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Following the UK Chancellor's July statement, the Scottish Government continues to face the most challenging financial situation since devolution.

Whilst any reduction is regrettable, we remain committed to taking forward our work across mental health, working closely with key partners. Our collective focus has to be on making as much difference as possible with our funding.

We continually monitor both CAMHS and Psychological therapies (PT) waiting times performance and directly engage with all 14 territorial NHS Boards. The latest CAMHS and PT waiting times statistics published on 3 September 2024 show positive signs of improvement. However, we are not complacent and continue to direct enhanced support to those NHS Boards with the longest waits.

Children and young people are not taught about their own gender identity in Scottish schools. That is a personal matter for any individual and, in the case of young people, their family.

Relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the school curriculum in Scotland. Learning and teaching focusses on equipping children and young people with the knowledge, skills and values to make informed and positive choices about forming relationships. This aspect of the curriculum is intended to enable children and young people to build positive relationships as they grow older. Relationships, sexual health and parenthood education has been in place since 2010, the same year Curriculum for Excellence was implemented.

I am concerned at suggestions of cuts to learning hours in any local authority. I wrote to all local authorities in February this year make clear that this would not be acceptable to Scottish Government.

We are continuing to engage with COSLA to work towards a voluntary agreement with local government on protecting learning hours. If no agreement is reached, I remain open to taking steps towards utilising the powers in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to prescribe in the regulations the number of hours made available.

The Scottish Government is keen to come to a voluntary agreement with local government on protecting learning hours, but if no agreement is reached we will consider options including use of regulations. We continue to engage with local government on this matter.

A number of public health campaigns will continue to run. Public Health Scotland will continue to undertake targeted communications work for vaccine programmes, including Winter Flu, to ensure those who are eligible for vaccinations are aware and encouraged to take them up. The Scottish Government’s Detect Cancer Early and Dementia campaigns are currently running and a number of public health topics continue to be supported by social media, public relations and partner marketing, which is delivered directly by the Scottish Government Communications Directorate.

Scottish Government funding of over £2.5m has been committed to support the mental health and wellbeing of health and care staff in 2024-25. These resources include a 24/7 compassionate listening service, confidential mental health treatment through the Workforce Specialist Service and access to psychological therapies and interventions.

Prioritising these treatment and therapeutic programmes reflects our commitment to offer care and support to those staff suffering from burnout, stress, anxiety and other conditions. In addition, the National Wellbeing Hub offers a range of self-care wellbeing resources and signposting to relevant mental health and support services.

On the 3 September 2024, the Scottish Government pre-budget fiscal update outlined savings measures of £115.8m in the Health and Social Care budget, with funding redirected to support emerging pressures within Health and Social Care, not used for wider SG spending.

A breakdown of the savings can be found at: Scottish Government Pre-Budget Fiscal Update: Letter to Finance Committee - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We remain committed to delivering a Just Transition Plan that reflects the needs of the industrial site operators, workforce and the wider community and anticipate the launch of a draft plan for consultation in the coming months.

We will update the Parliament on the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan in due course.

Latest assured figure (from 31 July 2024) showed that around 14,000 premises were still expected to be connected through the R100 Central contract.

Latest coverage figures, including premises connected that were beyond the scope of the initial R100 contracts, are available on our website at Data insights | Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband.

The Scottish Government have engaged with LGBT Youth Scotland to determine the facts around the recent media reports. We have determined no further action is needed at this stage.

The Scottish Government are continuing to fund all organisations who have received funding through the Equality and Human Rights Fund for the 2024-2025 financial year.