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The Review of Maternity and Neonatal Services was led by a review group consisting of representatives from the key professional groups involved in managing and delivering maternity and neonatal services, representatives of the Scottish Government, staff side organisations, Royal Colleges, third sector representatives and academics working in maternal and infant health research.

The full membership of the Review group can be found in Appendix E of The Best Start: A Five Year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland, and membership of Sub Groups and their remit in Appendix F.

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding to the Stroke Association in the last five years.

Matters of parliamentary reform, including changes in relation to the position on parliamentary privilege, are primarily for Parliament to develop and consider.

The Scottish Government would consider proposals put before Parliament.

The Scottish Government has provided the following funding to Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland:

2020-21 financial year - £952,444

2021-22 financial year - £218,996

2022-23 financial year - £379,685

2023-24 financial year – No funding provided in this financial year.

2024-25 financial year - £62,639

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long-term conditions including chronic kidney disease, are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Financial support for travel to hospital appointments is available to patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements. Where travel is necessary, Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions made.

In January 2024 we implemented a national policy for the reimbursement of electricity costs for home dialysis patients to address inconsistencies across Health Boards where some fully reimburse electricity costs, and others provide partial reimbursement or none at all. Boards are expected to proactively identify eligible patients and make reimbursement. A review of implementation is currently underway and a further update will be provided in Autumn 2024.

Financial support for travel to hospital appointments is available to patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements. The Scottish Government provides the overall guidance to NHS Boards on reimbursement of patient travel costs and Boards are responsible for setting and applying local policy.

Where travel is necessary, Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions made.

Where a patient is eligible for assistance with travel costs, claims should normally be ratified and reimbursed within 1 to 2 weeks, allowing time for the claim and supporting documentation to be reviewed. Where assistance is required with upfront costs, Health Boards can make bookings on behalf of eligible patients and this should be discussed with the relevant Health Board as part of the overall treatment arrangements.

In January 2024 we implemented a national policy for the reimbursement of electricity costs for home dialysis patients to address inconsistencies across Health Boards where some fully reimburse electricity costs, and others provide partial reimbursement or none at all. Boards are expected to proactively identify eligible patients and ensure electricity costs for eligible patients are reimbursed promptly. A review of implementation is currently underway and a further update will be provided in Autumn 2024.

The Scottish Government does not hold, nor collect, data on children and young people who have been recorded as going missing after being placed in Adult Mental Health Services.

The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested which is a matter for health boards locally.

Recruitment and training of registered mental health professionals is a matter for employers such as NHS boards and Local Authorities. These bodies make informed decisions about recruiting counsellors and psychotherapists or training new mental health practitioners, according to the needs of local service providers and working with relevant professional bodies. The Scottish Government expects employers to apply standards and frameworks which are appropriate to the specialism being recruited for.

In September 2023, we published Mental Health Core Standards, initially applying to adult secondary mental health services. These outline national expectations to boards regarding staffing levels and appropriate skills.

The Scottish Government does not hold information specifically on the number of e-bike thefts as the data we receive from Police Scotland is a general count of the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, split by local authority.

Depending on the circumstances of any given case, such as how an e-bike was stolen or it’s spec, there are a number of different crime classifications that might be used by the police (for example Theft of a Pedal Cycle, Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Robbery etc.). As such, it is not possible to identify within the Recorded Crime statistics how many of the cases involve an e-bike being stolen.