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The right to demonstrate and protest are fundamental human rights which the Scottish Government is committed to upholding. Those simply going about their business should be able to do so without the fear of any form of abusive behaviour. Where such behaviour occurs it should be reported to the police to allow them to take action.

The Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland to take appropriate and proportionate action to safeguard public safety including at protests. Police Scotland has powers to tackle any behaviour which is antisocial or criminal, as well as public order powers to impose directions or conditions on, or disperse, public assemblies where this is deemed necessary.

The Scottish Government instructed NHS Territorial Health Boards to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

Decisions regarding accessibility policy and planning of this nature are made by individual Health Boards based on local priorities and needs. Boards are expected to assess the impact of their policies and functions on people with protected characteristics and equality groups in line with statutory requirements.

A programme of work to address recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland has now concluded and each of the 55 recommendations updated.

In line with agreed governance structures processes, all NHS Territorial Health Boards have established Local Improvement Plans for 2023-24 and were instructed by Scottish Government to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

It would be for NHS Lanarkshire to make the decision to publish these plans.

The Scottish Government is clear that patients should not pay for any part of their NHS treatment, and NHS patients are not permitted to use purchased donor eggs for NHS treatment. However, NHS treatment should not be withdrawn from patients who purchase their own donor eggs for use in future private treatment. If a patient is unhappy with the care they have received, they should contact their NHS Board who have responsibility for delivering services.

As part of our strategic approach to healthcare science, the Scottish Government is actively undertaking work to ensure healthcare science professions, including audiology, are included as part of wider work on reform and renewal of NHS Scotland.

This sits hand in hand with activity which will enable us to be able to map our scientific workforce in NHS Scotland more accurately, strengthening capacity, training and recruitment pipelines for audiologists, and supporting better workforce planning for the future.

The Scottish Government instructed NHS Territorial Health Boards to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

Decisions regarding accessibility policy and planning of this nature are made by individual Health Boards based on local priorities and needs. Boards are expected to assess the impact of their policies and functions on people with protected characteristics and equality groups in line with statutory requirements.

As part of Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) benchmarking, a mapping exercise is currently underway which includes the consideration of national KPI reporting for audiology services.

An executive lead group for audiology has been reestablished, with representation from each NHS Territorial Health Board to consider the outputs and next steps of this work, which will conclude within the current financial year.

Scottish Audiology Heads of Service have recently initiated an in house peer review process and are continuing to see positive results from this. As part of Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) benchmarking, a mapping exercise is currently underway which includes the consideration of national peer review for audiology services.

An executive lead group for audiology has been reestablished, with representation from each NHS Territorial Health Board to consider the outputs and next steps of this work, which will conclude within the current financial year.

The Scottish Ministers make decisions on applications in accordance with legislative requirements and relevant policy. Energy consent applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with all relevant information considered to ensure balanced decision-making. This includes environmental information, consultee responses from public bodies and representations from the public.

All information related to determinations made by the Scottish Ministers in respect of onshore wind farm developments, including any conditions to mitigate biodiversity impacts, is publicly available on our Energy Consents portal: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx

The Scottish Government has committed funding to all territorial Health Boards to undertake Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) benchmarking throughout the current financial year.

An executive lead group for audiology has been reestablished, with representation from each NHS Territorial Health Board to consider the outputs and next steps of this work, which will conclude within the current financial year.