Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01075 on 22 July 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website

The answer as provided in S6W-01075 sets out the available information published on the number of long term empty homes through Scottish Government annual statistics on long term empty properties and unoccupied exemptions, most recently published at Housing statistics quarterly update: December 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Detailed Excel tables are also available at Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , which provide local authority level figures on the number of long term empty properties from 2005 to 2020, and on the number of unoccupied exemptions from 1996 to 2020.

The figures are sourced from the Council Tax Base data return, and are based on an annual snapshot of properties on the Council Tax Valuation List as at the first Monday in September each year. Data on long term empty properties have been separately identified in the Council Tax Base data return from 2005 onwards, and so no information is held centrally for the earlier years 1999 to 2004.

There are currently 27 empty homes officers working across 25 local authority areas. We can advise that the following local authorities do not have an empty homes officer post:

All NHS Boards in Scotland have access to a range of tools and resources developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland to improve reliable delivery of evidence-based interventions to patients at risk of harm from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and to contribute to the overall aim of reducing mortality and harm in acute hospitals.

The NHS Scotland already has in place the electronic transfer of prescriptions between general practice and community pharmacy.

Our NHS Recovery Plan and Programme for Government commits to investing in developing new digital solutions such as ePrescribing and eDispensing to make the prescribing process paperless which will free up capacity for healthcare professionals so that they can see more patients and making it easier for patients to access their medicines quickly and safely.

The timeline is a matter for Lord Hardie. Updates on the publication of his Report will be provided on the Inquiry website at the appropriate time, a link to which is included below. 

Home Page - The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry

The Scottish Government’s Social Enterprise Strategy was launched in 2016 and sets out a wide-ranging, ambitious and long-term programme to develop the potential of Scotland's social enterprise sector.

The latest Social Enterprise Action Plan was published on 24 March 2021 and covers the period 2021-24 and is available at: Social enterprise: action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

To deliver the plan, we will spend over £5 million this financial year supporting Social Enterprises across the country. Some of the projects we have committed to support over the next three years include:

• Doubling our funding for Social Enterprise in Schools to almost £2m to ensure that by 2024 every school child will have the opportunity to engage with a social enterprise project in their school career, introducing the benefits of the social enterprise model to young people across Scotland.
• Investing an additional £1.5m to build on the successful programme of support offered through Adapt and Thrive which helps community organisations wanting to diversify their income streams.
• Investing £1.5 million to create a clear pipeline for social enterprises from conception to the international market, with a focus on ethical opportunities in emerging markets such as Africa and South East Asia.

Access to pulmonary rehabilitation is a key recommendation in national clinical guidelines which we expect NHS Boards to follow. Improving access to pulmonary rehab is also a key commitment within our Respiratory Care Action Plan (RCAP), which can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/respiratory-care-action-plan-scotland-2021-2026/ .

The Plan sets out our vision for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions. As we develop the work plan for the implementation of the RCAP, we will be liaising with key stakeholders within health and social care, including the chief executive.

As part of the work to deliver the Framework for supporting people through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have undertaken a significant period of scoping and engaging with NHS boards. A recent self-assessment tool was sent to all teams providing rehabilitation services, including health, social and third sector teams providing pulmonary rehabilitation. Results from this are being analysed and recommendations will form the basis of a work plan to improve access and outcomes.

Dental services have not been stopped during the pandemic period. Dental practices were initially closed with urgent and emergency dental care provided through urgent dental care centres. Dental practices reopened following a phased remobilisation programme which culminated on 1 November with dental teams able to provide the full range of NHS care and treatment to patients. While it is the case patient numbers continue to be less than pre-pandemic - as dental teams are required to operate within strict infection, prevention and control guidance - pregnant women and nursing mothers who required urgent or emergency dental care would still be seen during the pandemic period.

The information requested is not held centrally. Statistics on patients waiting for pulmonary rehabilitation are not held by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Waiting times statistics relating to specific conditions a patient is waiting to be seen for are not held centrally.

Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for new outpatient appointments and inpatient or day case admission at specialty level are published up to 30 June 2021 using the link https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times-inpatients-day-cases-and-new-outpatients-31-august-2021/ .

The information requested is not held centrally. Statistics on patients waiting for pulmonary rehabilitation are not held by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Waiting times statistics relating to specific conditions are not held centrally by the PHS Waiting Times Team.