Chamber and committees

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.

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:

The Scottish Safety Camera Handbook is kept under continuous review by the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board which provides strategic support and direction to the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. This acts to ensure safety camera resources continue to maximise their casualty reduction potential to communities across Scotland.

ScotRail implemented the consulted timetable in South West Scotland in May 2022 and advised this was a new starting point and passenger use would be closely monitored. As a result, in May 2023, a further five additional services will operate during the day between Ayr and Kilmarnock, improving access to employment, education, healthcare and leisure facilities for communities in south west Scotland, as many of these services originate or terminate at Girvan.

ScotRail advise that there are currently no plans to change the five trains per day which currently operate between Girvan and Stranraer – these operate at the times customers told ScotRail were most useful to them. ScotRail will continue to monitor passenger use of rail services to Stranraer and engage with communities to ensure the service level meets local needs.

Transport Scotland officials regularly meet with the A77 Action group, to which representatives from the ferry operators are invited. Meeting invites to these meetings are sent to PO Ferries, Belfast Harbour and Stena Line.

The last meeting of this group was held on 3 February 2023, however, the last meeting attended by ferry operators was in September 2022.

Representatives from Transport Scotland’s operating company AMEY also meet the ferry operators on an ad hoc basis, as part of the consultation process around planned roadworks on the trunk road network.

The Scottish MPA Monitoring Strategy sets out the Scottish Government approach to MPA related survey and monitoring to meet the requirements of assessing and reporting under a number of legislative and policy drivers including the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. To meet these reporting and assessment obligations there is a need to gather appropriate evidence to assess the condition of the sites and determine whether any implemented management measures are proving effective. This information has contributed to reports such as Scotland's Marine Assessment 2020 and the 2018 Report to Parliament.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) could provide to eligible patients with essential tremor. However, we do not formally assess the impact of clinical interventions.

A consortium of 12 NHS Health Boards has procured a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for Scotland which is described as National LIMS.

NHS Fife will be the first Board to make use of the intelligent Liver Function Tests (iLFT) with the roll out of National LIMS in 2023. Roll out will then follow across the rest of the consortium over the next few years.

Whilst national LIMS implementation in Scotland is in its early stages, some NHS Boards already utilise iLFT and have this capability within their current LIMS.

Those Boards that are not part of the consortium can also procure the product should they wish to do so.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities. The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Despite UK Government cuts, the Scottish Government has protected Councils in the most challenging Budget since devolution to provide nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement – a cash increase of over £793 million or 6.3%, which is a real terms increase of £376 million or 3%.

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland have a shared vision for a culture that values openness and learning and supports continuous improvement. Health Boards are responsible for delivering safe, effective and person-centred care at a local level, which includes identifying and monitoring instances of patient misdiagnosis and adverse events. The Scottish Government has legislated and has implemented procedures to support this:

• The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 provides a specific right for people to make complaints, raise concerns, make comments and give feedback about their care, and places a duty on Boards to thoroughly investigate and respond to concerns raised, and to monitor all feedback with a view to improving the services they provide.

• The NHS model Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP) was revised in 2017 to support a more consistent, person-centred approach to complaints handling across NHS Scotland.

• The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018make it a legal requirement for all care providers, including Health Boards, to review certain types of adverse events, meet personally with those affected, offer an apology and consider how the learning from these events can be applied.

• Since 2020, Health Boards have been required to notify Healthcare Improvement Scotland of any Category 1 Significant Adverse Event Reviews commissioned. These reviews support NHS Health Boards to improve services by learning from adverse events, reducing the risk of them happening again, and providing public assurance that adverse events are effectively managed.

• In addition, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), which is independent of Scottish Government,looks into complaints about most organisations providing public services in Scotland, including Health Boards. The SPSO will create reports following an investigation, which will include their decision, any recommendations to put things right, and the deadline by which the organisation must carry out these recommendations.

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland have a shared vision for a culture that values openness and learning and supports continuous improvement. Health Boards are responsible for delivering safe, effective and person-centred care at a local level, which includes identifying and monitoring instances of patient misdiagnosis and adverse events. The Scottish Government has legislated and has implemented procedures to support this:

• The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 provides a specific right for people to make complaints, raise concerns, make comments and give feedback about their care, and places a duty on Boards to thoroughly investigate and respond to concerns raised, and to monitor all feedback with a view to improving the services they provide.
  
• The NHS model Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP) was revised in 2017 to support a more consistent, person-centred approach to complaints handling across NHS Scotland.
  
• The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018make it a legal requirement for all care providers, including Health Boards, to review certain types of adverse events, meet personally with those affected, offer an apology and consider how the learning from these events can be applied.
  
• Since 2020, Health Boards have been required to notify Healthcare Improvement Scotland of any Category 1 Significant Adverse Event Reviews commissioned. These reviews support NHS Health Boards to improve services by learning from adverse events, reducing the risk of them happening again, and providing public assurance that adverse events are effectively managed.
  
• In addition, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), which is independent of Scottish Government, looks into complaints about most organisations providing public services in Scotland, including Health Boards. The SPSO will create reports following an investigation, which will include their decision, any recommendations to put things right, and the deadline by which the organisation must carry out these recommendations.