Chamber and committees

As part of demonstrating compliance with the EU Emissions Trading System relevant installations must submit verified emissions data. The information for CO2 Equivalent (e) emissions from Scottish Installations for the period 2008-2020 is published online. Peterhead is the only Scottish gas fired power station, however there are other facilities such as at Grangemouth that occasionally may provide electricity to the grid.

https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/union-registry_en#ecl-inpage-1120

2021 data under the UK Emissions Trading System has not yet been submitted.

The Scottish Government is investing significant levels of funding in frontline services to support survivors of domestic abuse. This includes funding of over £1 million (in 2019-22) to Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline, which provides support and signposting to other services and is open 24/7. The Delivering Equally Safe Fund for 2021-23 will provide £19 million per annum to organisations providing support services and working to prevent gender-based violence. This includes approximately £100,000 of funding for SACRO’s Fearfree project, which supports male and LGBTI survivors of domestic violence; as well as over £500,000 of funding to ASSIST, a specialist independent domestic advocacy service that aims to ensure survivors of domestic abuse are safe, informed and supported throughout the court process.

The government’s Mental Health Transition & Recovery Plan includes specific action on the mental health impacts of domestic violence, abuse, and coercive control. We have also commissioned research from the Improvement Service to help us better understand and address the mental health and wellbeing needs of women and girls experiencing gender based violence and the report will be published this month. We will work with women and girls affected by all forms of gender based violence to determine next steps once we have considered the recommendations of the report.

The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, which Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. In addition, the Scottish Government has ensured that additional Covid related costs reported by Health Boards and Integration Authorities have been met in full, including £862 million allocated to date in 2021-22. Further allocations will be made over the course of the year to ensure that our health and care services continue to receive the support required to address pressures relating to the pandemic.

Detail on how this funding has been used to specifically support protecting people with pre-existing respiratory illnesses, such as COPD, would require to be requested from NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government has provided the following funding to support Clean Air Day each year since it started in 2017. Clean Air Day is a UK wide annual clean air awareness campaign run by the environmental charity Global Action Plan. Since 2018 in Scotland, Clean Air Day is run jointly by Global Action Plan and Environmental Protection Scotland, also an environmental charity.

In March 2020, we announced a funding package of £350m for an emergency communities fund to ensure local authorities, community groups, the third sector and social enterprise sector were able to support people and communities affected by COVID-19.

This included the £25 million Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF) and the
‎ £40 million Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme (CTSRP).A further £22.5 million was added to the CTSRP fund in 2021-22 to enable it to continue through to late summer.

These funds are now closed however third sector organisations may also contact their local Third Sector Interface for advice and information on funding sources. Here are the contact details for your local interface, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway: www.tsdg.org.uk

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, SCVO, has a website, ‘Funding Scotland’ offering a one stop shop for information about possible sources of funding for third sector organisations and providing details of possible sources of funding from public sector organisations, corporate and charitable trusts - http://www.funding.scot

I am pleased to confirm that, after due consideration, the Scottish Government will make an offer to Optometry Scotland regarding a 3% uplift to General Ophthalmic Services fees for the year 2021/22, backdated to 1 April 2021, as well as a commitment to continuing discussions with them regarding a process for future reviews of such fees.

The Care Inspectorate’s most recent data showed that as of December 2019, 4,752 childminding services were operating. This is a decrease of 356 from 2018, reflecting a downward trend in recent years.

We are funding research by Ipsos MORI to explore the factors contributing to the decline in childminding numbers, and to identify actions to ensure there are sufficient childminders to meet demand for this unique form of childcare. The study will publish in early 2022.

Additionally, we continue to progress Our Commitment to Childminding Report, working alongside the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners to highlight childminding, not only as a choice to parents, but as a positive career opportunity.

The Scottish Government meets with representatives from NHS Boards, including NHS Lothian, on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters relating to drug and alcohol treatment. Most recently this has included a number of discussions about the additional funding being made available to support the widening of access to residential rehabilitation and the embedding of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards.

As part of these discussions Scottish Government officials met with the General Manager of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital & Associated Services on the 24 November 2021.

In 2021, the Regional Food Fund received 191 applications with 91 of those sifted out as determined ineligible with the fund. Of the remaining 100 applications, 41 were successful and received funding.

In February 2018, the then-Chief Medical Officer wrote to NHS Scotland Medical Directors about public interest in the use of mesh implants, including in hernia repair. Medical Directors were asked to ensure that clinicians offer patients all appropriate options for surgery, as well as the option of no surgery. In addition, the importance of shared decision making, informed consent and listening and acting upon patients concerns was noted.

The Scottish Government commissioned a review by the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) of primary inguinal hernia repair in men. SHTG published their report in early 2020 and this concluded that, compared to non-mesh procedures, using mesh resulted in lower rates of recurrence, lower rates of serious adverse events and similar or lower risk of chronic pain. The advice for NHS Scotland was that surgical mesh should be used in elective repair of inguinal hernia in adult males.

Further to this, the Scottish Government asked SHTG to examine hernia repair more broadly, to include women, and to review the outcome of mesh versus non-mesh surgery in a variety of groin or abdominal wall hernias. SHTG have published their report today which is available online at: Elective surgery using mesh to repair primary or incisional hernias in adults (shtg.scot) . This states that the current evidence supports the continued availability of surgical mesh for elective repair of primary ventral hernias, incisional hernias, and primary inguinal hernias in adults in Scotland. This notwithstanding, SHTG also recommends that consideration should be given to patient preference and that patients should have access to alternative hernia treatment options such as non-mesh (suture and natural tissue) repair. Once again, the importance of shared decision making and informed consent has been emphasised.

The Chief Medical Officer has written to Board Chief Executives and Medical Directors to draw their attention to the report’s findings. The Scottish Government will continue to work with Health Boards, Specialist Associations and the relevant Royal Colleges on the issues raised within the report.

The independent review of NHS Lothian Paediatric Audiology Services has today been published on NHS Lothian’s website.

The report outlines an unacceptable level of failure in paediatric audiology treatment in NHS Lothian, which will have a lasting impact on the lives of some of our most vulnerable children.

Given the catalogue of failures and ongoing risks in Audiology health provision at NHS Lothian and in consultation with officials, I have decided to place the Board into Stage 3 of the ‘Board Performance Escalation Framework’ for Audiology performance and service delivery. This will ensure that a Formal Recovery Plan with tailored support, clear milestones and responsibilities is developed by NHS Lothian in partnership with the Scottish Government to bring about the necessary improvements.

I have already expressed my deep displeasure to NHS Lothian and my expectation that they must continue to enact the recommendations in this report as a matter of urgency.

I applaud the involvement of the National Deaf Children’s Society in providing support for those affected. I have accepted an invitation to meet and discuss how any key lessons can be applied Scotland wide.

I intend to keep Parliament fully informed on this matter.