Chamber and committees

The provision and improvement of residential rehabilitation services for women and those with childcare responsibilities is one of the key focuses of the Scottish Government’s National Mission to improve and save lives impacted by substance use.

The LVA research reported in General Psychiatry volume 37, issue 3 is a single case study rather than a Clinical Trial or series of Clinical Trials

The Scottish Government works in partnership with the NHS Boards through NHS Research Scotland (NRS) to deliver high quality research studies in the NHS across the spectrum of disease and clinical need. This includes the NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network which supports a wide range of research conducted within the NHS and Care Home settings Neuroprogressive and Dementia | NHS Research Scotland | NHS Research Scotland

The NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network is available to support the delivery of any eligibly funded Alzheimer's Disease study (including in cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis) that is open to patient recruitment in the NHS in Scotland

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) are finalising the scope of the review of the evidence to support decisions on potential proposals in relation to alcohol marketing and promotion that may be taken forward in future, under devolved powers to ensure it delivers. The commissioning document, including timelines and scope of that review, will be published imminently.

PHS’s review will be delivered independently and will deliver its conclusions solely on the basis of its assessment of evidence.

The Scottish Government promotes healthy living and encourages the reduction in alcohol consumption by highlighting the risks of drinking too much alcohol on the NHS Inform website.

Guidance from the Chief Medical Officer is clear that drinking more than 14 units per week for both men and women on a regular basis may increase a person’s risk of serious health conditions, including cancer. Cancers associated with excess drinking include cancers of the mouth, upper throat, larynx, oesophagus, breast, liver and bowel.

The Scottish Government’s published budgets for the last five years, including details of planned spending, are available online.

Scottish Budget: 2024 to 2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Budget: 2023 to 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Budget 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Budget 2021 to 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Budget 2020-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of complaints the Agricultural Wages Enforcement Team have investigated to ensure compliance with the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order, over the past five years, is:

The Scottish Government has spent around £1.2 billion in the past 14 years mitigating the impacts of UK Government welfare reforms such as the bedroom tax and benefit cap, introduced since 2010. Of that, £133 million is being invested in the current financial year (2024-25), and over £631 million has been spent in the last five financial years (2019-20 - 2023-24), funding Discretionary Housing Payments, the Scottish Welfare Fund, money advice services, and Universal Credit Scottish choices.

In addition to the above support, between February 2021 and September 2024, we have invested £905.6 million in the Scottish Child Payment, giving support to the families of over 325,000 under 16s who currently receive it. While we are doing what we can within our limited powers and fixed budget, the UK Government must do more to ensure the UK social security system at least covers essential living costs.

Table 1 provides a breakdown of spending on UK Government welfare mitigation in the last five years, plus the current financial year (six years in total).

Table 1: breakdown of spending on UK Government welfare mitigation (2019-20 - 2024-25)

To ensure the delivery of the intended environmental outcomes and value for public money, applicants are required to provide a level of evidence when applying to the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS).

As outlined in a previous answer by Christina McKelvie on 31 July (S6W-28596), the Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS)to carry out monitoring and evaluation of the residential rehabilitation programme throughout the course of the National Mission.

Information on the number of Scottish Income Tax payers by age and band are only available from the Survey of Personal Incomes and the latest data is for 2021-22. Table 1 provides the number of taxpayers of State Pension age by band in Scotland.

Given this data is for 2021-22 it does not include estimates of those who are of State Pension age paying the Advanced Rate. Forecasts of the number of taxpayers over State Pension age by band are not available.

Table 1: Taxpayers above State Pension Age by Band