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The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all people living in Scotland with neurological conditions, such as Essential Tremor, are able to access the best possible care, support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care

Subject to eligibility criteria, NHS Boards are responsible for providing travel assistance where travel is required for medical reasons. The Scottish Government provides the overall guidance to NHS Boards, and individual Boards are responsible for developing and applying their own policies taking account of local circumstances.

Decisions about the appropriateness of referral to pain specialist services, or medications for pain management, are made by the clinician in discussion with the patient, and with reference to their medical history. Patients may choose to take the offer of new pathway alternatives being offered by some NHS Boards rather than by being seen at a consultant led clinic. Where a patient chooses an alternative pathway, they are removed from the waiting list for the consultant led clinic.

The Scottish Government is committed to rapidly improving care and services for people with chronic pain by delivering the Actions in the Pain Management Service Delivery Framework Implementation Plan at pace. The Implementation Plan outlines actions to expand skills and knowledge on chronic pain across local services and scaling-up new ways of working to improve the consistency and resilience of local pain services. We are investing in national solutions such as improving how people access information and understand their care options, enhancing coordination of support between the NHS and the third-sector.

We are also continuing to invest in the Scottish National Residential Pain Management Programme which provides highly specialised care for those facing the most challenging impacts of chronic pain to the value of over £630,000 this year.

The Scottish Government engages with the pharmaceutical industry directly as well as via the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, and through Four Nations partners as part of UK-wide pandemic preparedness and resilience measures. This has ranged from long-standing arrangements to build and maintain stockpiles of medicines to address challenges from potential influenza pandemics to more recent measures to establish stockpiles of medicines and associated consumables for the response to COVID-19. Collaborative working across the UK also includes working in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry to develop onshore vaccine manufacturing capacity, with potential for pandemic deployment.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Our Union Street white paper and the range of ideas it captures.

The Scottish Government recognises that our cities and towns are a national asset and is pleased to see that many of the aims in the Our Union Street white paper align with aims of National Planning Framework 4.

The Scottish Government would encourage Our Union Street, as it progresses, to consider entering its achievements into the government’s new Scottish Planning Innovation Awards in the future.

The Bathing Water (Scotland) Regulations 2008 require at the end of the bathing water season each year that the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) assesses each bathing water on the basis of samples collected during the season, plus the preceding 3 bathing seasons, and classifies the bathing waters for the coming season. SEPA must advise Scottish Ministers of the classifications and SEPA also publishes the classification results on its website at https://www2.sepa.org.uk/bathingwaters/Classifications.aspx . SEPA is required to monitor water quality at each bathing water during the bathing season and the first water quality sample at each designated bathing waters must be taken shortly before the start of the season, usually, around 15 May and SEPA publishes the results on its website.

Public Health Scotland recently published guidance with information on the risks and the steps the public can take to wild swim as safely as possible, available at https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/wild-swimming-how-to-swim-safely-in-scotlands-outdoor-water/ .

Freshwater rivers and lochs that are not designated as bathing waters are managed for the purpose of protecting fish and wildlife. SEPA publishes its water quality classification for each water body online at https://www.sepa.org.uk/data-visualisation/water-classification-hub/ .

SEPA classifies 84% of Scotland’s rivers and lochs at good or better for water quality and 98% of classified bathing waters meet bathing water quality standards with more being rated excellent than ever before.

Under the Bathing Water (Scotland) Regulations 2008, Scottish Ministers designate bathing waters where they expect a large number of people to bathe, having regard to past trends and infrastructure and facilities provided, or other measures taken to promote bathing. Across Europe the meaning of a large number of bathers ranges up 300 bathers per day, which is much higher than Scotland’s 150 bathers.

Following extensive bather surveys across Scotland and a public consultation, the Scottish Government developed a policy regarding the designation of bathing waters. That policy states that 150 people per day, or thereabouts, using the water for bathing regularly throughout the season would be considered to be a large number of bathers.

In determining whether a large number of bathers are expected to bathe there, Scottish Ministers must also have regard to past trends, infrastructure and facilities and promotion of bathing at any proposed bathing water.

Scotland’s climate change obligations include emissions from domestic and international aviation. ‘Scottish greenhouse gas statistics 2021’, published in June 2023, show that emissions from international aviation dropped by 23% between 2020 and 2021. Domestic aviation emissions increased by 12% in the same period, but are 59% below 1990 levels.

Work is ongoing across government to develop a Scottish Government aviation strategy. The public consultation on developing the strategy covered a range of topics including the transition to low and zero-emission aviation. This transition is also relevant to preparation of the Government’s 2023 Climate Change Plan and Just Transition Plan, and it is essential that this work be fully joined up.

The Scottish Government is committed to equitable and timely access to general and specialist palliative care services, as needed, by each person of any age, living with any illnesses, in all places. We want people to receive care where they feel most comfortable. For many, but not all, this will be at home supported by their family and friends and cared for by primary care teams and care staff.

It is the responsibility of Integrated Joint Boards to plan and commission adult palliative care services which are provided in a wide range of settings including acute hospitals, community hospitals, specialist palliative care units, hospices, care homes and people’s own homes.

We are currently developing a new Palliative and End of Live Care Strategy with an overarching aim that everyone in Scotland receives well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around death and bereavement support based on their needs and preferences, including support for families and carers.

Scottish waters are home to a diverse range of cetaceans (e.g., whale, dolphins and porpoise) and their protection is a high priority for the Scottish Government.

The developing UK Dolphin and Porpoise Strategy will play an important role in identifying action that can be taken to maintain the conservation status of these species in our waters. The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the other UK administrations and members of the working group, with the aim of publishing the strategy in early 2024.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to support work across a range of areas to safeguard cetaceans in Scottish waters.

Our vision for future fisheries in Scotland has sustainable fisheries management at its core. Through the Future Catching Policy and the Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative, we will continue work to monitor fisheries and, take concrete action to support fishers to avoid catching or minimise interaction with sensitive marine species (including cetaceans) through a suite of technical and spatial measures where required. We anticipate the analysis from the Future Catching Policy consultation to be published in summer.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government will be launching a consultation imminently on proposals to close fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters. Sandeels play an important role in aiding the long-term sustainability and resilience of the marine ecosystem and are an important food source for many species, including marine mammals.

These measures, and other ongoing work to address marine litter, improve marine enhancement, and protect our marine wildlife in Marine Protected Areas, all contribute to achieving the Scottish Government’s vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) expects city and town centres to be at the heart of place-based strategies.NPF4 wants planning to help town centres adapt and be vibrant, healthier, creative, enterprising and resilient places for people to live, learn, work enjoy and visit; and identity opportunities to enhance them.

As NPF4 now forms part of the statutory development plan, it has an enhanced position and influence on planning decisions which we expect to make a real difference to places, including our town centres.

Aberdeen City Council has received direct funding of £590k through the Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) for 2023-24 and will receive further funding over the course of this Parliament. The Programme accelerates ambitions for place, 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre action, community led regeneration and community wealth building.PBIP includes £140m allocated to Scotland’s local authorities over this Parliament.

Aberdeen City Council has also benefitted from £9.849m from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund supporting a number of projects including £1.9m for the Inchgarth Community Regeneration Hub in 2023-24.