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The Scottish Government recognises that hyperbaric oxygen therapy may offer benefits for some individuals living with long-term health conditions. Decisions about treatment are made by clinicians in consultation with patients, based on clinical need and the best available evidence.

NHS Boards are responsible for determining which therapies to provide, taking into account national policy, local priorities, and the needs of their populations. We expect all care to be safe, effective, person-centred, and sustainable.

The number of credit unions in Scotland is publicly available through the Bank of England’s annual statistics, which are published online.

The delivery of the McCloud Remedy is the key priority for the SPPA, balancing the significant and complex work associated with delivery alongside routine administration of public service pensions - those for teachers, police, firefighters and health service workers.

The scale of challenge that SPPA has faced in delivering the McCloud Remedy cannot be overstated and is one shared by other public sector pension scheme managers across the UK. Although progress is being made, SPPA took the difficult decision to extend the target date of 31 July 2025 for delivery to retired police officers to the end of 2025.

I have asked Stephen Pathirana, Chief Executive of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, to respond to specific points. His response is as follows:

The delivery of RSS facilitates the choice of benefits members may take, and they have a period of 12 months to make it. When that election is made, SPPA aim to make any necessary adjustments to pension benefits as soon as reasonably practicable. Any pension arrears payable to members includes interest calculated from the date the arrears arose.

With the large number of individuals in scope of the McCloud remedy, it has been necessary for communications to retired members to be managed through the SPPA website rather than being targeted but communications plans are being refined following engagement with stakeholders.

SPPA has published timelines for the delivery of RSS. These are available on the SPPA website and will be kept up to date.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the credit union sector in Scotland. At the most recent meeting of the Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD)in June, representatives of the sector confirmed they are working with Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) to establish a Scottish specific group that will bring all of the credit unions and industry bodies in Scotland together for the first time. This will enable a more unified approach to engagement and support for the sector going forward.

Children and young people learn about a variety of substances, including nicotine products, through Curriculum for Excellence. Through educating young people about substance use and the impact it can have on their life and health, this will help prevent them making unhealthy choices

The Scottish Government continue to work with Young Scot and other third sector organisations to ensure that young people, their teachers, parents and carers have access to accurate, evidence based, information on nicotine products.

The powers in the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 could have been exercised to make regulations to prohibit or restrict domestic advertising and promotion of vapes, however this would not have captured the range of nicotine products now available on the market. The UK-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill (“the Bill”), if passed, will introduce new restrictions on age of sale for all nicotine products and the advertising, sponsorship, free distribution and nominal pricing of vapes and nicotine products across the 4 nations.

New powers in the Bill will also empower the Secretary of State to regulate brand sharing in relation to vapes and nicotine products across the UK, with the consent of Scottish Ministers. The Bill will extend the Tobacco and Vapes retailer register in Scotland to cover all nicotine products

An update on implementation timescales for the Bill will be provided following Royal Assent.

Decisions on the care and treatment of patients are always matters of professional judgement for the responsible practitioner having considered the needs of their patient and relevant clinical guidelines.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines in March 2022 which stated that the current available evidence on the safety and efficacy of liposuction for chronic lipoedema was inadequate and that more research was required.

In an update on August 2025, NICE stated it is aware of the LIPLEG trial taking place in Germany and confirmed that a review of the current guidance will be undertaken following the publication of the trial results.

The Scottish Government have required the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to undertake visits to slaughter facilities since 2022 to monitor operations and ensure welfare of salmon at time of killing. The Scottish Government’s guidance on Welfare at the Time of Killing in Salmon Farming is based on the recommendations made by the UK Government's Animal Welfare Committee and developed in partnership with the Scottish farmed salmon industry, APHA, and animal welfare organisations. Any suspected incidences of poor welfare would be reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency which would investigate and take action if required.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions including Lipoedema are 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 Government has recently conducted a public consultation on a new long term conditions framework to better recognise the fact that many people living with long term conditions need the same types of support and care, regardless of their condition. Analysis of the consultation responses is underway and will inform the development of the subsequent framework.

The Scottish Government has provided £80,000 of funding to the charity Talk Lipodema to enhance the development of the self-management course, ‘Living Well with Lipoedema’. This funding also enabled the charity to improve the resources available for the public and health care practitioners increasing awareness about the condition and providing practical resources, including a ‘Making a Diagnosis’ film.

The Women's Health Platform on NHS Inform has been developed to help girls and women find reliable and accessible health information. It includes a page on lipoedema with information about the condition, treatment and self-management options.

We do not set an annual budget for marketing campaigns for smoking cessation and this would form part of the overall budget for tobacco and smoking, which since 2023-24 has been £2.93 million. The Scottish Government ran Community Pharmacy poster campaigns promoting the free Quit Your Way Scotland (QYWS) service in 2022-23 (£15,288) and 2023-24 (£16,544). The initiative encouraged individuals to engage with their local pharmacists for tailored support and advice on quitting smoking. As part of the implementation of the Tobacco and Vaping Framework we committed to continue to support, promote and review Community Pharmacy cessation campaigns.

A series of campaigns led by Public Health Scotland (PHS) have also promoted the QYWS. Including a national campaign in February 2024 to increase awareness of, and engagement with the free QYWS service and, most recently, an organic social media campaign in August 2025 to raise awareness among pregnant women, their partners, and families of the support available to quit smoking. Spend and evaluation for PHS’ campaigns are not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not have data on the number of enquiries or support sought as a result of these awareness raising campaigns.

The Scottish Government provides funding annually to Health Boards for smoking cessation and prevention services as part of a wider Outcomes Framework allocation, whereby budget is provided to Health Boards to cover a range of outcomes. It is up to Health Boards to decide how much of this funding to allocate to each outcome. The published Scottish Budget for 2025-26 includes £72.2 million for the Outcomes Framework.

In 2023-24 PHS statistics from NHS Stop Smoking Services showed there were 30,319 attempts to stop smoking, a 12.4% increase from 2022-23. Data is not yet available for 2025-26.

A Minute of Appointment, following recall of this appeal, setting out the process by which Scottish Ministers considered the case should proceed, was received by DPEA on 24 June 2025 and dated as such. The Minute was published to the DPEA website on 4 July 2025.

DPEA deals with a number of appeals and other case types and receives a high volume of correspondence on a daily basis. It is not always possible for DPEA to process and upload all documentation received in its casework to the public website as soon as received.