Chamber and committees

We recognise the challenges facing remote and rural NHS Boards in balancing paramount safety considerations with the delivery of care as close to home as practicable. Work is ongoing to ensure that services are developed in a flexible way, recognising local population needs and geographic challenges. We expect NHS Boards to engage constructively with local communities in this and understand that there is significant community engagement work already underway across remote and rural NHS Board areas.

Figures for median travel distance for obstetric and/ or gynaecology services are not collected centrally. The requested Information on how many obstetrics and gynaecology consultants have been recruited across all NHS Boards in each of the past 5 years can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence . NHS Boards are responsible for planning and delivering local services, including maternity services. This includes planning where those services should be located, based on local population need and any geographic challenges, and staff recruitment.

Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (formerly known as Early Cancer Diagnostic Centre) are established within existing NHS infrastructure.

RCDSs provide primary care with access to a new fast-track diagnostic pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer, such as weight loss and fatigue. So far, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Fife, NHS Dumfries & Galloway and NHS Borders have established a RCDS with NHS Lanarkshire expected to be operational by June 2023.

In response to the recommendations from ‘Impact of Scotland’s Developing Young Workforce Strategy on Education’ we are working with partners, including the employer led DYW network, to develop a delivery plan. The plan will build on the progress that we are making in supporting a record number of school leavers into an initial positive destination.

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.

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.

All reports of food crime received by Food Standards Scotland are investigated and appropriate action is taken. For matters out with Food Standards Scotland's remit they will be disseminated to partner agencies for their consideration.

Information prior to 2017-18 is unavailable as it was deleted in accordance with our standard records management practice, before the date of your request.

Funding at the local level is distributed through alcohol and drug partnerships and many of the projects and organisations we support at the national level also work in both alcohol and drugs, therefore it is not possible to disaggregate funding allocated specifically for drug services rather than drug and alcohol services.

Alcohol and Drug Partnerships commission services from both statutory and third sector providers. Data on how this funding is broken down is not held centrally. Financial accounts are published annually by Health Boards and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) and accessible via each areas website.

Scottish Government funding for drug and alcohol services is allocated to various organisations these are grouped below as:

• Core Funded Organisations (CFOs)
• Other third sector organisations
• Distributed via the Corra Foundation to third sector and grass roots organisations

Details of how funding was allocated by the Corra Foundation can be found in their published annual grants released from 2017 to 2021 at Publications - Corra

Table 1: funding for drug and alcohol services to third sector organisations. 2017-18 to 2022-23

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Scottish Government officials work closely with the Scottish Women's Rights Centre (SWRC) to help progress Equally Safe (Scotland’s strategy to eradicate and prevent violence against women and girls), and through the grant monitoring process for the Victim Centred Approach Fund, for which SWRC are a beneficiary.

The SFC’s Fiscal Sustainability Report is an important contribution to the debate on fiscal sustainability and highlights potential impacts of demographic change on the Scottish public finances over the next fifty years. These challenges are not unique to Scotland, and are prevalent in many high-income countries. However, Scotland lacks a full range of levers to deal with these in the way that other countries can, particularly over migration.

Within the powers at its disposal, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the public finances are on a sustainable trajectory. This will mean growing our economy and by extension our tax base, and embedding delivery and value for money at the heart of our public services. Central to this will be overseeing public service reform, focused on delivering more efficient, person-centred public services. The Fiscal Framework review will also be vital and must ensure the Scottish Government and Parliament has the necessary powers to manage the risks we face within our devolved responsibilities, and to support economic recovery. The Scottish Government’s approach to managing the public finances over the medium-term is set out in the Medium Term Financial Strategy, due to be published in May 2023.

In 2023 we will also launch a new Talent Attraction and Migration Service for Scotland, and publish an Addressing Depopulation Action Plan. And we will continue to press the UK Government to make the vital immigration reforms required to meet Scotland’s needs.

While the Scottish Government will continue to manage the public finances diligently with the powers we have, it is our view that the current constitutional settlement is insufficient to properly tackle the long-term challenges that Scotland faces. Ultimately, Scotland must be independent with full control over the economy and powers over migration to secure the stability of our public finances.

The Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade met the Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce on 18 April. The First Minister and the I had a call with the main business organisations on 20 April and the Chief Executive took part in that call. The Director General for Economy, Gregor Irwin also met the Chief Executive on 21 April. Details of all Ministerial engagements and expenses are proactively published by the Scottish Government, including the costs of travel and accommodation. The information can be accessed in the followng link: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.