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Information in relation to the number of patients in forensic services by NHS Board can be found at Table 9 of the Inpatient Census, 2017 - Part 1: Mental Health & Learning Disability Inpatient Bed Census - Part 2: Out of Scotland NHS Placements;

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0052/00524621.pdf

There is no consistent definition of a ‘forensic unit’ as some health boards use intensive psychiatric care units (IPCUs), mixed purpose rehabilitative facilities or General Adult Psychiatry(GAP) facilities to accommodate patients being managed primarily by forensic services. As such patients in low secure services are defined on a patient basis rather than by unit.

There is one high secure facility (The State Hospital, Carstairs), three health boards operating medium secure facilities which operate on a regional basis (Lothian-South & East, Glasgow - West and Tayside-North). There are nine health boards operating low secure units (Grampian, Highland, Tayside, Fife, Forth Valley, Ayrshire & Arran, Dumfries & Galloway, Lanarkshire, and Greater Glasgow and Clyde).

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group and the Local Government and Communities Committee have both made recommendations around improving the measurement of rough sleeping. We have accepted these in principle and are committed to considering how to take forward action in this space. As recommended by the Action Group, the Scottish Government is already working with the Centre for Homelessness Impact to develop options for a new rough sleeping data collection in Scotland, in collaboration with the wider sector.

The Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group, co-chaired by the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning and COSLA, is overseeing the development of a high level action plan on the implementation of the Action Group's recommendations, and further details will be available in the autumn.

Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for the delivery of homelessness services in their area. The vast majority of the funding which the Scottish Government provides to tackle rough sleeping is included, but not separately identifiable, within the annual local government finance settlement.

The Scottish Government is providing local government with a finance settlement in 2018-19 amounting to £10.7 billion. The vast majority of this funding is provided by means of a block grant It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including funding to tackle rough sleeping, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Additionally, in order to catalyse change as part of the work initiated by last year’s Programme for Government and the work of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, we have allocated an additional £220,000 to be spent on proven rough sleeping interventions in 2018-19. This is on top of £328,000 worth of investment (£262,000 from the Scottish Government and £66,000 from Action Group members) to take forward the immediate actions recommended by the Action Group to combat rough sleeping last winter. We will be further considering the learning from last winter’s activities as we consider how to ensure initiatives are effective and sustainable in the long term, as part of ongoing work to implement the recommendations of the Action Group and of the Local Government and Communities Committee.

Details of each local government finance settlement since 2007 are available on the Scottish Government’s website via the following link https://beta.gov.scot/publications/local-government-finance-circulars-index/

Of the £328,000 additionally allocated to rough sleeping initiatives in winter 2017-18, £262,000 was provided by the Scottish Government and £66,000 was provided by other members of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group. Allocations were made to local authority and third sector frontline services in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in accordance with the recommendations of the Action Group to safeguard rough sleepers over the winter.

An independent review of the impact of the winter initiative has been commissioned by Simon Community Scotland, Edinburgh Streetwork and Aberdeen Cyrenians and is due to report later in July. The Scottish Government will review this along with other evaluation reports from organisations involved in delivering the immediate actions recommended by the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group to combat rough sleeping last winter, and will provide a summary report to inform key actions for next winter and beyond as part of our plans to eradicate rough sleeping and end homelessness.

An independent review of the impact of the winter initiative has been commissioned by Simon Community Scotland, Edinburgh Streetwork and Aberdeen Cyrenians and is due to report later in July. The Scottish Government will review this along with other reports from organisations involved in delivering the immediate actions recommended by the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group to combat rough sleeping last winter, and will provide an additional summary report to inform key actions for next winter and beyond as part of our plans to eradicate rough sleeping and end homelessness.

Scottish Government officials have met with Vertex Pharmaceuticals twice this year to discuss Vertex’s proposals for their medicines designed to treat cystic fibrosis. Further to these meetings, officials have encouraged the company to discuss a possible application to the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

Decisions made by the SMC are taken independently of Ministers and the Parliament and are based on an assessment of clinical and cost-effectiveness across the Scottish population.

The median life expectancy for someone living with Cystic Fibrosis in Scotland is 47 years.

Data on life expectancy in Scotland and the UK is publicly available online from the UK Cystic Fibrosis Registry which can be viewed on the following link: https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/the-work-we-do/uk-cf-registry

The former Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport did not hold discussions with NHS boards about Orkambi. This reflects the policy of the Scottish Government, which is that decisions about the availability of medicines on the NHS are taken independently of Ministers.

Four Cystic Fibrosis drug trials are currently ongoing in Scotland. Two are in NHS Lothian and two in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

In addition to the drug trials, NHS Research Scotland also supports

a basic science study involving patients at NHS Lothian

two clinical trials studying an intervention, one ongoing in NHS GGC one at NHS Lothian/NHS Fife

a Research Database ongoing at NHS Tayside, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Grampian, NHS Lothian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Highland and NHS Ayrshire and Arran

A questionnaire study ongoing at NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian.