Chamber and committees

NatureScot and Scottish Forestry are currently putting together a project plan to build on the existing Ancient Woodland Inventory to develop the new National Register of Ancient Woodlands. The new National Register of Ancient Woodlands will be an important element of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery plan, which will be published shortly.

The Scottish Government has not conducted any specific analysis of the college sector’s use of their arm's-length foundations (ALFs), however, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) maintains an overview. Colleges are only permitted to donate commercially generated surpluses to ALFs, so donations will partly be dependent on colleges’ ability to raise commercial revenue.

NatureScot and Scottish Forestry are currently putting together a project plan to build on the existing Ancient Woodland Inventory to develop the new National Register of Ancient Woodlands. This will help us to determine how best work with land managers and other interested parties in delivering and maintaining the Register. We are committed to working with a broad range of stakeholders in taking this work forward.

NatureScot and Scottish Forestry are currently putting together a project plan to build on the existing Ancient Woodland Inventory to develop the new National Register of Ancient Woodlands. Until this plan is complete, it is not possible to provide an indicative timescale for completion. The new National Register of Ancient Woodlands will be an important element of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery plan, which will be published shortly.

The Scottish Government remains committed to provide £250 million towards peatland restoration by 2030.

Significant additional activity is already underway following the allocation of £30 million funding to target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This includes over 40,000 extra diagnostic procedures.

The Scottish Government has also helped develop the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan. This plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign.

This plan has so far delivered four mobile endoscopy units across Scotland, providing 5-6 additional endoscopy rooms, and a Dyce facility to provide additional endoscopy procedures for NHS Grampian. Additionally, the national endoscopy surveillance framework, introduced in February 2022, has been implemented in all Health Boards.

The duration of access to psychological support for children and young people with cancer is led by clinical need.

In December 2022 Scottish Government committed to making recurring funding available to the existing specialist psychological support services for young people with cancer across Scotland. This commitment was successfully met in 2023-24 and continues to provide more certainty to these specialist roles.

The psychological support considerations regarding specialist workforce for children and young people with cancer is currently being reviewed by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC) as part of a wider workforce review. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the MSN as their review continues.

The psychological support considerations regarding specialist workforce for children and young people with cancer are currently being reviewed by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC) as part of a wider workforce review.

This review includes making clear how the current workforce could be upskilled, as well as how the MSN will prioritise various roles across the entirety of the patient pathway to support psychological needs. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the MSN as their review continues.

As noted in the answer to the question S6W-28172, the specialist psychological workforce for children and young people with cancer is currently being reviewed by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC) as part of a wider workforce review. The Scottish Government is in conversation with the MSN CYPC as their review of workforce needs continues. This will consider how best to improve access to specialist psychological support for those who need it.

Table 1 provides information on the number of emergency readmissions within 7 days of a prior hospital discharge. The data are broken down by financial year (2016-17 to 2023-24) and NHS board of residence, in Scotland.

Table 1: Emergency Readmissions within 7 days of a prior hospital discharge by NHS Board, Scotland 2016-17 to 2023-24