All corporately managed Scottish Government mobile phones are audited monthly for compliance in line with our Cyber Security principals. Any remediation actions identified are investigated and addressed as necessary.

The mobile data used in terabytes (Tb) on the Scottish Government’s account as part of our mobile voice and data contracts is shown below. This data is only available from August 2020, it is not possible to separate the associated mobile data costs by department from the overall spend.

January 2024 to December 2024 - 82.59Tb

January 2023 to December 2023 - 94.87Tb

January 2022 to December 2022 - 97.77Tb

January 2021 to December 2021 - 125.07Tb

July 2020 to December 2020 - 39.99Tb

The Scottish Government do not hold central records for how many mobile phones it has purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas to meet their requirements through delegated purchasing. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

National Records of Scotland publish annual accredited official statistics on drug-related deaths in Scotland. The latest release, covering 2023, is available at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-in-2023/. The accompanying data file provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the statistics, including by both NHS board area and local authority area.

The Scottish Government publishes a quarterly report to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland. The data in this report is operational information from Police Scotland who compile figures on the basis of reports from police officers attending scenes of death. This is management information and not subject to the same level of validation and quality assurance as Official Statistics. The latest release, covering July to September 2024, is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/suspected-drug-deaths-scotland-july-september-2024/. The accompanying data file provides a more comprehensive breakdown of the figures, including by Police Division.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to reducing drug deaths and harms. Through the National Mission we are seeing success across a wide range of actions designed to save lives and reduce harms. The total funding proposed for alcohol and drugs, including health board baseline funding, is over £150 million in 2025-26. This includes maintaining £112 million funding for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, continuing to fund grassroots organisations through £13m via the Corra Foundation, and supporting a wide range of activity - including supporting residential rehabilitation.

In an assessment of ways to overcome the challenges of rurality, submitted by Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in several rural areas to Public Health Scotland, a number of collaborative and innovative actions were described.

These included:

• Increased use of non-statutory services, informal local networks and peers to engage and support people, thus freeing up capacity to deliver rapid access and ensuring that staff can work at highest level within their banding
• Utilising generic primary and secondary care staff and settings to deliver care for example when weather disrupts usual access
• Development of more generic pathways for all drugs and alcohol referrals (given in many places the same staff deal with these issues)
• Some areas now have formal arrangements with other Health Boards to utilise 82 guidelines (Shetland and NHS Grampian), and to share expertise (Western Isles and Borders)

The Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) is focused on supporting projects that deliver outcomes relating to Scotland's Blue Economy Vision. This aims to support projects & investments that are innovative, entrepreneurial, productive and internationally competitive; resilient to climate change, contributing to climate change mitigation and adaption; to achieve marine sectors which are decarbonised, resource efficient and supporting Scotland's Net Zero commitments.

An example of the innovative circular economy approaches that this funding supports include projects such as Tiny Fish LTD, who won the Global Seafood Alliance 2024 Responsible Seafood Innovation Award. This project is finding unique markets for juvenile salmon that are removed from hatcheries prior to transfer of the best fish to sea pens. It received grant funding support via the MFS of over £118,000.

Whenever personal data is shared, the processing must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The UK GDPR requires the careful assessment of compliance with the key principles of the legislation on a case by case basis. This means demonstrating that each instance of data sharing is necessary and proportionate to meet a specific purpose, it has a lawful basis and it is within the expectations of the individuals’ whose data it is. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no over-arching agreement with the UK Government as data sharing agreements are put in place for individual projects that adhere to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Data Sharing Code of Practice.

The Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) provides support to new entrants through the young fishers grant funding. Since 2021 the MFS has awarded 37 young fishers over £2.5m grant to enable them to purchase their first fishing vessel (or share in a vessel).

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Decisions around the provision of mental health services is a local responsibility, planned by Integrated Joint Boards and delivered through a mixture of NHS, local authority and third sector organisations. The availability of service, including via digital platforms, will vary depending the local population needs and will be guided by clinical decision making.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes a register of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) submitted to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation since 2012: https://www.gov.scot/publications/compulsory-purchase-order-register/. The current register, published in December, includes CPOs received up to the end of October 2024.

Whilst the register of CPOs does not include information on whether orders submitted for confirmation were opposed, it does indicate where orders were confirmed with modifications.