The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 ("the Act") requires Scottish Ministers to publish a national Good Food Nation Plan. Work on the first iteration of the plan is currently underway. The Scottish Government published a draft of the national Good Food Nation Plan for consultation earlier this year. The analysis of consultation responses has now been published and officials are currently revising the Plan with regard to the consultation responses. The revised Plan will be laid in Scottish Parliament for consideration and comment before final publication.

The Act also requires that relevant authorities (currently defined as health boards and local authorities) must produce their own Good Food Nation Plans and these must be published within 12 months of commencement of section 10 of the Act. Relevant authorities are required to have regard to the content of the national Plan when preparing their own Plans. The Scottish Government's intention is that commencement of section 10 takes place around the time of the publication of the national Good Food Nation Plan.

The number of complaints the Agricultural Wages Enforcement Team have investigated that involved the use of interpreters, over the past five years, is:

The requested information on what percentage of frontline healthcare staff currently employed by NHS (a) Highland, (b) Western Isles, (c) Orkney, (d) Shetland and (e) Grampian are due to retire in the next (i) year and (ii) five years is not centrally held.

The information requested is not held centrally and is a matter for the Health Boards referred to in the question.

NatureScot and Scottish Forestry are currently putting together a project plan to build on the existing Ancient Woodland Inventory to develop the new National Register of Ancient Woodlands. The new National Register of Ancient Woodlands will be an important element of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and associated Delivery plan, which was recently published.

NHS Near Me continues to be an option for online appointments, where appropriate, for those who wish to and can interact in this way. The service does not require large broadband speeds to work effectively, however patients have the option to test their broadband speed or access a digital hub near their home. Further information can be found at: https://www.nearme.scot/

The Scottish Government fully expects NHS Boards to meet agreed broadband and infrastructure requirements set out in infrastructure standards. To support NHS Boards and the public, The Scottish Government has invested around £1 billion on digital programmes – including Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB).

The Scottish Government is aware of the unique needs of our rural and islands communities, and that these needs vary significantly from place to place. We recognise that there is no “one size fits all” approach which will work for every community, and that harnessing the local knowledge of staff working within these areas can play an important role in improving healthcare outcomes.

That is why the work of the NHS Scotland remote, rural and islands task and finish group that we have convened is being led by representatives from across our rural and island Health Boards.

The group is working to develop a framework for sustainable delivery of healthcare services in rural and island communities. We aim to develop a model with services provided as local as possible and specialised as necessary in order to ensure equity of outcomes. The leadership, collaboration and innovation that our rural and island Board representatives are bringing to this group will ensure this work meets the needs of the communities they serve.

In 2024-25 the Scottish Government has invested £113.5 Million in digital health and care technologies.

The Scottish Government has not conducted any specific studies to monitor whether the current GP contract has resulted in a widening disparity between remote and rural healthcare provision and urban healthcare provision, however we have well-established reporting arrangements in place at the national level to monitor implementation of the GP contract by HSCPs. These reporting arrangements allow us to gain both quantitative and qualitative information on progress.

The National Performance Framework Quality of Care Experience indicator measures people’s rating of the overall care provided by their general practice over time, including a breakdown by urban/rural classification.

One of the key aims of the new palliative care strategy, Palliative Care Matters for All, is that, by 2030, adults and children in Scotland will have more equitable access to well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around dying and bereavement support based on what matters to them, including support for families and carers.

Development of the draft strategy was informed by evidence gathering, guided by a Strategy Steering Group and a number of expert working groups. This included carrying out surveys mapping palliative care delivery across Scotland, including in rural and island communities.

The outputs of this work have given us a clearer picture of the delivery and accessibility of palliative care across Scotland, which has helped to inform the actions set out in the draft strategy.