Chamber and committees

From May 2021 until the end of March 2023 £4,367,055 was spent on 3,800 bikes distributed under the Free Bikes pilot. This figure includes the costs associated with various methods of providing maintenance of the bikes and we are unable to disaggregate the figure into parts (a) and (b) of the question.

In the year 2023-24 we have provided £900,000 of funding to the Cycling Scotland Free Bikes Partnership to continue the scheme, in the first quarter of the year the partnership confirmed £219,000 to 13 organisations that will deliver 612 bikes throughout the year, further funding will be confirmed as the programme continues.

The MAT Implementation Support Team (MIST) was established to work with and support local areas to build improvement-based capacity and capability so that they would be able to implement and sustain the MAT standards locally.

MIST support is provided through networking and regular support visits with a range of stakeholders including ADPs and local Health Boards to facilitate improvement work such as the sharing of good practice. Ministers have commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to run a national learning system for implementing the standards which is mainly aimed at providing support to ADPs and Health Boards by sharing best practice.

So, MIST and HIS work together on this to support local areas. The HIS learning system includes networking and webinars as well as providing insights and materials such as case studies, resources and news stories which are shared across ADPs and Health Boards.

Local areas report regularly to Ministers on progress towards implementation of the MAT standards. Public Health Scotland publishes progress in an annual National Benchmarking Report each June based on the work of MIST, and in the second annual Report published in June this year included good practice case studies provided through the HIS learning system.

MIST are also holding thematic groups for each of the standards to bring stakeholders together, and there is a planned in person work shop for MAT Standard 3 – Assertive Outreach taking place in the Autumn.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving digital access for learners and ensuring that every school aged child has access to a device by the end of this Parliament. We continue to work COSLA to progress delivery of this commitment.

To inform this process we have committed to developing a digital strategy in partnership with COSLA. This will help ensure digital provision supports the wider aims of the education system. Development of this strategy will aim to deliver the right technology, in the right place, with a workforce that knows how to use it and supporting the work to continue the rollout of devices across Scotland.

Information from local authorities indicates that around 280,000 digital devices have already been distributed to learners across Scotland (including 72,000 funded by the Scottish Government in 2020-21). These devices have been distributed in line with our council’s own digital strategies and budgets, recognising it is they who hold delivery for education locally.

I would refer initially to the statement I made on this topic to Parliament on 7 September.

Where the presence of RAAC is confirmed in a public building, we expect the owner to take appropriate measures to assess and manage any risk identified, following the Institution for Structural Engineer’s current guidance on this process.

We remain in regular contact with organisations across the public sector to seek reassurance on this matter, directly and through our cross-sector working group.

Information on RAAC and the work of our cross-sector working group, as an activity of the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety, will be published on our website.

The total number of free bikes issued during the free bikes pilot until the end of March 2023 was 3800. This number relates to bikes issued to school age children between P1 and S6. The bikes would have included a number of specialist and adaptive bikes, which can cost anything between £812 to £2,980.

Cycling Scotland has been awarded further capital grant funding to continue to offering cycles to young people through a free bikes partnership. In the first quarter of the year the partnership confirmed £219,000 to 13 organisations that will deliver 612 bikes throughout the year, further funding will be confirmed as the programme continues.

The list of buildings to be surveyed was included in the answer to question S6W-19366 on 21 July 2023. NHS Scotland Assure published the list of buildings to be surveyed on the 15th September 2023: RAAC -List of Properties v1 Jul 23 (nhs.scot) . In response to part (b) of the Question; there have, as of the 19th September 2023, been 14 properties confirmed to contain RAAC, these will also be published in due course. 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 continue to work in partnership with local authorities and COSLA on delivery plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a digital device by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026.

This work includes consideration of procurement processes and other costs related to devices, as well as developing a digital strategy for education to help ensure that digital provision supports the wider aims of the education system.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02957 on 12 October 2021. 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 .

Dental registration statistics, including the percentage of children who are registered with a NHS dentist in the Dumfries and Galloway area, are published by Public Health Scotland and can be viewed online at Dental statistics - NHS registration and participation 24 January 2023 - Dental statistics - registration and participation - Publications - Public Health Scotland .

NHS Dumfries and Galloway have appointed a Task Force to improve access to dental services in the area. Their work includes promoting Scottish Government funding, including the Scottish Dental Access Initiative grant and the Recruitment and Retention allowance, of which both incentives are available throughout the whole Board area.

On 27 July I wrote to the dental sector with a new suite of fees incentivising a full range of NHS care and treatment. The new model reduces bureaucracy, provides greater clinical freedom to NHS dental teams and reflects modern dentistry. The intention behind these payment reform measures is to better incentivise dentists to provide NHS dental care, thereby sustaining and increasing NHS dental access as we move forward.

We published the NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021, which sets out our plans for health and social care over the next 5 years. Backed by over £1 billion of funding, 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 first annual progress update was published on 4 October NHS Recovery Plan: annual progress update - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This update detailed the progress being made against the actions to address the backlog in care and meet ongoing healthcare needs for people across Scotland.

The plan will be reviewed regularly and reported on annually to ensure its actions and outcomes are delivered. We will also remain open to new ideas and initiatives that can help accelerate recovery and shape sustainable ways of working.