Chamber and committees

The bay at Arrochar was chosen as the location of a marine litter case study in Loch Long in 2017. Since then, a total of £183,827.78 has been spent on litter removal at the site. This includes the cost of heavy machinery contracting, haulage, and the disposal of the mixed debris. Costs have varied annually according the amount of material washed ashore requiring removal.

Inclusion Health Action in General Practice is a new programme, which will be evaluated. In the first instance funding will be targeted to practices in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde due to it having the most widespread blanket deprivation in Scotland. 81 of the 100 practices serving Scotland’s most deprived communities are within greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The Scottish Government provides an annual allocation to Health Boards to meet the costs of providing general medical services either through contracting with GP practices or directly by Health Boards. NHS Grampian will continue to receive an appropriate level of funding based on the practice’s registered patients.

Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership and NHS Grampian are keeping my officials abreast of developments.

Our key Affordable Housing Supply Programme performance indicators are linked to our current target to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% are for social rent and 10% in remote, rural and island communities.

Quarterly statistics on the number of homes, approved, started and completed within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme Summary Tables on our website at Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

In addition, we publish an annual out-turn report which shows progress against rural delivery. Out-turn reports can be found on our webpage at Affordable Housing Supply Programme - More homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the report for 2021-22 is due to be published shortly.

The Scottish Government does not hold information about the number of NHS dental practices that have stopped offering NHS treatment.

NHS Boards make arrangements with independent dental contractors to provide NHS General Dental Services. Individual health boards should be able to advise on the number of dentists who have resigned their list number for providing NHS services in their area.

As non-executive directors (NXDs) are not employees of the Scottish Government but appointees of the Permanent Secretary, they are remunerated through the payment of quarterly Fees as opposed salaries. Alongside receiving quarterly Fees for their services, NXDs are also entitled to be reimbursed for relevant travel and accommodation expenses in line with the Scottish Government’s Travel and Subsistence policy.

Remuneration of NXD Fees and Expenses in each year since 2016:

Spend on our trunk road improvement projects is managed within the Capital Land and Works allocation of £121.9 million as part of the Motorway and Trunk Roads Spending Plans set out in the Scottish Budget: 2023-24. This covers preparation and delivery of a range of projects and programmes including A9 Dualling Perth to Inverness, the A83 Rest and Be Thankful medium and long options and improvements to the A96 corridor as well as a number of other projects and programmes. Spend on each individual project is managed with the Capital Land and Works allocation budget line which reflects the scope of work anticipated to be taken forward within the financial year.

The Blue Flag programme in Scotland was discontinued at the end of 2016 and replaced with the Scottish Beach Awards scheme. Keep Scotland Beautiful will announce the 2023 beach awards winners before the start of the bathing season. In order for a beach to achieve an award there is a criteria for local environmental quality, which includes consideration of the bathing water quality standards.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring, classifying protecting and improving water quality at designated bathing waters. 98% of bathing waters currently meet the bathing water standards with more beaches being classified as excellent than ever before.

The Women’s Health Plan includes a medium-term action to “ensure women are properly supported around the time of menopause to assess their future risk of osteoporosis and fractures and given appropriate lifestyle advice” and action is being taken to progress this work.

On 5 th April, Professor Anna Glasier, the Women’s Health Champion, met with the Royal Osteoporosis Society to discuss the higher risk of osteoporosis for women and the impact that this has on their health outcomes in later life.

In addition, accessible information has been made available to women via the menopause resource on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform. The resource highlights that women who have been through menopause are at an increased risk of developing osteoporosis as a result of the lower level of oestrogen in the body and provides advice on what women can do to reduce their chances of developing osteoporosis. Information is included on lifestyle changes like exercise and nutrition to improve bone health as well as advice on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

The Scottish Government has also commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to create a bespoke training package and framework focussed on menopause and menstrual health for GPs and others working in Primary Care. This package will take a life course approach, including ensuring healthcare professionals are able to support women in being aware of the risk of osteoporosis around the time of menopause – and what can help.

The content of the Bill has not been finalised but the majority of the measures being considered for inclusion have already been subject to consultation. In late 2021, the New Deal for Tenants consultation was issued seeking views on a wide range of rented sector reform measures, including the introduction of a national system of rent control. A joint Scottish Government/ COSLA consultation was held on proposals for new prevention of homelessness duties early in 2022. The responses to both consultations are informing the development of our proposals.