Information presented in the annual and bi-annual Homelessness in Scotland publications is based on quarterly homelessness applications and temporary accommodation data provided to the Scottish Government by local authorities.

There are rigorous quality assurance processes in place for the data provided by local authorities. Validation checks are in place with summary reports prepared for checking by local authorities. Scottish Government statisticians undertake further in-depth quality assurance on the data and follows up with local authorities to confirm or correct data as necessary prior to publication. This has included enhanced quality assurance on the reporting of breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO), following on from reporting inconsistencies and inaccuracies that were uncovered due to COVID-19 exceptions that were put in place, and the extension of the UAO (to all households) over the same period.

Where specific data issues are brought to the attention of Scottish Government, these are investigated and followed up on with local authorities as necessary. Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities to ensure the data provided is as accurate as possible for future publications.

Further information on the quality assurance of homelessness data collections is available on the homelessness statistics webpages.

Scottish Government's ambition is that women and girls enjoy the best possible health, throughout their lives and this will continue to be our guiding principle as we develop the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan.

Any future topics or priorities for the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan are yet to be decided. Priorities will be agreed in collaboration with women and girls, clinical experts, other relevant stakeholders and our Women’s Health Champion, using the most up-to-date evidence base.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office supports open competitive grant and fellowship schemes for applied health research in Scotland across a wide remit that is inclusive of consideration of applications for research relating to prostate cancer. Applications submitted to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees. While projects on prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment have been awarded funding in the course of these schemes, in the period from 2019 to date, no funding awards have been made for research specifically relating to prostate cancer screening test development.

The Environmental Health Policy Co-ordination Group consists of representatives from across Scottish Government, Food Standards Scotland, COSLA, the Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland and SOLACE.

Should matters arise concerning educational and wider regulatory interests, then members representing these organisations are advised and invited to attend the group for awareness or to provide relevant updates.

Therefore, the University of West of Scotland and the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland are invited to attend meetings, when there is an update which is of interest to group members.

Regulation 6 of The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 states that Scottish Ministers should be informed of the death of a child who is looked after. In addition, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 inserted a statutory duty in the Children (Scotland) 1995 Act requiring local authorities to notify Scottish Ministers and the Care Inspectorate of the death of a care leaver in receipt of a Continuing Care or Aftercare service.

Data from the Care Inspectorate states the confirmed causes of death from 2016 to 15 October 2024 of any young person who was looked after or a care leaver receiving an Aftercare or Continuing Care service.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults is distributed in all 32 regions of Scotland by Third Sector Interface (TSI) organisations who allocate funding in line with the National Fund Guidance.

TSIs are required to submit monitoring and reporting data annually, including information on the number and value of awards granted, types of organisations funded, key priorities and target groups reached, aims of funded projects and overall spend including any underspend.

This data informs the content of the Reporting and Monitoring Summary which is published for each year of the Fund.

The published reports can be found here. Wellbeing and prevention - Mental health - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

From Year 2 of the Fund (2022-23) Scottish Government has also requested that TSIs collect standard evaluation data from organisations to demonstrate the impact of the Fund on their specific projects. This includes information on: what the project expected to do compared to what they did; the activities and level of participants; and the outcomes and challenges/changes of the project.

An external evaluation of Year 1 of the Fund was commissioned by the Scottish Government. The findings were published in July 2023 and can be found here:

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The £15 million per annum funding for Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services is provided by grants from the Scottish Government to all 32 local authorities. The funding allocations are calculated and distributed based on the number of children and young people in each local authority area, with appropriate adjustments made to take account of the deprivation level and rurality of each area.

Local authorities administer the funding at a local level and determine which supports and services to implement on the basis of locally-identified need and in line with the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services Framework.

Local authorities are required to provide the Scottish Government with annual profiles of expenditure and statements of compliance at the end of the financial year, and must keep the Scottish Government informed of any changes to estimated expenditure each year.

Local authorities also report annually on data including numbers of people accessing support, age and gender of service users, reasons for presenting at the services, and numbers of people reporting an improved outcome. Summaries of this information are published retrospectively by the Scottish Government at https://www.gov.scot/publications/access-to-counsellors-in-secondary-schools-and-children-and-young-peoples-community-mental-health-services-summary-reports/.

The decision to enhance public authorities' inclusive communication through guidance, tools, and training was communicated in a letter by myself, issued to stakeholders on 14 August 2024. Officials are now undertaking a scoping exercise and gap analysis endeavouring to work with partners in this and will continue to communicate updates on this work as it progresses.

As a harm reduction service, there is no intention that staff would record or report suspected crimes in relation to the possession of drugs. The service will collate information on the substances being reported by service users but this will be anonymous and for the purposes of the city’s drug harms agenda in relation to gathering intelligence to support wider service responses. Staff working in the service are not expected to determine whether a crime in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is being committed.

Police Scotland will record any crime in the usual manner, there is no change to either Police Scotland or crime reporting where they find people to be committing a crime, including those under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

In our pilot programme, all 107 pilot entries are undergoing necessary pre-assessment checks, if in scope they will proceed to a developer or Government led Single Building Assessment (SBA). We have identified 12 pilot entries in scope, without a linked developer, and have confirmed that we are commissioning SBAs as a priority. This includes 4 in Edinburgh and 8 in Glasgow.