The Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP), in collaboration with the Scottish Division of Educational Psychologists (SDEP), and partners, are in the process of convening a working group.

This group will focus on the development of a strategy to promote more widely the role that Educational Psychologists play, as part of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce, in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold individual information on NHS patients de-registered. NHS Boards make arrangements with independent contractors and dental bodies corporate to provide NHS dental services. A practice will notify the respective NHS Board when de-registering a patient.

Official statistics published by Public Health Scotland, point to an improving picture since the lifting of the most significant pandemic restrictions on the dental sector: Dental statistics - NHS registration and participation 24 January 2023 - Dental statistics - registration and participation - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

The Scottish Government has carried out extensive work in collaboration with key organisations in the health and social care sector to scope the role and remit of a Coming Home National Support Panel that will provide genuine oversight and support to local areas in relation to the Coming Home agenda.

We are considering how the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill may provide opportunity to strengthen this work on the Coming Home programme, in particular the recommendation to establish a National Support Panel. A public consultation will launch by the end of 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23358 on 11 December 2023. 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

We currently estimate the awards of around 160,000 people will be selected for ‘managed transfer’ to Adult Disability Payment.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting people with cystic fibrosis (CF) to benefit from medicines which help them to live fuller lives, for longer. That is why we introduced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the manufacturer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in 2018. As part of the MoU, there was an expectation that Vertex would resubmit each of their CF medicines to the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for a health technology appraisal (HTA). To progress this, the SMC is collaborating with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on a multiple technology appraisal (MTA) of Vertex’s CF medicines, including Kaftrio ® .

While the NICE MTA is ongoing, I can confirm that all existing and new patients in Scotland who are on, or who are started on a CF medicine will continue to have access to that CF medicine after NICE and the SMC issue their final recommendations. This will be irrespective of the outcome of the appraisal and will cover any need to subsequently switch to a different CF medicine.

If any CF medicine is not recommended in the final MTA guidance, clinicians in Scotland will be able to request the use of that medicine on a case-by-case basis for any new patients using the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier Two process. National guidance explicitly states that Health Boards should not take account of the cost of medicines when considering applications using the PACS Tier Two system.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board, chaired by COSLA and Scottish Government produced a number of learning resources for the workforce to support children and young people’s mental health. All resources are hosted on the Digital Learning Map and will continue to be supported by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). These resources have been disseminated through key networks.

Further details on the work of the Board and links to the resources can be found in the report Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board: final report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government is working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to develop the Coming Home Practitioner Peer Support Network and this will be launched in early 2024.

HIS will bring their sector expertise in strategic improvement to bring together professionals from a range of disciplines and agencies, as well as people with lived experience, to form a Practitioner Peer Support Network to learn and share best practice. The network will provide a space for local teams to learn from others who have implemented successful services and processes, for collaborative problem-solving and to pool resources such as staff or buildings.

This is a key step in our Coming Home programme of work, which aims to reduce delayed discharge and inappropriate out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

The Scottish Government funds five direct delivery partners to carry out peatland restoration projects through the Peatland ACTION partnership - NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority and Scottish Water.

Operational and delivery aspects of the programme, such as vetting of individual applications seeking funding for their projects, are a matter for each respective delivery partner and I would refer the MSP to those organisations for further information.

To date, Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) have claimed £5 million for the Home Heating Support Fund, from a total of £9 million allocated for this financial year, with the bulk of funding expected to be distributed across the winter months.

ADS' internal controls are in place to appropriately manage the allocation of funding up to end March 2024.