Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland as co-leads of the Gambling Related Harms Working group to explore how people experiencing gambling-related harms are able to access the right support, and treatment, across health and social care services.

Treatment Clinics are one avenue of treatment which this work will consider, but we also understand the need for a trauma informed, person-centred approach with more localised options.

The working group is expected to report on the first stage of this work by Spring 2025.

ScotRail was brought into the public sector under Scottish Government control.

Transport Scotland carries out, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, the role of the Franchising Authority. ScotRail Trains Limited (SRT) is a train operating company who provides certain rail passenger services.

Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) is an arm’s length entity, who manages and oversees delivery of SRT services.

The Scottish Government is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice – and in building a better, fairer world.

On the recommendation of the Anti-Racism Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racism Infrastructure (AIGG), a public procurement process has commenced to identify a host organisation for the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS). The tender process closed on the 2nd September and tenders are currently being evaluated. The contract award is scheduled to take place at the end of October and the contract will commence in January 2025.

AROS will support the development of a detailed workplan to track and measure progress being made with the Scottish Government’s antiracism commitments, including relevant Key Performance Indicators. Working in partnership with partners, including third sector organisations and communities, AROS will develop robust governance and accountability mechanisms to ensure effective oversight of the workplan and strategic objectives that will drive anti-racism change.

If a resident believes that a local authority is not upholding site license conditions, they should report this to the relevant team at the local authority in the first instance. If the response received is unsatisfactory, the resident can make a complaint under the Council’s complaints process. If, after completing all stages of the complaints process the resident is dissatisfied with the response or the way the local authority has dealt with the complaint, they can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to look at it. Residents may also wish to discuss any concerns with their local Councillor.

The Scottish Stroke Care Standards are designed to drive effective service delivery and improve patient outcomes. Monitoring of performance against stroke standards through the Scottish Stroke Care Audit allows us to identify where challenges are being faced in the delivery of high-quality stroke care and implement quality improvements.

We recognise the standards are challenging and continue to expect Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet these standards and to work to improve their standards of care locally.

We continually assess the delivery of evidence-based stroke care, as recommended in the Progressive Stroke Pathway, via the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Board review process. This allows for an evaluation of Board performance, identification of areas of challenge and the formulation of local action plans to improve the delivery of stroke care.

The Scottish Government has not provided guidance on this matter. It is for Health Boards to ensure that NHS pharmaceutical services are in place to meet the needs of their local population.

Since 2021, Scottish Ministers have regularly met with Council Leaders, including Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest.

The First Minister and previous First Minister have also committed to meeting with the COSLA Presidential team biannually to discuss key priorities and issues for local government. The First Minister and previous First Ministers have also delivered keynote speeches at the COSLA Annual Conference since 2021.

The Scottish Government has not conducted research on the screening of non-FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) stroke symptoms since the publication of the 2023 National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke.

NHS Borders are escalated to Level 3 of the NHS Support and Intervention Framework for finance. To date NHS Borders have £20m outstanding brokerage from years 2019-20 to 2022-23.

Scottish Government continue to work with NHS Borders to create a credible and realistic path to balance. This is an ongoing exercise due to ongoing pay negotiations, high inflation and increased demand for services, but the Board will be expected to repay all outstanding brokerage when it has reached financial sustainability.

For the Scottish Government to meet our commitment of ensuring that at least 1000 people receive public funding for their stay in Residential Rehabilitation, it is largely dependent on capacity in the residential rehabilitation providers who provide the service, rather than the alcohol and drug partnership workforce.