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The Scottish Fiscal Commission publish estimates and forecasts of eligibility and payments for Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Grant but only for Scotland. There are no estimates or forecasts of eligibility and take-up (the proportion of eligible children that receive payments) by area within Scotland. The following figures cannot be used to inform eligibility or take-up for East Kilbride specifically.

However, internal Scottish Government analysis suggests around 6000 children in East Kilbride are forecast to be eligible for Scottish Child Payment in each of the next 6 years and around 1000 for Best Start Grant. Also, that in 2022-23 around 4000 children are forecast to receive Scottish Child Payment, rising to 5000 from 2023-24 onwards. For Best Start Grant, around 1000 children are expected to receive payment in each of the next 6 years.

All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand to reflect these are approximate estimates and use national level eligibility and take-up rates. See Tables 1 and 2:

Table 1: Estimated number of children in East Kilbride constituency forecast to be eligible for Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Grant.

The SEPA budget position for 2020-21 was reported as part of the overall ENFOR Directorate budget monitoring return, which was reporting an underspend, providing flexibility to finance colleagues to offset any potential overspends.

Unutilised funding that is not required for purpose originally allocated is actively re-allocated across Scottish Government to mitigate emerging budget pressures. Where effective re-allocation is not possible due to late declaration of underspend, unutilised funding can be carried forward through the Scottish Reserve for utilisation in a future financial year.

A Culture Strategy for Scotland highlights the Scottish Government commitment to ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to experience culture’s empowering and transformative potential. We want to ensure that everyone in Scotland can take part in culture throughout their lives and that culture in, and from, Scotland enriches the lives of people and communities across the country.

The innovative Creative Communities programme, Creative Communities - Inspiring Scotland , was launched following the publication of the Culture Strategy in 2020 which supports and empowers individuals and communities to further develop their own cultural activity.

The Culture Strategy sets out that those who engage in cultural activity as children are more likely to participate and attend when they are adults, regardless of parental background, wealth or poverty. Our long-standing Youth Music Initiative offers a year’s free music tuition to all children before they leave primary school, as well as targeted opportunities for out of school participation in music for children and young people who may not otherwise have these opportunities. Additionally, our Youth Arts Emergency Fund offered similar targeted opportunities across a range of art forms.

The provision of community pharmacy pharmaceutical services are made according to arrangements set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. Under this, decisions are a matter for NHS Health Boards, through their Pharmacy Practices Committee (PPC). The process is independent of Scottish Ministers and Government.

The Scottish Government expects all women to receive high quality, safe care including in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia.

The Scottish Perinatal Network has been tasked with examining the adoption of PlGF testing in light of the draft NICE guidance published for consultation in March this year and we expect the finalised guidance to be published on 27 July 2022.

As part of its initial work, the Network is engaging with the clinical and scientific community to understand how the additional two tests included in the draft guidance work in practice. This work is underway and I have asked my officials to continue working with the Network to explore how we can best implement PlGF testing in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not stipulate the maximum or minimum number of patients that can access a community pharmacy. Health Boards are responsible for the provision of pharmaceutical care services within their areas, taking into consideration neighbourhood, the adequacy of existing pharmaceutical services in the area and the necessity and desirability of approving an application to secure adequate pharmaceutical services in the area.

Community pharmacy owners are responsible for ensuring that pharmacies are safe and effective for pharmacy teams and patients. This includes setting safe staffing levels in line with the guidance provided by the regulator, The General Pharmaceutical Council.

The First Minister will hold a summit on abortion on 27 June 2022. The summit will focus primarily on buffer zones, and organisations such as MSPs, CoSLA, Police Scotland and women’s rights organisations will be invited to attend.

The Veterans Railcard provides a one-third discount on rail journeys across the UK. It is available to all veterans who have served for at least one day or more in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces or Merchant Mariners who have seen duty on legally defined military operations. The terms and conditions for the railcard are set by National Rail (part of the Rail Delivery Group).

In addition, the Disabled Persons Railcard also provides one-third discount on rail journeys across the UK for a cardholder and a companion travelling with them. Veterans in receipt of War Disablement Pension Mobility Supplement or War or Service Disablement Pension for 80% or more disability are eligible to apply for this railcard.

Under the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People (NCTS), veterans resident in Scotland aged 60 and over are eligible to apply for free bus travel throughout Scotland. In addition injured veterans may also qualify for free bus travel if they satisfy the disability eligibility criteria for the NCTS which can be found on the Transport Scotland website and which include being in receipt of a War Disablement Pension Mobility Supplement.

Veterans age 21 or younger can also qualify for free bus travel under the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme for Young People.

In our Programme for Government the Scottish Government has committed to developing nature networks across Scotland, as we recognise the key role they can play in protecting and enhancing biodiversity. We are working closely with NatureScot and key stakeholders to develop a national framework and guidance which will help us support Local Authorities and others in developing new, and expanding existing, nature networks. A key part of this work will also be encouraging co-operation and knowledge exchange across local authorities.

We have not undertaken any recent assessment of the costs to individuals or the economy of using reusable nappies compared to single-use nappies. However, in line with the waste hierarchy, the Scottish Government’s focus is on measures to promote reusable alternatives, like the reusable nappy vouchers in the Baby Box.