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The Scottish Government welcomed the briefing from Audit Scotland and remains firmly committed to infrastructure investment as a key factor in securing inclusive economic growth and delivering high-quality public services. The UK Government did not inflation-proof their Capital budget which has resulted in the Scottish Government facing a 7.0% real-terms fall in our Barnett funding over the medium-term. This has significantly impacted our ability to deliver all our capital infrastructure commitments.

We have been consistently open about the challenges facing the Capital budget and tough decisions will need to be taken at the 2024-25 Budget to ensure we remain fiscally sustainable. Therefore, we committed to refreshing the multi-year capital spending envelopes up to 2026-27 and resetting the infrastructure project pipeline, alongside the 2024-25 Budget. To achieve this, Scottish Ministers are focused on targeting the available capital funding to deliver the right mix of infrastructure that will deliver value-for-money and contribute to the three core missions set out in the Policy Prospectus: tacking poverty and protecting people from harm; a fair, green and growing economy; and the provision of high-quality public services across the whole of Scotland. In taking decisions, the full impact of investment against national outcomes will be considered, including geographical need. Any decisions regarding the reprioritisation of capital spending will be presented to Parliament in due course.

This information is available and can be found on the Public Health Scotland website (tables 2 and 3): https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/national-dental-inspection-programme/national-dental-inspection-programme-20222023/

Ministers are required by the Community Empowerment Act (2015) to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication, and the next review is currently underway. The Scottish Government intends to lay the statutory document in Parliament in early 2024. This will outline the work undertaken during the Review, including any proposed changes to the National Outcomes.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme team work closely with services and NHS Boards to use learning from the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) and the Health Board review process to support care improvement across the whole stroke pathway, including access to rehabilitation.

We continue to expect Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Standards and to work with their stroke Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) to improve their standards of care locally.

We are also working with rehabilitation stakeholders and Public Health Scotland to develop empirical measures of rehabilitation and measures of patient experience, to enable us to better assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation delivery.

The Scottish Government notes the recommendations of the Barnardo’s report, The Missing Link: Social Prescribing for Children and Young People.

Community link workers (CLWs) have a key role for social prescribing in primary care settings. We have not prescribed a specific model for CLW services. Health and Social Care Partnerships base their services on local priorities, and this would include the inclusion of children in CLW services.

We expect Health Boards to fully engage with the review process that takes place via the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme. The Board review process allows for an evaluation of stroke service performance, identification of areas of concern and agrees steps to implement local action plans to improve the delivery of stroke care, including rehabilitation.

NHS Boards are expected to demonstrate rehabilitation provision in a variety of settings, including inpatient and community settings and at a range of intensities. Boards must also demonstrate that there is a clear pathway for people who have had strokes to re-engage with stroke rehabilitation services as appropriate.

We are also working with rehabilitation stakeholders and Public Health Scotland to develop empirical measures of rehabilitation and measures of patient experience, to enable us to better assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation delivery.

The Scottish Government places great importance on community sports and leisure facilities. They are crucial to the wellbeing of all our country and most importantly, for our children and young people to be healthy and active.

We are fully aware that local authorities are facing challenging financial circumstances, particularly in the maintenance and operating of facilities such as swimming pools, largely due to energy costs and other cost of living pressures. In 2023-24, East Lothian Council will receive £221.5 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £8.1 million to support vital day to day services or an addition 3.8 per cent compared to 2022-23.

Decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and will be announced as part of the outcome of future Scottish Budgets.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

sport scotland are supporting Scottish Swimming to undertake the Scottish Swimming Facilities Project. This is a detailed piece of work to accurately understand the current pool provision and life cycle, and to predict the landscape in the short, medium, and long term. This important piece of work can help inform future investment decisions both nationally and locally to ensure sustainable facilities, in the right places, to serve their local communities’ needs.

The Scottish Government notes the recommendations of the Barnardo’s report, The Missing Link: Social Prescribing for Children and Young People.

Community link workers (CLWs) have a key role for social prescribing in primary care settings. We have not prescribed a specific model for CLW services. Health and Social Care Partnerships base their services on local priorities, and this would include the inclusion of children in CLW services.

We expect local health and social care services to refer or signpost people who have experienced a stroke to the appropriate local services. We are not aware of any barriers to health and social care services referring to third sector services.

We are grateful to third sector organisations, such as Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and the Stroke Association, for their continued work in supporting people living with stroke across Scotland, and both organisations contributed to the development of the Stroke Improvement Plan.

The Scottish Government has committed over £1.9 billion to the City Region Deals programme and its associated investments. Information on the individual projects funded through the growth deals are outlined in their associated deal agreements.