Chamber and committees

The Statement of Dental Remuneration has been amended over the time period since January 2017 and now. The list of treatments in January 2017 is reflected in Amendment 133 and the current list is described in 158. These can be viewed at Statement of Dental Remuneration | Scottish Dental .

In summary, the range of care and treatment is broadly similar in both versions, however, a significant reform was delivered in February 2022 (amendment 155) which aligned child and adult examination appointments through an enhanced fee.

The 24% reduction is when comparing the total More Homes budget in 2023-24 against the total More Homes budget in 2022-23. The profile of our more than £3.5 billion commitment over this parliament varies from year to year as do its component parts which include capital, financial transactions and anticipated receipts.

The £751.945m budget for 2023-24 for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme has reduced by 4.7% from that previously planned, a net decrease of £37.320m, and will be supplemented by donations from the Charitable Bond Programme and contributions from the Heat in Buildings Fund for the installation of zero emission heating systems in affordable homes where these systems are installed.

Our guidance asks Local Authorities to over plan in their Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) programmes against these planning assumptions by at least 25% to mitigate delays to housing programmes. There are therefore no plans to revise Resource Planning Assumptions for 2023-24. Any in year funding pressures that emerge will be managed in discussion with local partners. Planned annual budgets for the remainder of the parliament have not been reduced.

Reducing emissions from our homes and buildings is one of the most important things we can do to help end Scotland’s contribution to climate change, and communities have a key role to play within this.

The Scottish Government’s £300 million Heat Network Fund offers capital grant funding for the rollout of new zero emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland.

At the start of December, our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) launched the Community Heat Development Programme. This programme will work with eligible community organisations and groups of householders to help develop their ideas for locally-generated, low and zero carbon heat project ideas.

Scottish Government officials had discussions with the Existing Homes Alliance during 2022 as part of the Alliance’s work to develop a Rural Homes Just Transition Package .

Evidence from the evaluation of minimum unit pricing (MUP) has shown that consumers have responded to the introduction of MUP in a variety of ways including reduced purchasing of products whose price has increased, switching to smaller pack sizes, to more premium products and to lower strength products.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) are undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of MUP, which includes assessing the impact of MUP on health, crime, public safety and public nuisance in Scotland, and the impact on the alcohol industry. A final evaluation report will be published in 2023.

All published studies are available on the PHS website: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/

All households occupying a new home warranted after 1 April 2024 will be impacted by the proposed prohibition on the installation of Direct Emissions Heating Systems, including gas boilers, from that date. We will publish details on the projected number of new build homes and conversions impacted by the Standard as part of our Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) which will be made available alongside the regulations in spring 2023.

The UK currently faces a rapidly escalating cost crisis, an emergency on a similar scale to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential that the response from government at every level is commensurate, in scale and speed, to the nature and magnitude of the emergency.

We are using the powers we currently have and our finite resources to support businesses through the cost crisis, whilst also building a more resilient, sustainable, fair and prosperous economy. The Scottish Government will do everything in its power to help those affected by any forthcoming redundancies through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE).

The recently established Retail Industry Leadership Group (ILG) comprises senior business representatives, trades unions and industry groups. The ILG will deliver an increasingly sustainable retail sector, promote the delivery of all aspects of fair work across the sector and ensure those working in retail have the skills necessary to be successful.

This publication’s Supporting Documents include a spreadsheet file titled ‘General Practice recorded diagnoses’. Table 4 in this spreadsheet shows GP recorded diagnoses of neurological conditions, by sex and age, for each neurological condition shown . In some cases small numbers have been suppressed to help maintain patient confidentiality. Taking into account the suppression of small numbers, the approximate split of diagnoses for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is as follows: (a) Female – 69% (b) Male – 31%.

Please note that that this percentage breakdown draws on figures which do not cover the whole of Scotland. The general practices whose data are included represented 72.7% of registered patients at the time of the data extract.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13514 on‎ 16 January 2023 for an update on the development of a menopause and menstrual health workplace policy for NHS Scotland. 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 .

Once developed for the NHS this policy can be used/adapted for other sectors, such as social care.

Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that people with mental health issues have access to independent advocacy. We recognise that advocacy is central to empowering people with mental health issues to have their voices heard and participate fully in decisions about their care.

Under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act, people with a mental illness have a right to independent advocacy.

We have provided funding of £500,000 per year to NHS Boards and £177,000 to the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA), and will continue funding to ensure people are supported to understand their choices and make their own decisions. The SIAA is a membership organisation which is responsible for promoting, supporting and defending independent advocacy in Scotland.

We also provide funding for third sector organisations who ensure collective advocacy for those with lived experience of mental health issues. This includes £188,000 this year to Vox Scotland who represent the voices of those with lived mental health experience to Scotland’s politicians and health professionals.

The Scottish Mental Health Law Review published its final report at the end of September 2022 and set out proposals for reform, including recommendations relating to the future provision and funding of independent advocacy services.

Cross-government work is now underway to assess these proposals and we will set out our response in due course.