Chamber and committees

I can confirm a surveillance framework was introduced in February 2022 and this framework has been implemented in all Health Boards. The surveillance waiting lists have been re-validated and categorised by diagnosis and risk category. In addition, waiting list triage tools such as qFIT, and endoscopy alternatives such as Cytosponge, and Colon Capsule Endoscopy have been introduced.

The Scottish Government published its Heat in Buildings Strategy in October 2021, which commits us, subject to legal competence, to introduce new regulations to require all buildings to reach a good level of energy efficiency by 2033, and use zero emissions heating and cooling systems by 2045.

As set out in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government will consult in detail on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill this year. This will include further detail on how we propose to introduce regulations by 2025 to set minimum standards for energy efficiency equivalent to EPC C across all private housing, with backstop dates of 2028 for private rented sector (PRS) homes and 2033 for owner occupied properties, where cost effective and technically feasible.

Since November 2021 twenty Nurse (non-medical) Practitioners have completed the course for non-medical endoscopy with a further two due to complete the course in April 2023. There are currently also a further 18 in active training. All non-medical Practitioners who commenced the programme have completed or remain in active training.

I have written an introductory letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury which was copied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I will meet with the Chief Secretary on 2 May to discuss matters such as the cost of living crisis, NHS funding and the Scottish Government’s priorities.

I would welcome a meeting with the Chancellor to discuss the key issues facing Scotland, including how the UK Government might use its reserved powers to provide more support for our people, businesses and public sector through these difficult times.

The National Endoscopy Training Programme, launched in 2022, has supported 99 trainee endoscopists for basic courses to date. The programme has also supported 102 independent endoscopists with upskilling, and a further 24 senior trainee endoscopists with training and procedure numbers to support independent endoscopy certification.

There are also currently 222 trainee doctors within NHS Scotland across three training specialities who can perform, or are in training to perform, endoscopy; 32 in Urology, 47 in Gastroenterology and 147 in General Surgery.

The Scottish Government supports Mens Sheds in a number of ways, and has made the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA) an offer of £75,000 funding for 2023/24 which has been accepted by their Board. This funding will help them build a sustainable business model and develop a future fundraising strategy for 2024/25 onwards, that can attract a wider range of funders independent of Scottish Government support.

The Scottish Government has provided £570,000 to the SMSA since 2016/17, and a further £150,000 to Age Scotland. This £720,000 investment has helped the movement grow in Scotland to over 200 sheds today. Funding has also been provided to individual Mens Sheds including £111,709 in 2021/22 from the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults.

The Scottish Government is committed to funding the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools, as well as introducing free year round breakfast and lunch provision to support eligible children and young people outside of the school term.

Currently, all primary school pupils in primaries one to five, all children in special schools, and eligible pupils in Primary 6 through to S6 can benefit from free school lunches in Scotland – the most generous provision anywhere in the UK, saving parents £400 per eligible child per year.

We have also provided £21.75m of funding for free school meal alternatives to eligible families during the school holidays. This is administered by local authorities as a cash payment directly to families.

There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have begun work with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map that provision. That process is ongoing and will feed into future plans as they develop.

In addition, we have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing care before and after school and in the holidays, which will be funded for those on lowest incomes. As we design a system of school age childcare, we will integrate food and childcare provision wherever possible recognising the benefit to children and families of coordinating food, childcare and activities.

As a result of the difficult decisions which had to be taken through the Emergency Budget review, recruitment of the 1,000 additional roles to support community mental health resilience, ensuring every GP Practice has access to a mental health and wellbeing service has not yet commenced. We have already prioritised significant investment to build mental health capacity in primary care through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and the Primary Care Improvement Fund.

We remain committed to improving mental health service provision in primary care settings. We are therefore working closely with stakeholders, including the Mental Health in Primary Care National Oversight Group, to develop plans to best use the resource available across the system in 2023-24, and in future years to improve support, assessment and treatment in primary care settings.

I can confirm that this programme was developed and nine Urology Nurse (non-medical) Advanced Practitioners with cystoscopy skills completed the programme in February 2023 and nine are due for completion February 2024.

The amount raised by the victim surcharge is entirely dependent on the number and value of fines imposed by the courts. Only individuals or organisations who have been cautioned after the Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 came into force on 25 November 2019 are affected. Such cases take time to progress through the court, and the pandemic also impacted on court capacity and therefore court disposals including fines.

An estimate that £800,000 per year could be collected in the fund after four or five years, based on collection rates at that time, was shared with the Justice Committee in October 2019.