Across the Scottish Government, a range of staff have been or will be involved in independence work. We do not routinely record details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on research and compilation, as there is no business need to do this.

The Scottish Government has published the publication costs of the thirteen papers in the Building a New Scotland series, found at the following link: Building a New Scotland papers: costs - gov.scot

Preparatory work on additional material within the series has also been undertaken, adding £9,371.45. This brings the total spent on the publication of the BANS papers to £216,418.98.

Evidence confirms that substance use can be a potential consequence for those of us who have experienced high levels of trauma and adversity in our lives.

The Scottish Government’s ambition, shared with COSLA, is for anyone who has been affected by trauma to be supported by the trauma-informed and responsive support, care and services they need. These are services built on safe, trusted relationships, which foster recovery, prevent re-traumatisation and help reduce the risk that individuals and/or their families might turn to substance use to cope.

Since 2018, the Scottish Government has invested over £12 million in the National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP). The NTTP aims to support all sectors of the workforce, to understand how to adapt the way they work to be trauma-informed. This includes understanding how substances can be a coping strategy for the impact of trauma and embedding the principles of choice, collaboration, empowerment, safety and trust to help improve the life outcomes of those affected.

The Scottish Government draft budget 2025-26 has been informed by planning forecasts provided by the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG). Clinicians and third sector organisations, as well as NHS planning colleagues, are represented on the TAG and the information provided by them helps to inform decisions taken by the National Thrombectomy Programme Board.

Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.

In June 2020 the Scottish Government built on the findings of the Task Force on Gear Conflict by introducing the Marking of Gear (Scotland) Order 168/2020. This order introduced restrictions on how buoys should be used to mark static gear, aimed at reducing gear conflict by making it easier to identify the owner of lost or displaced gear. This order requires that all creels and fleets of creels to be marked with a buoy manufactured for that purpose and that all buoys be of a bright colour and bear the registration number of the fishing vessel that deployed it.

As part of a pragmatic approach to gear conflict, Marine Directorate provides ongoing support where appropriate, encouraging fishers to work together to resolve difficulties locally and where possible, support local voluntary codes of conduct. In addition, our Coastal Offices operate a reporting mechanism for reporting gear loss. The aim of this is to utilise the available evidence to determine which vessels were active in the area and to establish contact, assisting those involved in arriving at an amicable outcome. It also ensures the necessary information is available, should Police Scotland require to be involved.

Our six national RIFG Chairs regularly meet both with fishing industry stakeholders throughout their respective areas, as well as Marine Directorate officials. Outputs of these meetings help ensure that the views of Scotland’s small fishing businesses, particularly those who do not have formal representation, are heard and incorporated into policy development.

A recent example of this relationship is Marine Directorate implementation of Interim Measures for protection of under-pressure crab and lobster stocks during 2024. The RIFG network took a lead role during an intense, month-long consultation period which involved engagement with over 400 fishers. These views were collated and helped inform policy advice on the use of short-term Interim Measures ahead of the 2024 fishing season.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33751 on 29 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government supports the Healthy Working Lives (HWL) initiative, hosted by Public Health Scotland, which offers a range of materials to support employers on all aspects of work-related health promotion and ill health prevention, return to work and workplace safety.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with Public Health Scotland and See Me, also delivers the Supporting a Mentally Healthy Workplace: National Learning Network for Employers. The network brings together employers of all sizes and across all sectors to share learning and experiences of supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Over 800 individuals are now engaged with the network.

The Scottish Government also fund Paths for All, a Scottish charity which promotes everyday walking. Paths for All run two national challenges a year in the spring and autumn. The Step Count Challenge (SCC) is a walking challenge for Scottish workplaces, which aims to encourage business to support employees to walk more to improve mental and physical health. In 2023-24, 325 workplaces took part in the spring, autumn and bespoke challenges.

The latest published data as at 31 March 2023 relating to (a) the total unitary charge payments associated with PFI and PPP contracts including NPD (Non-Profit Distributing) which were paid across the public sector in Scotland from 1997-98 to 2022-23 comprising both (i) expired and (ii) active contracts are contained within the following table.

The Scottish Government is investing over £2.5 million in 2024-25 to support the mental health and wellbeing of health and care staff, reaffirming its commitment to their invaluable work. These resources include confidential mental health treatment through the Workforce Specialist Service and access to psychological therapies and interventions. Prioritising these treatment and therapeutic programmes reflects our commitment to offer care and support to those staff suffering from burnout, stress, anxiety and other conditions.

To ensure wellbeing support and advice is accessible to staff across Scotland, the National Wellbeing Hub offers a range of self-care wellbeing resources and signposting to relevant mental health and support services. Further, the National Wellbeing Helpline delivered by NHS 24 provides a 24/7 compassionate listening service which is available to all health and social care staff.

Specifically for healthcare workers in rural regions, Scottish Government are supporting the delivery of a pilot of online monthly reflective groups aimed at supporting GPs working in rural communities. These groups will provide participating GPs with a facilitated, confidential environment to connect with peers, to explore and receive support on any of the challenges they face in their work as a GP. To support the sustainability of this career enhancing activity, Scottish Government is also supporting the delivery of reflective practice groups facilitator training due to start in early 2025.

The current Acceptable Use of IT Policy does not explicitly apply to Members and their staff, though all Parliament IT account holders are bound by the SPCB's Use of Resources Policy which states that resources, including IT resources, are provided to support parliamentary duties and must not be used to any significant extent for any other purposes.  A revised Acceptable Use of IT policy which will apply to Members and their staff is currently being developed for approval by the SPCB.