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The beekeeper attends as is required and does not need to make an appointment as he has a security pass.

The current guidance in the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual (CH IPCM) produced by Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland states that before a resident is admitted to a care home it is important to undertake a risk assessment for infection.

At all times a thorough risk assessment should be undertaken prior to discharge to a care home to ensure that the care home is able to provide the care required and for the safety of the resident and others including staff, other residents and visitors. For example, if the individual requires to be isolated, that there is a suitable physical space and staff available for the delivery of care and support to an isolated resident.

The responsibility for carrying out individual risk assessments prior to discharge is between the individual Health Boards, Local Authorities and Integration Authorities.

It is the responsibility of integration authorities to carry out joint needs assessments as part of their strategic planning process. This information is therefore not held centrally.

From 2018 to 2023, the Scottish Government invested £28.75 million to build 55 new mobile masts in longstanding ‘notspots’, bringing 4G connectivity for the first time to communities and businesses across rural and island Scotland. The Scottish Government has also funded the creation of Infralink. This is a dedicated toolkit designed to help Scotland’s public sector organisations more easily leverage publicly owned property and assets in the rollout of new telecommunications infrastructure.

The Scottish Government has a contract with Office Papers to supply newspapers on an ad-hoc rather than a subscription basis. This contract was renewed in February 2022 to run for three years. Review meetings with the contractor take place on a quarterly basis. Business units making purchases under the contract are expected to ensure these are justified.

The following data has been provided by Public Health Scotland (PHS). It compares how many people had their vaccine by the end of November in winter 2024, 2023 and 2022, broken down by the following groups: the over-65s; the at risk 18 to 64 group; Healthcare workers and residents in care homes for older adults.

PHS data is compiled by ‘week ending’ dates, so the historic data is up to the following dates for each year: 27 November 2022, 26 November 2023 and 24 November 2024.

The fixed fee system was introduced over 25 years ago, in 1999. The initial move to fixed fees in 1999 was designed to reverse the substantial growth in costs seen throughout the 1990s and which led to significant reforms both in Scotland and England and Wales.

Fixed payments and block fees reduce the administrative burden on providers and streamlines the accounts process. That system was designed upon a basis that solicitors should be paid fixed sums for specified work recognising that different cases will require different amounts of work, and that different cases will have different degrees of profitability, but over the total population of summary criminal cases that a solicitor undertakes in a year, the sums that will be paid from the legal aid fund will provide reasonable remuneration. Solicitors can “opt out” of the respective fixed/block fee regime and charge on a ‘time and line’ basis in certain circumstances.

One of our short-term priorities for Legal Aid Reform, which arose from the Legal Aid Payment Panel is to progress fee review planning and collaborate with stakeholders on reform of legal aid fees in 2025. I intend to publish the Legal Aid Reform Discussion paper shortly.

NHS Health Boards must ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, has equitable access to mental health care.

If a patient is dissatisfied with their care or access to services, they should first raise their concerns with their local Health Board. If unsatisfied with the response, they can also escalate the matter to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) for an independent review.

We acknowledge that Highland has some of the highest rates of Huntington disease, we do not hold information to compare this to the rest of the country.

We have produced 144 jars in the last five years. Each jar is 227g. We received 99 jars in the financial year 2022/23 and 45 jars in 2024/25.

Notice is not required to be given as the beekeeper has a security pass and is fully security cleared.