Chamber and committees

The legal responsibility for ongoing data collection on attendance and absence from schools rests with education authorities. This information is collected on behalf of education authorities by the SEEMiS system, managed by the SEEMiS Group.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes Accredited Official Statistics on the attendance and absence of pupils from schools. These statistics include analysis of attendance rates by pupil characteristics, reason for absence and rates of persistent absence. Beginning with the 2024-25 school year these statistics will be collected and published on an annual basis.

We outlined our plans to reform and modernise mental health legislation in Scotland in our “Mental Health Capacity Reform: Delivery Plan” published in June 2024 (Mental Health and Capacity Reform: delivery plan October 2023 to April 2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)).

The plan sets out the recommendations of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (SMHLR) that will be considered in the short to medium term. We have sought to prioritise areas of potential change that can be achieved as quickly as possible, within existing resources, as well as starting new work to scope and develop options for future reform. This includes work to consider various aspects of the scope of compulsory care and treatment within the 2003 Act; work around the operation of named persons within the mental health tribunal system; and advance statement safeguards.

We are taking staged approach to mental health law reform due to the scope, complexity, and inter-related nature of the SMHLR recommendations with other significant ongoing policy developments. This approach recognises the pressure on budgets and services and the challenges of delivering further change and reform at a time when there is significant wider transformation across the health and social care sectors.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the A96. This is despite stark challenges we face due to severe budgetary restrictions, as a result of the UK Government’s cut to our capital funding of almost 9% over five years.

The current plan is to fully dual the route and as part of this process we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, which includes a climate compatibility assessment and other statutory assessments.

The significant interest in the review’s initial consultation, with nearly 4,600 responses, generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor. It is only right that appropriate time has been taken in order to properly examine and fully appraise these.

It is expected that the draft outcomes from the Review, including the climate compatibility assessment, will be consulted on this Autumn, before a final decision can be reached.

In November 2023 Scottish Government statisticians identified technical issues with the automatic data processing and updating of some of the data sources on the Energy Statistics Hub. This affected the formatted display of some of the figures and charts on the hub. Work is continuing to resolve the issue and updates are being processed as quickly as possible.

Updates to the underlying data sources and publication of Scotland's quarterly energy statistics are unaffected and there has been no delay in the quarterly publication of any of the Scottish Government’s energy statistics. The next Energy Statistics Quarterly publication is on Thursday 26 September 2024.

Key energy statistics are published on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish Government is responsible for overseeing Scotland’s statutory planning system which manages the development and use of land in the long-term public interest. Applications for planning permission for the extraction of minerals in Scotland must be made to the relevant local planning authority and Scottish Ministers only rarely intervene. Our Fourth National Planning Framework, published and adopted by Scottish Ministers in 2023 guides spatial development, sets out national planning policies, designates national developments and highlights regional spatial priorities. It is part of the development plan, and so influences planning decisions across Scotland.

Where any mineral extraction takes place, relevant environmental authorisation requirements will apply ensuring continuing environmental protection.

Local authorities are responsible for service provision at household waste recycling centres, and for any decisions regarding any expansion of reuse options. The Scottish Government has, through the Recycling Improvement Fund, supported projects led by Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Stirling Councils to improve reuse at household waste recycling centres. This includes setup of a reuse shop and enhancing on-site facilities to enable storage of reuse items. In addition, guidance was published by Zero Waste Scotland in June 2024 to help local authorities move to a reuse first approach at Household Waste Recycling Centres. The guidance, Making reuse happen at Household Waste Recycling Centres: Guidance for local authorities, is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website: mf-kq5rq09l-1720088177d (zerowastescotland.org.uk).

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 requires Scottish Ministers to prepare a circular economy strategy. In preparing the strategy Scottish Ministers must have regard to the waste hierarchy, including preparing for reuse.

In addition, a new statutory Household Recycling Code of Practice, which will be co-designed with local authorities and other stakeholders, will set out standards expected of, and steps to be taken by, local authorities in carrying out their waste management functions in so far as they relate to the collection and recycling (including preparation for reuse) of household waste. The co-design process may also create an opportunity to agree that information is provided to householders about reuse and repair opportunities in their area. However, the new Code could not prescribe mandatory requirements for reuse or repair services as these do not fall within local authority statutory waste management functions.

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.

The Scottish Government has not had any direct engagement with Natural Power regarding the Climate Neutral Milngavie project.

We did fund a feasibility study via our CARES (Community and Renewable Energy Scheme) programme, delivered by Local Energy Scotland. The feasibility study looked to determine what can be deployed to generate heat and power and related climate solutions for Milngavie. Natural Power was contracted by Local Energy Scotland in 2022 to undertake the study. The final report was delivered by Natural Power and presented to the MCC group at The Fraser Centre, Milngavie in April 2024.

Public Health Scotland have provided some limited information regarding those who have had an inpatient hospital admission which includes a diagnosis of ‘exposure to excessive natural cold’.

Table 1 below provides information on the number of hospital admissions within NHS Scotland for people aged 65 and over treated for “natural exposure to cold weather” since 2010. The code ‘exposure to excessive natural cold’ is only captured where this has been clearly stated by a clinician and is likely an underestimation of the number of people admitted to hospital who had been exposed to excessive natural cold.

Table 1: Number of people aged 65 and over admitted to hospital and treated for natural exposure to cold weather since 2010

We remain determined to deliver improved A&E performance and are working with Health Boards to reduce delays by enhancing patient flow at our acute sites. Through our Urgent and Unscheduled Care Collaborative Programme, work is underway to strengthen arrangements to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions by utilising services such as Same Day Emergency Care and Hospital at Home.

To release capacity within the system, NHS Boards are enhancing the discharge process – ensuring that every patient has an effective discharge date, agreed through multidisciplinary working, to avoid being delayed in hospital once clinically fit for discharge.

Boards are also supporting the public to access the right care in the right place by optimising Flow Navigation Centres and have been increasing capacity at NHS 24 which now has the highest level of call handlers on record.

Having the right, basic principles in place in the acute hospital will improve flow, reduce long waits due to exit block and ultimately benefit A&E performance.