Chamber and committees

In March 2024 Processed_and_Ultra-Processed_Foods_-_Board_Meeting_-_2024_March_20_-_240307.pdf the FSS Board agreed the organisational position on processed and ultra-processed foods, based on the SACN review published in July 2023 SACN statement on processed foods and health - GOV.UK. Subsequently, they published a position paper FSS_Advice_-_Processed_and_Ultra-Processed_Food_UPF_-_Position_Paper_-_FINAL_-_August_2024.pdf outlining the evidence in relation to processed and ultra-processed foods and reiterating the advice for healthy and sustainable diets. This was accompanied by consumer advice on the FSS website, summarising ‘five key facts’ Processed and ultra-processed foods | Food Standards Scotland on the topic, alongside social media posts to further raise awareness.

The Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) is intended to bring about a number of benefits from the removal of freight from roads to other modes of transport. These include environmental and social effects including improved public health through reduced local air pollution; increased road safety through reduced volumes of heavy vehicle traffic; improved traffic flows through reduced congestion; and lower overall emissions from moving freight from heavy goods vehicles to lower-emitting forms of transport.

The following data shows the expenditure on Contingent Workers, of which Contractor would be a subset, but in conjunction with other categories of contingent workers. It is not possible to isolate Contractor expenditure within this data set.

The Scottish Government moved to Oracle Cloud in October 2024 and further data reconciliation is required. YTD data is therefore provided until September 2024.

We remain committed to delivery of the 10% and 1% spending targets, for mental health services and CAMHS respectively.

Latest data published by Public Health Scotland on 25 February 2025 shows total spend on mental health in Scotland has increased by £179.6 million to £1.486 billion in 2023-24. That is 9.03% of total net NHS expenditure, up from 8.53% in 2022-23. Spend on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has increased by nearly £19.4 million to over £134 million. This is 0.82% of total spend, up from 0.75% in 2022-23.

The latest data shows good progress is being made towards delivering the targets, however, as we all know, there are continued and unprecedented challenge to the public finances. That means that achieving the targets in practice will depend on the outcome of future budgets.

NHS Boards will allocate funding for local mental health services from the overall funds provided to them by the Scottish Government. Boards have responsibility for working with their partners to ensure local budget decisions deliver local and national priorities, including for mental health.

We will continue to closely monitor our progress towards both the 10% and 1% over the remainder of the Parliamentary term.

Food Standards Scotland have undertaken three types of inspections as detailed in the following table and only hold information from 2021 onwards.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of all people with mental health problems, including those with Huntington disease, getting the right help, at the right time, and in the right place.

The core mental health standards set clear expectations for health boards to ensure referrals to community health teams and psychiatry are equitable, clear and prioritise those most in need. They also require services to reduce barriers to access, provide clear referral criteria, and ensure collaboration between staff and agencies to support individuals with complex conditions like Huntington’s disease.

Decisions on referrals may consider clinical appropriateness and service-specific criteria. Where referrals are declined from general psychiatry or community mental health teams a full explanation should be offered for this decision, and alternative pathways offered wherever possible and appropriate.

Cases of alleged food fraud reported to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) by FSS:

2019: 1

2020: 1

2021: 1

The Scottish Government has developed statistics on primary income flows and gross national income (GNI) for Scotland.

The GNI estimates produced by the Scottish Government are classified as official statistics in development and are reported at the level of totals for the whole economy. It is not possible to produce breakdowns of these statistics for specific industries, such as the whisky industry.

As per The Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, any accumulated interest must be held by the respective deposit scheme in a designated account.

The interest can be withdrawn from designated accounts to meet the costs of the scheme, improve the quality of service provided by the scheme or to distribute, apply or invest interest, where investment will not adversely affect the viability of the scheme. The self-financing scheme model allows for the tenancy deposit schemes to provide their services free of charge to tenants, landlords and letting agents.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering the changes that are required for people with Learning Disabilities as detailed in the Coming Home report and subsequent implementation report in 2022.