Chamber and committees

Scottish Government engages regularly with UK Government and the other devolved governments at both Ministerial and Official levels through the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a four nations horticultural peat group and ad hoc correspondence. Through these channels, all legislative and non-legislative options for sales restrictions on peat are currently being explored.

The Scottish Government’s strategic priorities are to shift the balance of care closer to people's homes and drive a proactive approach of early intervention and prevention, which will help reduce demand for acute care.

We are increasing capacity and access to Primary Care by the end of 2026, through our reform programme, shifting the balance of care to preventative and community-based support. This will be done by improving the use of multi-disciplinary working to support better, patient-centred care pathways and improve service capacity in GP and frontline community services, including additional funding to support the Primary Care Phased Investment Programme.

We are committed to ensuring that people living in Scotland with long-term conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and person-centred. Action which the Scottish Government is taking includes:

• an Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan backed by £70 million. The plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign.
• Funding the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) with a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in IBD care which is being taken forward through the MPPP’s National Gastroenterology Speciality Delivery Group (SDG). They have developed a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland which is due to be published imminently.
• Developing a lower gastrointestinal pathway which will provide primary care guidance about testing and diagnosis for people with IBD and Coeliac Disease in Scotland.

Scottish Government is aware the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency is considering amendments around its call centre service to align with plans for wider organisational transformation. SEPA has not raised any emerging risk, or issue with significant implications for its operation or governance with regards to changes to the 24-hour call centre.

Scottish Government is not aware of any other proposal to alter out-of-hours contact services, nor has information been provided to Ministers from any other public body.

Ministers would not routinely be informed of changes to contact services as this would be an operational matter for the body concerned, based on evaluation of the service, customer demand/experience and evolving automation of communication channels such as the use of bots and Artificial Intelligence.

To date £96 million of ScotWind revenues have been utilised, all in 2022-23.

In the 2024-25 budget, £200 million of Scotwind funding was profiled, with a further £224 million added as part of the in-year autumn budget revision.

As indicated in the Scottish Budget, the total set aside in 2024-25 at present has now reduced to £160 million. Work is on-going to reduce this further, and a further update will be provided as part of the Spring Budget Revision in January.

Final decisions on drawing down ScotWind revenues will be made in March 2025.

It is not possible to provide information on the number of patients who were newly diagnosed with COPD following an emergency admission.

Figures presented in Table 1 provide the number of emergency inpatient hospital stays associated with a main diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by year.

Table 1

As regulation for offshore oil and gas operations are a reserved matter for UK Government, Scottish Government does not record gas leaks from offshore oil and gas installations.

There are no chalk streams in Scotland, however, we are taking action to protect Scotland’s water environment from sewage overflows.

Our waterways are in good condition. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) considers 86.5% of our water environment to be high or good quality - up from 82% in 2014. SEPA, which regulates discharges from Scottish Water’s assets to the environment, acknowledges the sustained investment made by Scottish Water across the period 2015-21 has been a key driver of this improvement

There are no chalk streams in Scotland. The Scottish Government, therefore, does not hold information on the protection of chalk streams from pollution and damage.

The Scottish Government continually considers where regulation for farmed fish health is necessary.

We already have robust legislation, policies, and operational practices in place to ensure fish farmers are meeting statutory requirements on sealice reporting and management, mortality reporting, listed disease surveillance and containment of farmed fish. The aquaculture sector in Scotland shows a significant level of compliance with both legislative and voluntary requirements. Enactment in law of the finfish sector’s Code of Good Practice through existing legislative instruments would not necessarily significantly improve outcomes for fish health and, therefore, there are no plans for further legislation at this time.

As Scottish Ministers are not directly responsible for the operation of SEPA and its use of resources, I have asked Nicole Paterson, Chief Executive of SEPA to respond. Her response is as follows:

Continued Availability of Service:

SEPA’s 24-hour availability to the Scottish public remains fully in place, ensuring that we provide critical support for Scotland’s communities and environment. Where appropriate, this includes direct access to a SEPA employee to ensure a timely and effective response. Additionally, we are introducing new ways for customers to contact us, giving them options that best suit their preferences. This includes becoming a true multi-channel service, enabling access through various platforms to enhance the customer experience and better meet modern communication needs.

Role of the Automated System:

Our automated system is designed to handle minor, non-urgent matters digitally, either online or through our intelligent IVR system. This ensures these lower-priority issues are managed efficiently without impacting our ability to respond to significant events. Any significant incidents reported are immediately escalated to individuals who are available 24/7 across the country to respond, investigate, and take necessary action.

Human Response to Significant Incidents:

For all significant environmental incidents, any communication reporting a major event, regardless of the time, will be sent directly to a member of our team. This ensures the appropriate action is taken promptly and effectively.

Support for Priority Partners:

SEPA remains committed to supporting Priority Partners, including MSPs, emergency services, and specific businesses. These partners will always have direct access to human assistance for significant environmental events, ensuring smooth communication and rapid action when necessary.