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The Scottish Government closely monitor excess deaths statistics and work closely with our analytical partners Public Health Scotland (PHS) and National Records of Scotland (NRS) to understand the causes of excess deaths.

NRS are responsible for publishing Scotland’s excess deaths statistics, which includes breakdowns by cause of death.

A British Medical Journal editorial from the four UK Chief Medical Officers acknowledged that the UK, like many other European countries is currently experiencing substantial excess mortality. This editorial highlights the reasons behind this excess mortality are likely to be multifactorial, including persisting direct and indirect effects of COVID-19, surges in flu and respiratory infections, significant pressures on NHS acute services, and reductions in secondary prevention as an inevitable part of the response to COVID-19.

Published figures on the most recent and historical numbers of patients that have been admitted to hospital can be found within the within the Annual Acute Activity publication, which was published on 26 September 2023 by Public Health Scotland. The publication can be found below:

Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Annual – year ending 31 March 2023 - Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Published data is only available for a ten year period, from financial year 2013-14 to financial year 2022-23, and is only available at a Scotland level. Data on patient activity is presented in Table 2 – inpatient and day case activity, and the measure of interest can be found by selecting the NHS board of residence in the indicator drop down and either stays, episodes or patients within the measure drop down. Figures where ‘no fixed abode’ will then be listed in the table.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting children and adults who have deafness, sight loss and dual sensory loss to access the support and social care they need through its See Hear Strategy, published in 2014.

The Scottish Government provides Section 10 funding for Deafblind Scotland’s BSL Café Project. This project supports people who are at risk of a second sensory loss to acquire further communication skills by teaching them BSL. We will encourage Deafblind Scotland to share the learning from this project.

A refreshed See Hear Strategy is due to be published in February 2025 and will incorporate the views of people with lived experience. Communication will of course be an important theme of the new See Hear strategy. An action on encouraging learning BSL as a second language will be included in the first draft of the strategy, to be considered by stakeholders.

Scottish Ministers have allocated almost £6.2M of funding since 2014 to support the local implementation of the Strategy and help drive progress.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges facing those living in remote and rural areas and the importance of women being able to access the support they need, when they need it. Work is ongoing to ensure services are developed in a flexible and innovative way, recognising local population needs and geographic challenges and there is now a menopause specialist in every mainland NHS Board, with a buddy system in place for the Island Boards.

The recently published NHSScotland Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy is intended as an example of best practice so that employers across Scotland can adapt it for their organisation, should they wish. The supporting resources, includes line managers’ guidance and workplace adjustment guidance and are intended for use more widely across a variety of employment sectors. They are available on the National Wellbeing Hub .

The Scottish Government welcomed the briefing from Audit Scotland and remains firmly committed to infrastructure investment as a key factor in securing inclusive economic growth and delivering high-quality public services. The UK Government did not inflation-proof their Capital budget which has resulted in the Scottish Government facing a 7.0% real-terms fall in our Barnett funding over the medium-term. This has significantly impacted our ability to deliver all our capital infrastructure commitments.

We have been consistently open about the challenges facing the Capital budget and tough decisions will need to be taken at the 2024-25 Budget to ensure we remain fiscally sustainable. Therefore, we committed to refreshing the multi-year capital spending envelopes up to 2026-27 and resetting the infrastructure project pipeline, alongside the 2024-25 Budget. To achieve this, Scottish Ministers are focused on targeting the available capital funding to deliver the right mix of infrastructure that will deliver value-for-money and contribute to the three core missions set out in the Policy Prospectus: tacking poverty and protecting people from harm; a fair, green and growing economy; and the provision of high-quality public services across the whole of Scotland. In taking decisions, the full impact of investment against national outcomes will be considered, including geographical need. Any decisions regarding the reprioritisation of capital spending will be presented to Parliament in due course.

From April 2024, social care workers in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors in a direct care role, and those working in the PVI sector to deliver funded early learning and childcare will see their pay increase to at least £12 per hour. This will mean an increase that could be worth up to £2,000 per year for those on full-time contracts. This uplift recognises the financial pressures of those working in these sectors, and will help to address issues with recruitment and retention.

Across both the adult social care and child care sector, we are also working closely with partners, including COSLA and individual Local Authorities, to understand and address workforce challenges.

We are committed to improving fair work practices across the adult social sector and, through the Fair Work in Social Care Group (FWISCG), we are taking action to improve the experiences of the workforce. Alongside a workstream on pay, the Group is focused on establishing a set of minimum standards for terms and conditions, developing a framework to embed the principles of effective voice in social care, and advancing sectoral bargaining arrangements.

We are working with partners and staff from across the childcare sector to develop a Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Early Learning and School Age Childcare Profession. The framework will set out the priorities for the profession now and in the coming years, as well as actions we will take to support a sustainable, diverse and thriving profession. We have also implemented a Protection of Vulnerable Groups fee waiver for childcare workers until March 2024 to help support workers with the cost of living.

Ministers are required by the Community Empowerment Act (2015) to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication, and the next review is currently underway. The Scottish Government intends to lay the statutory document in Parliament in early 2024. This will outline the work undertaken during the Review, including any proposed changes to the National Outcomes.

We recognise the incredible contribution that all of Scotland’s unpaid carers make to our communities as well as the pressures many carers are under. We are implementing our National Carers Strategy which sets out a cross-government approach to carers issues, including through social care, social security policies and supporting carers in employment and education.

Carers in Scotland already benefit from extra financial support through our Carer's Allowance Supplement, which by the end of this year will have provided eligible carers with £3,300 above Carer’s Allowance since its introduction.

Our Carer Support Payment will begin to replace Carer’s Allowance this month, providing unpaid carers with income in recognition of their caring role and helping them access opportunities outside of caring. Carers in Scotland getting Carer’s Allowance and Carer Support Payment will continue to benefit from Carer’s Allowance Supplement.

Adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £12 per hour from April 2024. This increase represents an increase of over 10% from the £10.90 minimum rate that was introduced in April 2023.

I would encourage anyone who is struggling due to a caring role to contact their social work department or local carer centre, and speak to them about what help they may be able to offer.

The Scottish Government has committed over £1.9 billion to the City Region Deals programme and its associated investments. Information on the individual projects funded through the growth deals are outlined in their associated deal agreements.