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The 25-year contract for HMP Kilmarnock under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for a privately constructed and operationally managed prison expires on 16 March 2024. The decision to bring HMP Kilmarnock into public management and ownership and not to tender for a new private contract was taken in 2021. This is in line with Scottish Government policy that prisons should be owned and managed by the public sector, which has been in place since 2007.

The cost of private sector prison contracts depend on the market conditions at that particular point in time and in order to establish the cost of a new private sector contract for HMP Kilmarnock from 2024 this would have to be put out to tender. In line with Government’s long-running policy on private prisons the decision was made not to put it out to tender.

SPS is working to agree proposals for a transitional operating model, and a target operating model, which is to be adopted within the first year of the prison transferring to the public sector.

The funding and commissioning of specialist and general palliative and end of life care services, including workforce planning and allocating resources for staffing, is a matter for Integration Joint Boards (IJBs). It is the responsibility of IJBs to plan and commission adult palliative and end of life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control.

Scottish Government officials will continue to engage with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and Scottish hospices in relation to supporting local planning, commissioning and resourcing of independent hospice care.

In Scotland, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) appraises the clinical and cost-effectiveness of newly licensed medicines. The SMC has a transparent and robust process that is fully described on its website. It is worth noting that any SMC appraisal is undertaken independently of Scottish Ministers and is based on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a medicine at a population level.

The SMC’s process allows companies to present a cost-effectiveness case which sets out the predicted health benefits of their treatment (including one-off treatments) over a person’s lifetime, and the SMC’s assessments follow standard methodology for such calculations. In addition, in the assessment of innovative medicines for rare conditions (including gene-edited precision medicines where a single treatment may have lifelong benefit), the SMC process involves additional flexibilities as outlined on its website. By way of an example, in 2021, the SMC was the first health technology appraisal body in the UK to accept a one-off gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22774 on 21 November 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I welcome the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA’s) recent extension to the licence for Kaftrio ® and Kalydeco ® to include children aged two to five years old which will help address the unmet needs of younger children with cystic fibrosis in Scotland. I can also confirm that, while the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) multiple technology appraisal (MTA) is ongoing, all existing and new patients in Scotland who are on, or who are started on, a CF medicine, including Kaftrio ® , will continue to have access to that CF medicine after NICE and the SMC issue their final recommendations. This will be irrespective of the outcome of the appraisal and will cover any need to subsequently switch to a different CF medicine.

The Scottish Government welcomes Food Standards Scotland’s Our Food 2022 report and the wide ranging recommendations.

We are aware of workforce shortages, such as veterinarians and environmental health officers, and the fundamental role these have to safeguard animal health and welfare and the safety of food in Scotland. The Scottish Government continues to promote the role of veterinarians in public health. This includes through initiatives, such as the Scottish Veterinary Delivery Landscape Project which brings together public and private sector veterinary employers, academia and veterinary industry bodies. We have also set up the Environmental Health Policy Co-ordination Group to consider solutions to the EHO vacancies across Scotland and work with key stakeholders to gain further insight on this issue.

Furthermore, we are committed to protecting Scotland’s consumers and businesses through robust biosecurity controls. Since EU Exit, Scottish Government officials and Ministers have been engaged in discussions with the UK Government around the introduction of import controls, resulting in the recent publication of the Border Target Operating Model.

We will continue to work with Food Standards Scotland and other partners on the issues raised within the report.

Net mental health expenditure is published on the Public Health Scotland website Scottish health service costs under data files mental health expenditure Excel workbook . This information is available for financial years 2011-12 to 2021-22 for each NHS Board in Scotland, split by various types of expenditure including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Please note that expenditure data is collected by broad specialties and therefore categories may include multiple services.

Scottish Government continues to provide overall increases to mental health spending. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 bn in 2023/24.

Expenditure on CAMHS rose from £88m in 2020-21 to £97.6m in 2021-22, an increase of £9.3m or 10.6% - representing 0.66% of total NHS expenditure.

Information in the format the member requests is not included in the 2023 report.

Collation and publication of National Dental Inspection Programme data is managed by Public Health Scotland, independently of Scottish Government, and therefore specific enquiries on the dataset should be directed to the named contact within the published report.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Introduced on 1 July 2020 during the COVID-19 global pandemic, restricted prison issue mobile phones provided those in our care with the ability to maintain contact with family and friends during an extremely difficult and challenging period.

SPS purchased 15,317 mobile phone handsets before the provision was withdrawn on 31 July 2023.

The following table provides the number of SPS issued mobile phone handsets that were confiscated at HMP & YOI Grampian, each month, from when mobile phones were introduced on 1 July 2020 to when the provision was withdrawn on 31 July 2023:

Since 2021, the Scottish Government have provided three permanent CT scanners to support core capacity within Boards, including a mobile CT pod currently stationed in NHS Lothian, which is deployed flexibly to support Boards that require additional capacity. In addition, one further mobile CT and seven mobile MRI scanners are being used across multiple NHS Boards to provide additional capacity during 2023-24.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran has had a mobile MRI scanner throughout 2023-24 to help reduce their waiting lists.

At the end of April 2021, 61.6% patients having an MRI in NHS Ayrshire and Arran were scanned within 6 weeks; in September 2023 this had risen to 86.2% within 6 weeks.

We recognise the importance of timely access to speech and language therapy. We have increased the flexibility Health Boards have in reducing waiting times, ensuring those with greatest need are seen first, while maximising prevention and early intervention approaches for those waiting. The number of Speech and Language Therapists working in the NHS has also increased by 1.9% (September 2022 - September 2023), this increased staffing will support reduction of waiting times for this service.

‎Also, Scottish Government's Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026, outlined a commitment to invest in work to support early intervention in speech and language. As part of that work six Full Time Equivalent Regional Leads for Early Years Speech and Language have been recruited – in collaboration with Education Scotland.

The leads are based in each region in Scotland, aligned to Regional Improvement Collaboratives. This will improve outcomes for children’s speech and language across Scotland, by setting up new stakeholder networks, supporting frontline staff, promoting quality improvement and learning from best practice.

While the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, it is for each NHS Board to decide best how to utilise funding, facilities and staff while taking account of national and local priorities to meet local health needs. We expect NHS Boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver these services, ensuring the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care, delivered by the right professional at the right time.