Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has made Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Support fund grants available since late 2019. I can confirm that a further £5 million has been allocated to the LEZ Support Fund for 2022-23.

The LEZ Support fund (administered by Energy Savings Trust) offers a grant of up to £2,000 per vehicle for the safe disposal of non-LEZ compliant vehicles. Owners can put this funding towards the purchase of a LEZ compliant vehicle or to one that is suitable for retrofit.

The LEZ Retrofit fund offers a grant of up to £10,000 per vehicle (or up to 80% of the capital costs) to bring non-compliant vehicles up to LEZ standards.

Interest-free loans are also available through the Energy Saving Trust (funded by Transport Scotland) to enable owners and operators of hackney cabs or private hire taxis to replace their current vehicle with an eligible ultra-low emission vehicle.

It is a priority to ensure that patients are able to access NHS dental care. To support patient care and access, we have recently announced revised payment arrangements for dentists from 1 April that will more closely link payments to the number of patients seen and treatments provided. Additionally, from 1st February we also introduced an enhanced examination fee for both adults and children.

We have also committed to abolishing dental charges in the lifetime of this Parliament and that will help to remove at least one of the barriers to accessing high-quality NHS dental services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09235 on 18 July 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09235 on 18 July 2022. 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.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. NHS dental services are provided by independent contractors/high street dentists and any management information on waiting times will be held by each practice. There is no central consolidation of this information, nor definition of waits in dentistry.

The Scottish Government has not been requested to research an 8,000 headcount reduction in the Scottish civil service.

The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of Scotland as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The UK Government has not provided details on how their plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000 will affect their staff working in Scotland. There are around 24,800 [1] Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland.

The UK Government plans do not have a direct impact on civil servants who serve the Scottish Government, as the responsibility lies with Scottish Ministers and the Permanent Secretary when it comes to determining our workforce size.

[1] Source: Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 1st Quarter 2022 .

As outlined in the Programme for Government 2021 – 22 A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) published in September 2021, the Scottish Government is committed to establishing a dignified and compassionate miscarriage service. As part of this, the Scottish Government wants to ensure that NHS Boards are able to provide dedicated facilities for women who are experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications.

As part of delivering on this commitment the Scottish Government will support the development of individualised care plans after a woman’s first miscarriage and take forward specific recommendations made in the Lancet series on miscarriage published on 26 April 2021 https://www.thelancet.com/series/miscarriage .

A scoping exercise into the availability of services within NHS Boards for miscarriage and unexpected pregnancy complications is underway. The results of this exercise will be analysed over the summer and will inform improvements to miscarriage services.

We welcome the Together for the One in Six report produced by the Neurological Alliance of Scotland (NAoS). We are determined to improve the provision of neurological care which is why we funded the NAoS to help facilitate this survey in Scotland.

It is vital that people with neurological conditions feel enabled and involved in their care. Understanding the perspectives of those who access health care in Scotland will enable us to work together to identify good practice and drive up standards.

We continue to implement the commitments of the Neurological Care and Support - a National Framework for Action, as a priority. We will continue to work with the Neurological Alliance of Scotland to ensure that all people living in Scotland with a neurological condition are able to access the best possible care and support throughout and beyond the lifespan of the Framework.

Public Health Scotland will publish their final report on Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in summer 2023.

The sunset clause within the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 means that this policy is only in effect until 30th April 2024 unless an affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument is approved by Parliament to continue MUP beyond that date. As the sunset clause is set out in legislation it is not possible to extend the period of time before it comes into force.

In the last ten years, the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office has provided £889,000 in funding towards Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research.