Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s approach to dealing with RAAC is to follow the guidance set out by Institute of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government funded a survey of all NHS facilities suspected of RAAC and it is known where RAAC is present. These phase 1 surveys did not identify any immediate concerns that have not already been acted on.

We are funding a second more detailed phase of surveys of all sites with RAAC to ensure that the right approach is being taken to dealing with it. As a result of this type of detailed survey, necessary remedial works at Knoll Hospital have been identified and are being actioned – in line with the systematic approach to RAAC discovery and investigation across the NHS.

NHS Borders notified the Scottish Government on 27 January 2025 that there was an evolving situation regarding RAAC at Knoll Community Hospital. When a health facility is assessed as requiring maintenance work this does not automatically mean the facility is not safe, and the specialist Structural Engineers who conducted this survey on behalf of NHS Borders, and who are the survey partner for the NHS RAAC programme, have not reported that Knoll Hospital is unsafe.

Phase 2 surveys will be carried out across all NHS properties known to contain RAAC. Where any previously unidentified issues are found during phase 2 surveys, Health Boards are expected to assess, communicate and action with appropriate pace to ensure safety.

For all instances of RAAC identified as requiring an annual reinspection from the Phase 1, Discovery Survey programme, a programme of annual reinspection is currently underway and due to complete in March 2025.

Public Health Scotland's (PHS) Stage of treatment (Sot) Publication provides statistics on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case The latest publication release contains data to quarter ending 31 December 2024

Longer trend information can be found in the following tables:

New outpatient appointments (‘1.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/31761/newop_mar25.xlsx

Inpatient or day case admission (‘2.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/31760/ipdc_mar25.xlsx

The requested statistics are collected and published by Public Health Scotland (PHS).Published statistics on the length of time patients wait for a first outpatient appointment at Allied Health Professional (AHP) led Musculoskeletal (MSK) services are available at: https://publichealthscotland.scot

OPITO was the sole recipient of Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund support for developing the Offshore Energy Skills Passport over the period 2022 to 2024. Our records show that five sub-contractors were engaged by OPITO in supporting the Passport project over this time.

Public Health Scotland's (PHS) Stage of Treatment (SoT) publication provides statistics on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case. The latest publication release contains data up to quarter ending 31 December 2024

Statistics relating to the total number of ongoing waits and the number of waits with a wait length over 52 weeks by specialty from 31 December 2019 can be found in the ‘Waits over 52 weeks’ data table in sheets ‘Table 3.1.1’ for new outpatient appointments, and ‘Table 3.2.1’ for inpatient or day case admissions:

Stage of treatment waiting times - Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients quarter ending 30 December 2024 - NHS waiting times - stage of treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Longer trend information can be found in the following tables:

New outpatient appointments (‘1.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/31761/newop_mar25.xlsx

Inpatient or day case admission (‘2.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/31760/ipdc_mar25.xlsx

A revised version of the maintenance programme listing, updated February 2025, can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 65666).

Table A lists the works completed in 2024-25 with the recorded construction costs indicated against the month in which the works were recorded as being finished, bearing in mind that some works could have taken several months to undertake.

Table B provides an updated listing of works that have been identified and included within the forward maintenance programme along with the current estimated construction costs. Some of works are already underway and others will be programmed over the coming months/years in line with our annual prioritisation process. The timing of these works is also subject to the availability of funding and operational constraints.

We know the majority of marine litter is plastic and we know that it has a negative impact on the health of our environment and biodiversity. That is why the Scottish Government’s policy is to reduce the consumption of single use materials. This is in line with the waste hierarchy, which prioritises reduction and reuse over all other interventions.

The Scottish Government has not researched the impact of PET on malignant, respiratory or cardiovascular health. The Scottish Government’s policy is to reduce the consumption of single use materials. This is in line with the waste hierarchy, which prioritises reduction and reuse over all other interventions.

As a Regulated product, food contact materials need to be authorised before they can be used and placed on the market.

Regulation 178/2002 aims to protect human health and consumer’s interest in relation to food. It applies to all stages of production, processing and distribution of food and feed with some exceptions. Food businesses must comply with food and feed safety law.

The Scottish Government’s policy is to reduce the consumption of single use materials regardless of composition, rather than to target specific material types or to displace one single use material with another. This is in line with the waste hierarchy, which prioritises reduction and reuse over all other interventions.

The Scottish Government’s Natural Capital Market Framework applies only to investment within Scotland and, where relevant, to governance within the wider UK for UK emissions and impacts.

Responsible private investment in Scotland’s natural capital through the Peatland Code (PC) and the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) is already supporting our response to the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The WCC and PC generate high-integrity, independently verified carbon units from woodland creation and peatland restoration respectively. Companies can use these units to support appropriate neutrality or net zero claims on their UK-based carbon emissions.