Chamber and committees

Independent dentists and dental bodies corporate make claims for items of treatment provided under NHS General Dental Services. As part of the claims process, patient charges, where appropriate, are also recorded. Practitioner Services of National Services Scotland reimburses claims on behalf of NHS Boards, and data on activity is summarised and published under quarterly official statistics by Public Health Scotland.

Full budget allocations for 2024-25 are still to be confirmed.

In 2023-24, Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) received funding exceeding £112 million. We anticipate that this funding will be maintained in 2024-25.

Annual ADP funding is published and available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/alcohol-and-drug-partnerships-funding-allocations/

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is a Scottish parliamentary supported organisation, and the Scottish Parliament is ultimately responsible for their resourcing and for holding their performance to account.

The SPSO publishes information in their annual report regarding compliance with their recommendations ( https://www.spso.org.uk/annual-report/2022-23.html - see section entitled Performance Analysis, under heading Learning from complaints).

The SPSO's Redress Policy is available online ( https://www.spso.org.uk/sites/spso/files/communications_material/RedressPolicy.pdf ). This policy relates only to redress in relation to direct loss or harm. The SPSO can also make recommendations to listed authorities in relation to service improvement or complaints handling.

The SPSO also has a Support and Intervention policy which sets out its statutory powers and how the SPSO will use them. The policy and policy guide for Scottish public bodies on support and intervention action are both available on the SPSO's website ( https://www.spso.org.uk/support-and-intervention-policy ). The Support and Intervention policy outlines a clear escalation route where issues are not resolved, with the section 16 powers of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 sitting at Level 6 (on a scale of Level 1 to Level 6). The policy also sets out the measures in place and actions the SPSO can take to resolve any compliances issues.

The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing smart integrated ticketing and has set out its intention to develop a new national integrated ticketing system for public transport in Scotland, across all modes of transport, to enable a system that can used for all elements of a journey.

To support delivery of this, the recently established National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB) which comprises operators, transport authorities, user groups and technical experts, is set to advise Ministers on the future of smart ticketing in Scotland, including on technological standards to enable smart integration between modes. The NSTAB is currently developing their work programme for the next 3 years.

FAIRTIQ has engaged with NSTAB and will present on their smart integrated ticketing solution at an upcoming board meeting. FAIRTIQ is one example of a ticketing platform provider, and it is expected that NSTAB will consider the full range of options available for Scotland and their respective implications on cost and infrastructure. Any resulting public procurement of a new ticketing system will be required to follow public sector procurement processes to ensure best value for money.

The Scottish Government, NSTAB and stakeholders will continue to work closely together on developing these options, in order to best determine the method of delivering a new national integrated ticketing system.

As announced by HM Treasury on 14 November 2016, the Scottish Government's population-based settlement from the UK Government's Apprenticeship Levy was £221 million in 2017/18, £230 million in 2018/19 and £239 million in 2019/20. This funding was allocated as part of the block grant.

Since 2020-21 the Scottish Government has not received a specific allocation of Apprenticeship Levy revenue. Scotland receives a Barnett Formula share of funding via the block grant in the usual way.

Scottish Government exploratory analysis of HMRC data suggests that the amounts contributed by Scottish employers in 2020-21 and 2021-22 were similar to those published by HMRC for earlier years, in the region of £220 million to £240 million.

The Scottish Government fully supports the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on diagnosing and managing ME/CFS. We wrote to all Scottish health boards following its publication to raise awareness of the guidance and encourage its implementation.

We are committed to improving care for people with ME/CFS and want to facilitate constructive communication between patients and clinicians so that all parties are engaged in finding a way forward.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26094 on 26 March 2024. 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/questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government has not had discussions with COSLA or local authorities regarding apprenticeship provision for traditional trades. Skills Development Scotland have operational responsibility for apprenticeship provision and regularly engage with local authorities, for both Modern and Foundation Apprenticeship provision.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of encouraging young people to enter the social care workforce, and are working with partners to provide future sustainability to the sector and create additional career choices for those looking to leave education.

This has included a burst of marketing activity which specifically engaged with school leavers in summer 2023, and a careers event held in collaboration with Developing the Young Workforce Forth Valley in October 2023.

The Scottish Government meets with campus unions on a bi-annual basis, and representatives of the college sector in a number of forums regularly, where a range of matters important to the sector are discussed.

We expect college management and unions to work together to do everything they can to reach a pay settlement that is both fair and affordable.

However, while the Scottish Government can have no direct role in these negotiations, we will continue to engage with both management and unions as and when appropriate to do so.