovery Plan last August and continue to work with Public Health Scotland on updating guidance for Primary Care settings, covering key issues such as the removal of mandatory physical distancing requirements, access for patients and infection prevention and control.

We increased the Primary Care Improvement Fund to recruit multi-disciplinary teams from £110m in 2020-21 to £155 million in 2021-22, and this will increase again to £170m in 2022-23.

Schemes proposed in the flood risk management strategies (now referred to as plans) published by SEPA in December 2015 were prioritised according to their cost benefit ratio and taking into account a series of additional criteria, encompassing the environmental and social impacts of flooding.

This list was agreed by the National Prioritisation Advisory Group which was chaired by the Scottish Government. A list of the prioritised (Cycle 1) schemes can be found on the SEPA website.

Discussions are taking place with SEPA and the local authorities on the prioritisation arrangements for the Cycle 2 schemes that will cover the period 2022 to 2028.

42 Flood Protection Schemes (sepa.org.uk) .

The Vaccination Transformation Programme covers all routine immunisations that are delivered in Scotland. From the 1 st of April, NHS territorial Health Boards have responsibility for the delivery of vaccination programmes, with models varying across Scotland to align with local requirements. This allows Health Boards the flexibility to arrange vaccination centres at community venues, delivering through existing health teams (such as Midwives or Community Pharmacies), or establish new clinics to meet local needs. Some Health Boards may continue to utilise GP practices to provide vaccination services by local arrangement.

Licensing authorities will recover the costs of establishing and running the licensing scheme in their area through licence fees.

Licensing authorities must determine their own fees and fee structures to recover establishment and running costs specific to their area. Licensing authorities must review their fees from time to time to ensure that revenue from fees remains in line with the running costs of the licensing scheme.

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 came into force on 1 March 2022. Licensing authorities have until 1 October to open schemes in their areas to receive applications from new and existing hosts. We published updated guidance for licensing authorities on 18 March, and we will continue to work closely with them in the run up to schemes opening.

SEPA’s flood risk management plans for Scotland were approved by Scottish Ministers in December 2021, and published on SEPA’s website. The plans, produced in partnership with responsible authorities, identified flood management actions for over 440 priority communities.

This work is split into six-year cycles and covers a range of actions including furthering the understanding of climate change impacts, increasing community resilience, and developing and implementing flood protection schemes. Coordination of the proposed actions will be developed in the local flood risk management plans, currently being prepared by the 14 lead local authorities, which are due for publication in December 2022.

A flooding working group is currently considering its recommendations to the joint Scottish Government / COSLA (officers) Settlement Distribution Group (SDG). These will be considered by the SDG in late-summer of 2022, and will inform subsequent discussions between Ministers and Council Leaders on the arrangements required for the effective delivery of flood risk management for the period to 2028.

Flood Risk Management Plans | SEPA .

Sex discrimination cases will continue to be dealt with under the Equality Act 2010. The provisions of the 2010 Act are not modified by the proposals in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill also does not change the legal effects of a Gender Recognition Certificate as they are currently set out in the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Salus and Working Health Services Scotland (WHSS) provide return to work and occupational health services for people who have health conditions or injuries that are impacting on their work, including long COVID. These services are adapting to meet the additional needs required of them due to the pandemic. Currently there are no plans to develop an occupational health return-to-work support service for people with long COVID.

NHS inform provides people living with long COVID with clear and accessible guidance on managing their symptoms. It includes specific advice on navigating a return to work and signposts to information developed by the Society of Occupational Medicine and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

The National Services Division (NSD) of NHS National Services Scotland commission a number of highly specialised services in Scotland for patients who require investigation, treatment and ongoing follow up care for rare and complex conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis. Each designated service is subject to strict governance and performance reviews to ensure they maintain the highest possible standards of person-centred care across Scotland.

More information about specialist services is available on the NSD website: About specialist services | National Services Scotland (nhs.scot)

Where a formal review has been undertaken, a report of the review findings and recommendations is presented to both the National Patient, Professional and Public Reference Group (NPPPRG) and National Specialist Services Committee (NSSC) for scrutiny.

We have set out the wider policy within which NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services, and expect all NHS Boards to provide high quality care that is safe, effective and person-centred. Where there are specific issues that prevent them from doing so, robust processes are in place for NSD to provide support as required.