Chamber and committees

As part of the Scottish Diabetes Group, we have a sub-group focusing on projects specific to pregnancy and gestational diabetes. This group, alongside SCI-diabetes leads, are working on linkage opportunities with the maternity app, BadgerNet. This is an ongoing project and requires collaboration between many technical and operational teams.

The information in the format requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Diabetes Survey records blood pressure less than or equal to 140 mmHg and can be found by following link: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey 2021 is due to be published this month, February 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14364 on 9 February 2023. 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

The information requested is not held centrally.

As part of the Scottish Diabetes Group, we have a sub-group working specifically on pregnancy related projects. To date, they have supported the Scottish Health Technologies Group to develop up to date guidance which now allows the use of Continuous Glucose Monitors during pregnancy.

The Scottish Diabetes Education Advisory Group (SDEAG) has established short life working groups which are currently developing a ‘Once for Scotland’ education pathway for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

For women living with Type 2 diabetes, the redesign of educational pathways will have a specific focus on pregnancy. Understanding and awareness of the hormonal changes related to insulin are crucial to improving pregnancy outcomes for these women and will be considered as part of the redesign work.

As part of the Scottish Diabetes Group, we have a sub-group focusing on education; the Scottish Diabetes Education Advisory Group (SDEAG). SDEAG are currently developing ‘Once for Scotland’ pathways for diabetes education and supported self-management. These pathways will highlight the education opportunities and resources which should be available for every person with a diagnosis of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes in Scotland.

We have established Type 1 and Type 2 Short Life Working Groups, with clinical representation from every NHS Board as well as from third sector organisations. The pathway development is being done in collaboration with people living with diabetes, through our Diabetes Lived Experience Network hosted by the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE).

As committed to in this year’s Programme for Government, the Scottish Government will consult in detail on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill in the coming year. This consultation will seek views on proposals on how homes might be required to meet at least EPC C standard or equivalent. To support the development of these proposals the Scottish Government are currently in the process of engaging with a range of relevant stakeholders. A series of stakeholder engagement workshops is underway, two of which were undertaken in November and December 2022, with a third planned in the coming months. Over twenty stakeholders were invited to participate in these workshops representing a balance of interests and expertise covering housing, fuel poverty, environment, consumers, industry, legal, landlords, tenants and rural issues.

The calculation referred to in the question was made based on data on inflation available at the time. Using the updated GDP deflators the comparable figure is now around £800 million.

As the Scottish Fiscal Commission has noted, due to the way that the GDP deflator is calculated, it may not accurately capture the change in all costs incurred by government, and as result the above real-terms calculations may underestimate the true scale of inflationary pressure on some areas of Scottish Government resource spending.

Since the Bute House Agreement was signed in August 2021, the Scottish Government has been developing a range of proposals to introduce a minimum energy efficiency standard equivalent to EPC C. This standard will be introduced in 2025 subject to Parliament passing the Heat in Buildings Bill, and will take effect on a phased basis over the following years. The Scottish Government plans to consult on these proposals in the coming months, including on approaches to phase in these requirements across the Scottish housing stock.

As part of the Scottish Diabetes Group, we have a Type 1 Sub-Group, focussing on improving care for people with Type 1 diabetes. The group has been focused on strategies for prevention of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) and improving access to technology.

We are currently working with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) on a project which would support the roll-out of diabetes technologies across Scotland. There is now robust evidence on the benefits of Closed Loop Systems on glycaemic control for individuals with Type One Diabetes, and this will be one of the first innovations to be considered for the ANIA pathway

The Scottish Diabetes Education Advisory Group (SDEAG) has established a short life working group which is currently developing a ‘Once for Scotland’ education pathway to ensure that everyone diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes is able to access appropriate and timely education.