Scottish Government policy towards local authority spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant as part of the annual local government finance settlement.

It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them (including any funding for arts and culture).

Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) who are the National Development Body for the Scottish museums sector, distribute funding on behalf of Scottish Government.

Details of the grants awarded by MGS are provided below however please note that their grant processing sytem only provides details of the grants awarded since 2015.

a) Aberdeen City Council Area

Information on NHS Scotland performance against the 62 and 31-day standards has been published by Public Health Scotland (PHS).

Information on NHS Scotland performance from 2012 to Q1 2020 is available on the Information Services Division site, which has since become part of PHS, located here: Latest Publications | ISD Scotland

Public Health Scotland has since June 2020 published quarterly breakdowns, located here: Publications - Public Health Scotland

As part of the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish Government has committed to undertaking a Programme of Work and analysis to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets and the goal of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

The Programme of Work will provide a balanced and informed analysis of the role that technologies such as hydrogen and CCUS can play in our just transition to net zero – with a focus on the potential of the sector, and its infrastructure and assets. The Scottish Government published its draft Hydrogen Action Plan on 10 November 2021 and will publish the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan in Autumn 2022.

The Scottish Government’s understanding is that the wellbeing assessment tool being piloted by South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership called the Autism Resource Co-ordination Hub (ARCH), is a support service for children, young people, adults and their families. It is not intended to replace services already provided by health, education or social work with regard to assessment, diagnosis or treatment of neurodevelopmental conditions.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the National Neurodevelopmental Specification: Principles and Standards of Care for Children and Young People, published in September 2021, which specifies service standards that all children’s services should follow, to ensure access to support is effective and consistent across Scotland. The ARCH service complements existing services and the Principles and Standards set out in the Neurodevelopmental Specification by providing the support provided by universal services, and the neurodevelopmental assessment pathway provided by NHS Lanarkshire community paediatrics and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

To support improvements across Scotland, £3.06 million was allocated to NHS Boards in 2021-22 to build professional capacity within Boards to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs.

In March 2022, Scottish Government also provided over £750,000 to five local authority areas to run tests of change on the implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Specification. These tests will run over the next six months and will provide learning and evaluation to be shared across other local authorities and health board areas to inform and assist national implementation of the Specification.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07862 on 25 April 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

We are committed to being open and transparent about data on waiting times performance, including against the Clinical Prioritisation Framework, that was developed to provide guidance to all NHS Boards around prioritising their planned care waiting lists throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data that is published on Waiting Times performance is subject to continual review, development and quality assurance by PHS, the holders of this data.

PHS plans to publish statistics on Clinical Prioritisation for the first time early September 2022, this will be specific to patients waiting for treatment as an inpatient or day case who are covered by the Treatment Time Guarantee.

PHS, with support from the Scottish Government, will continue to work with NHS Boards to improve the completeness and quality of the data to ensure the data is sufficiently robust to be released as official statistics on the scheduled date.

We know that the recent increases in energy prices we have seen will be concerning to many consumers including those using mobility scooters. Whilst the Scottish Government does not have powers over the setting of energy prices, we have looked to provide assistance where we can.

As part of our wider £290m package of funding announcements made to tackle the cost of living crisis, we have committed a further £10m to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund from April to help households at risk of self-disconnection, or self-rationing their energy use, due to unaffordable fuel costs.

We are also making financial support for disabled people and people with long term health conditions more straightforward to access. Through the introduction of Adult Disability Payment, we are providing a new, simplified, compassionate system that will treat people with dignity, fairness and respect. The application process has been designed with disabled people to make sure it is as clear as possible. People can apply in the way that’s best for them, either online, by post, over the phone or face-to-face.

Guidance is regularly reviewed and updated based on clinical evidence. Scottish Government Officials and clinicians continue to work with Public Health Scotland (PHS) and Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland, as has been done throughout the pandemic, to review protective measures within adult and older people care homes.

Self-isolation, testing, outbreak management and infection prevention and control measures are currently under review with any updates to guidance anticipated in May.

The last formal review prior to this took place in March, with updates to guidance implemented from April.

South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) advertised for four new Board members in Autumn 2021. Applicants were asked to demonstrate evidence of their skills, knowledge and experience in one of three areas: land based industries; governance/strategic management; or digital transformation. On 15 February 2022, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy announced the appointments, with two of the successful candidates having extensive expertise in land based industries. In addition, two existing members of the Board have knowledge of agricultural matters.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living in Scotland with Huntington’s Disease is able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) submitted an application to the latest round of funding provided via the Neurological Care and Support – a National Framework for Action , to support the recruitment of a Peripatetic Huntington’s Disease Specialist.

Applications for funding were assessed and scored by a panel however, unfortunately, the SHA’s application was not successful.

Despite the application being unsuccessful, we want to better understand the need for further provisions and service development across neurological conditions, including Huntington’s Disease, and Scottish Government officials plan to meet with SHA to further explore the issue.