Chamber and committees

To date, there have been 27 referrals to secondary services including housing, addiction recovery and mental health services. In addition to these referrals, the facility continues to support individuals in accessing appropriate recovery pathways and re-engaging with services they had previously accessed but had since disengaged from.

The Government is currently working on commencement of the Act. The ability to provide democratic engagement funding is intended to support involvement in elections and improve democratic participation. The Government made clear during the passage of the Bill that it would be necessary as a first step to secure funding.

We are monitoring the automatic registration pilots in Wales so we can factor the results into our planning. All innovations will be:

• proposed in consultation with the electoral community,
• piloted on a temporary basis and
• fully evaluated before being put to Parliament for a decision on whether to make the reforms apply generally and to be made permanent.

I will keep Parliament updated on our plans.

The Scottish Government agrees that training should include knowledge of the Muirburn Code.

There is a requirement for Health Boards to maintain accurate and up to date information on PACS Tier Two requests and their outcomes. The Scottish Government does not hold validated data on the number of PACS applications that Health Boards have granted. This information would need to be requested from Health Boards directly.

Health Boards are required to capture and share data as retrospective “in confidence” summary reports with the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis. The data received by Scottish Government are retained for internal management purposes only and are not formally validated.

Notably, the majority of collated PACS Tier Two requests are for fewer than five medicines; and data for numbers fewer than five are deemed to be patient identifiable and cannot be published.

Scottish Government provide a wide range of training to Agricultural Officers to ensure officers have the suitable skills and knowledge to deliver their inspection duties. This training includes structured learning, job shadowing and the provision of detailed written guidance.

This training does not include modules on trauma-informed interviews and working with interpreters.

Guidance on the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier Two process was published on 29 March 2018. This guidance remains valid for all Health Boards in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not routinely disclose the content or source of any legal advice it has received on any topic or whether it has received any legal advice.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Health Boards across Scotland, provide access to fertility services for those within their population who may be unable or finding it difficult to conceive.

Falling birth rates are a demographic trend replicated across many high-income countries, with significant future implications for our economies, communities and public services.

The Family Friendly Nation strand of our 2021 Population Strategy sets out our ambition to ensure Scotland is the ideal place to raise a family, and to support people to have the number of children they wish to have. We are clear that it is not for government to attach value judgements to different families.

In delivering this Strategy, during 2024 the Ministerial Population Taskforce undertook new analytical work to further explore family friendly policies internationally. This was presented to the Taskforce in December 2024 and next steps are now being undertaken to scope their application within the Scottish policy context.

Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government for analysis and mitigation of the impact of National Insurance changes on all commissioned services in the public sector, including GP practices.

Since the Autumn Statement published on 30 October 2024, Scottish Government has made continued representation to the UK Government on the significant impact that the changes will have on the health and social care landscape. In particular we note the continued inequity which leaves many commissioned services unable to claim the Employment Allowance, despite its extension to more businesses from 6 April due to the relaxations announced in the Budget.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last month again highlighting the risks to GPs and other contractors and asking for specific consideration and review of the Employment Allowance to allow them to claim this relief. She further pressed the Chief Secretary on the impact of the National Insurance changes in a meeting on 27 February.

It remains the view of Scottish Government that mitigations are essential to safeguard existing service provision, and that greater recognition is needed of the impact to these vital public services – and the people who rely on them – if appropriate compensatory funding or extension of existing tax reliefs is not afforded.

The 85% funding floor is a key element of the needs-based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities each year.

To apply the 85% funding floor, the Scottish Government first calculates the total funding in the Local Government Finance settlement, per person, for each local authority and for Scotland as a whole. The total funding includes General Revenue Grant, Non-Domestic Rates, Specific Grants, and an Assumed Council Tax level of £911 at Band D.

Funding for all local authorities in Scotland is included in the calculation of the 85% Floor although the contribution of the three island councils and Argyll and Bute to the average calculation, is capped at 115%.

The capping adjustment has no effect on funding actually provided to those four authorities and it only applies for the purpose of calculating the average, in part to mitigate the risk that the Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) has a distortive impact on the calculation.

The weighted average including these adjusted figures is then calculated to obtain a new Scotland average. As the local authorities with more than 115% of the Scotland total are small, the capping adjustment does not have a significant impact on the calculated average.

If any local authorities’ per-head support is less than 85% of this adjusted average, additional funding is provided to lift that local authority up to the 85% floor.

Local Government Finance officials would be happy to meet with you to discuss the calculation in more detail, if required.