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Ensuring individuals have access to Primary Care is a key component in tackling the Drug Crisis we face in Scotland, MAT Standard 7 specifies ‘All people have the option of MAT shared with Primary Care’

The Scottish Government provides funding to the Royal College of General Practitioners to deliver the Certificate in Management of Problem Drug Use. This supports primary care professionals within Scotland to provide care for people who experience problem drug use.

Those who have undertaken the course report improved knowledge of the MAT standards and how to appropriately incorporate these into clinical practice.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to Scottish Recovery Consortium to deliver the Humanising Healthcare Conversation Café project. This is a project which provides medical students across Scotland with the opportunity to engage with people with lived experience of substance use through guided roundtable discussions in medical schools across Scotland.

The responses to the consultation on proposals for enhancing the accessibility, adaptability and usability of Scotland's homes are currently being analysed, and a report on the feedback received will be published in due course.

Page 161 of the ‘Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland: 2022 Report to Parliament’ by the Climate Change Committee (Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland 2022 Report to Parliament (theccc.org.uk)) contains the following recommendation:

“Legislate the Circular Economy Bill and set targets to reduce waste and improve recycling rates beyond 2025, ensuring these are more ambitious than existing targets. Targets should be set on the basis of separate waste streams (rather than 'All waste') and where possible consider carbon-based metrics”

The Scottish Government has had no engagement with local authorities, higher education institutions, and private providers in order to establish local housing market intelligence hubs. It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities through their Local Housing Strategy and Development Plan to determine the appropriate housing required in their area, informed by a Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA). HNDA Guidance encourages local authorities to establish a Housing Market Partnership (HMP) to oversee the development, production and sign-off of a HNDA. The structure and membership of a HMP is determined locally to reflect the circumstances and requirements of individual partnerships.

It is for local planning authorities to implement relevant planning legislation, policies and guidance as they deem appropriate and to ensure that the provisions of the planning system are applied properly within their areas. General guidance on the processing and determination of planning applications is available in Planning Circular 3: Development Management Procedures.

In line with long-established planning legislation, planning applications are determined in accordance with the development plan unless material planning considerations justify a departure from the plan. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) forms part of the development plan, alongside the local development plan for each area.

NPF4 signals the key priorities for ‘where’ and ‘what’ development should take place and is combined with national planning policy on ‘how’ development planning should manage change. It places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system. NPF4 Policy 11 provides support in principle for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies including small-scale renewable energy generation proposals. However, it also confirms that potential impacts on communities and individual dwellings, the environment and other receptors are important considerations in the decision-making process.

In some instances, solar panels and wind turbines can be installed on domestic properties under permitted development rights without the need for a planning application. Guidance on this is contained in Section 6 of Planning Circular 1/2024: Householder Permitted Development Rights.

All Health Boards should have appropriate arrangements in place to ensure co-ordination of care for patients across primary, community and hospital health care services. This includes patients with a terminal illness.

To date the Scottish Government has provided over £342,000, of which, £125,000 was provided this financial year, in funding to the Royal College of General Practitioners “Primary Care Secondary Care Interface” project. The project is considering ways to improve this co-ordination and interface working arrangements. The College is working with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery and Health Boards on this project.

I appreciate the concerns that have been raised by the culture sector. Funding for the culture sector has increased this financial year, as the first step to achieving the First Minister’s commitment to invest at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by 2028-29.

I understand the Scottish Music Industry Association’s concerns and have restated the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to supporting the arts. I was also pleased that following a period of necessary due diligence the £3m funds for Creative Scotland’s Open Fund have now been released and Creative Scotland are due to reopen this fund on 8 October.

I have also agreed to meet with the Scottish Music Industry Association to further understand the concerns held by the sector and its musicians.

The Scottish Government has today published a consultation seeking views on allowing proxy voting by councillors. The consultation is available at - http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781836018704

I have asked Janet Egdell, Interim Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

National Records of Scotland (NRS) have today published: ‘Scotland’s Census 2022: Health, disability and unpaid care’. This is the final topic release from Scotland’s Census 2022. Later in 2024, NRS will publish multivariate data. This means we will publish tables which include more than one census topic variable. More detail about the schedule for future reports can be found here.

Scotland’s Census results are designated as Accredited Official Statistics and form an integral part of the statistical system in the UK. The Office for Statistics Regulation, the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, awards Accredited Official Statistics designation based on the quality, good practice and comprehensiveness of official statistics.

The Scottish Government encourages all building owners to be open and transparent about the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their properties, including making information available on websites. Information on the presence of RAAC in the public sector can also be found in a recently published Scottish Government report: https://www.gov.scot/publications/raac-in-the-public-sector/