NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has launched an e-learning module on menstrual health available on Turas Learnand in particular is aimed at those working in primary care. The school nursing workforce and school counsellors can also access this training as required.

Every ‘scheduled’ award review carried out by Social Security Scotland is a light-touch review.

This means that Social Security Scotland do not require clients by default to provide information again that they already provided, that is not relevant to the changes they have reported, or that we can gather through other means.

Instead, Social Security Scotland will consider information they already hold about the client, where still relevant, and make use of appropriate decision-making tools, where needed, to reduce the need for further questions. They only ask for new supporting information in specific scenarios and take their usual supportive approach to gathering this information.

Our approach differs when a client’s circumstances or changes are more complex, or their reported level of need is unexpected. This is not light touch and Social Security Scotland will decide on a case-by-case basis what additional steps are required and appropriate to better understand the client’s needs, and to ensure they have the information needed to make a robust determination on the client’s entitlement.

NHS Boards across Scotland are expected to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practicable; however, this must be balanced with ensuring the safety of all mothers and babies. All decisions about care throughout pregnancy, including around place of birth, should be made by women in discussion with their midwife and obstetrician. These decisions will take account of their individual needs and circumstances.

In support of this, and recognising the importance of the relationship between women and their midwives during the pregnancy, birth and postnatal journey, we continue to implement continuity of carer within maternity services, a key recommendation of The Best Start. The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2024-25 reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that more women receive care and support from the same midwife from pregnancy through birth, prioritising those most likely to benefit, including women with additional social needs.

More broadly, our ambition is for a Scotland where health outcomes are equitable across the population so that all women enjoy the best possible health – throughout their lives. This remains the ambition of the Scottish Government, and will continue to be our guiding principle as we consider the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan.

Social Security Scotland has an established process for requesting information from GPs. The initial request will always be sent through the Scottish Care Information Gateway system, unless we are informed otherwise. If no response is received Social Security Scotland will contact the GP by telephone and send the request via letter if required.

Social Security Scotland recognise the complexity of using that system, and the challenges GPs and the wider health and social care sector face in responding to information requests. They are actively working on engagement to increase awareness of Social Security Scotland and to identify potential improvements in how they can gather supporting information to ensure applications are processed as quickly and effectively as possible.

This engagement activity has started, utilising in-house Health and Social Care Practitioners to offer discussions at the GP practice when they are in contact about one of their patients.

Social Security Scotland will continue to work with senior leaders in Health & Social Care Partnerships and Health Boards in 2025 to offer similar meetings to raise awareness and understand how we can improve communication.

We welcome the important work of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease in raising awareness of COPD and welcome the findings in their annual report. We are committed to ensuring that people living with COPD receive the best possible care and treatment to enable them to live longer, healthier, and more independent lives.

Our Respiratory Care Action Plan and new Prescribing Guide set out our ambitions for better access to COPD care in Scotland. The Centre for Sustainable Delivery are also developing a national clinical pathway for COPD through their Respiratory Specialist Delivery Group.

We recognise there is more work to be done on respiratory care in Scotland and are continuing to focus on preventative approaches such as warm homes, clean air and our commitment to be a tobacco-free Scotland by 2034.

The following table includes estimated costs to extend the 40% relief for hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate to retail premises liable for the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates respectively. These costs are in addition to the forecast cost of the 40% relief for hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate and are net of existing reliefs (such as the Small Business Bonus Scheme) that we expect businesses to be awarded in 2025-26. A £110,000 cap has been applied at business level and a take-up adjustment of 70% has been applied, which is consistent with the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts.

When considering relief for properties liable for the Intermediate and Higher rates, the estimated costs are additional to the cost of relief for retail properties liable for the lower rate(s). Offering 40% relief for retail properties liable for Basic and Intermediate Property Rates, capped at £110,000 per business, for example would cost an estimated £52m (in addition to the cost of offering 40% relief to hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate, capped at £110,000 per business).

Relief cost estimates are based on the property classification as per the valuation roll. Properties could be used for other purposes, however. It should be noted that use-based non-domestic rates relief is only available where a property is wholly or mainly used for a specific purpose.

Source: Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October 2024; local councils’ billing information as at 1 June 2024

On 4 December 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Local Government announced a draft Scottish Budget for 2025-26. Included in the draft Budget was the commitment to continue mitigating some of the negative impacts of UK Government policy decisions, including the bedroom tax and benefit cap, and a new commitment to develop the systems necessary to effectively scrap the impact of the two-child limit in 2026. The Child Poverty Action Group has estimated that the change could lift 15,000 children in Scotland out of poverty.

Subject to the approval of Parliament, the Scottish Government will invest over £97 million in Discretionary Housing Payments in 2025-26 to mitigate the bedroom tax and benefit cap and provide additional housing support. This is an increase of nearly £7 million over 2024-25 and more per person than any other UK nation.

In addition to the above support, an additional £20 million was recently added to the Scottish Welfare Fund to enable councils to provide more vital support to people in crisis, bringing the total investment for 2024-25 up to £61 million. Shortfalls in the UK social security system have contributed to an increased demand on the fund, and we will continue to closely monitor spend and demand trends as we look ahead to the next financial year.

The Scottish Government wants all children and young people to develop mutually respectful, responsible and confident relationships.

While there are no plans to introduce anything specific into the school curriculum on this subject, we encourage bus operators to work locally with educational establishments. Transport Scotland are developing a behaviour code covering all concessionary bus passengers and align with existing operators’ conditions of carriage.

Transport Scotland will work with key partners to ensure that this code is widely publicised.

The total size of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is £34 million. The UK government budget committed funding from which Barnett consequentials will be received, however, these are accrued to the Scottish Government as a whole and it is for Scottish Ministers to decide how they should be allocated based on their priorities.

A total of 28 projects have been funded through the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF). Refer to the Scottish Government website which includes a list of projects that have received SIETF grant offers from 2021 to 2024, along with case studies.