Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30105 on 7 October 2024 for what initiatives the Scottish Government is currently pursuing to protect capercaillie. 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 has not conducted any formal assessment of the impact of the initiatives to protect capercaillie. However, a review commissioned by NatureScot, A Review of Capercaillie Conservation and Management - Report to the Scientific Advisory Committee, was published on 25 February 2022. The Report is the output of a sub-group of NatureScot’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) who were asked to review the evidence and advise on further measures for the conservation and management of capercaillie in Scotland, with emphasis on the core area of the species in the Cairngorms.

The plan of positive management measures based on the SAC Report recommendations, along with best available evidence and learning from work recently delivered to benefit capercaillie, including through the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project and Cairngorms Connect, is being taken forward through the Capercaillie Emergency Plan which was published on the 30 September 2024.

Through the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, NatureScot can enter into Management Agreements to compensate land owners for stopping or not adopting management practices which would damage nature on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Positive Management Agreements can also be agreed to support specialist management for nature which is not available through agri-environment or forestry support mechanisms. The amounts provided each year since 2020-21 are:

The Scottish Government accepted, in principle, the recommendations set out by the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland and are fully committed to seeing improvement in Audiology services.

Audiology is now being considered as a clinical priority area, and work is being progressed through the National Planning and Delivery Board arrangements led by the Chief Operating Officer – NHS Scotland.

In order to support with long waits, our NHS Recovery Plan sets out our plans for health and social care over the course of this parliament. The plan will support an increase in inpatient, day case, and outpatient activity to address the backlogs of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.

The practice level workforce survey was administered on behalf of The Scottish Government by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). A closing date of 31 July was set for responses. Analysis of the data is ongoing and while no specific date has been set NES are working towards a publication date towards the end of October.

The minimum number of road workers that are required to be onsite at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is 5 and 6 at the Old Military Road.

The Scottish Government published our draft strategy Palliative Care Matters for All on 2nd October 2024. The draft strategy builds on extensive work with stakeholders to date and the consultation is open until 10 January 2025. We look forward to receiving any comments on the draft strategy in due course.

There are 1423 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Scotland, the majority of which have one or more private owners. 88.2% of all SSSIs cover the properties of one or more private owners.

Many specialist medicines, often referred to as "biologics", and including the disease modifying medicines for multiple sclerosis (MS), are normally managed by secondary care specialists, but supplied to patients in their homes, most often by homecare medicines (HCM) suppliers. A number of these companies operate in the Scottish market.

The national HCM dataset is a relatively new resource and is still developing as new suppliers come onstream and start providing data (including, where available, retrospective data from January 2019). As a new resource, and because these medicines can have multiple supply models, work is being undertaken to validate the completeness and accuracy of the national HCM dataset in comparison with local registries, where local registries are available.

It is anticipated that, in the future, the national HCM dataset, either itself or through linkage with other datasets, will become a valuable resource in helping to better understand treatments pathways and the beneficial outcomes or otherwise from these types of medicines, as well as helping to identify any unwarranted variation in clinical practice or access to treatment.

We continue to work alongside the Poverty Alliance and others to support the aims of Taking Action on Rural Poverty.

Scottish Government officials are currently working in partnership with the Poverty Alliance in preparation for Challenge Poverty week, including presenting at the event launch on the 4th of October.

As part of Challenge Poverty Week, both myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity will visit rural projects supported by the Scottish Government’s Community Led Local Development fund which aim to tackle Child Poverty.

In June 2024 officials also attended a Taking Action on Rural Poverty - Learning Partnership, meeting with rural poverty stakeholders, including the Poverty Alliance to explore further opportunities to address rural and island child poverty.

The Scottish Government expects that health and care professionals will support patients with cancer to help them understand their condition and explain the options open to them, including around self-monitoring their condition where appropriate.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with third sector support services for cancer. We are currently in partnership with Macmillan to improve the service we offer patients with cancer through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme. This joint partnership with Macmillan is worth £27 million and is the first of its kind in the UK. The programme ensures that every patient with cancer in Scotland has access to specialist key support worker, who can provide emotional, financial, and practical support to those who need it most.

We have also piloted 12 Single Point of Contact (SPoC) sites, which allow an individual to work through their individual needs and design a care pathway that works best for them. Learning from this programme is demonstrating the role of SPoC in improving communication and optimising collaborative working across health, care and third sectors. We are considering how best to scale up this approach to the benefit of all patients, including those with blood cancer.