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A programme of stakeholder engagement has taken place to develop our strategic approach to workforce planning for mental health and wellbeing. Our strategic approach, which will align with the Health and Social Care: National Workforce Strategy published March 2022, will be included within the forthcoming Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

We continue to work closely with stakeholders to develop the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan which will accompany the Strategy's delivery plan, with the intention of publishing in Autumn 2023.

Five years on from the joint agreement between Scottish Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) on the 2018 GP contract, we have made significant progress in the implementation of Primary Care Improvement Plans (PCIPs). The Vaccination Transformation Programme element of the 2018 GP contract is complete.

While the Scottish Government will seek continuous improvement of our vaccination services, I would envisage neither a return to a model of default GP provision nor local models based on optional GP participation. This is because the aim of the Vaccination Transformation Programme was to ensure that GP practices are able to focus on the work only they can do, such as complex care and diagnosing undifferentiated presentations. Vaccinations can be administered in a wide range of different settings by a wide range of healthcare professionals.

The GP profession voted as a whole in 2018 in favour of not providing vaccinations and this position remains extant. There will always be exceptions to this of course, in rural areas and where the need to vaccinate quickly is paramount. Notwithstanding these exceptions, I would not anticipate making any fundamental changes to our vaccination model which are counter to our 2018 agreement with GPs about the future of the profession.

Officials and Ministers are in regular contact with business, including some of the biggest producers, and sector organisations in relation the delivery of the Deposit Return Scheme. The lack of clarity around an Internal Market Act exclusion has regularly been raised at these meetings and causes uncertainty and inhibits planning and preparation.

As well as a press release and supporting social media on the consultation opening on 12 December 2023, ?the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate frequently promoted the consultation, stakeholder information sessions and the extension of the consultation on its Twitter (@marinescotland) and LinkedIn channels, which have a combined following of more than 12.5K stakeholders. Please note that @marinescotland does not have an Instagram account.

The £25 million funding will be allocated to the Scottish National Investment Bank for 2023-24 to invest in line with the Bank’s Investment Strategy, and in support of a Just Transition to net zero in the region. The funding will be invested by the Bank on a commercial basis, to leverage further private investment towards accelerating a just energy transition across the North East and Moray.

The Bank has a proven track record having committed £415.1 million across 27 investments, alongside over £680 million of third party capital since 2020. Utilising the Bank’s commercial investment expertise and experience represents a key opportunity to unlock third party finance at the scale required to realise our ambition for a just transition in the region.

During this initial phase of policy development on Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), in 2022, the Scottish Government met with a range of stakeholders including -

• British Trout Association (BTA) – 17 March
• Coastal Communities Network (CCN) – 22 March
• Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) - 23 November
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) – 24 March
• Crown Estate Scotland (CES)–28 March
• Oceana – 13 May
• Royal Yachting Association (RYA) – 5 May
• Salmon Scotland – 17 March and 6 April
• Scottish Environment LINK–18 March, 14 July and 2 December
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) – 8 March
• Scottish Renewables – 13 May
• Scottish Sea Farms Ltd–23 May
• Scottish Seaweed Industry Association (SSIA) – 25 April
  

The Scottish Government’s initial consultation on our proposed overall approach to Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) closed on 17 April and we have received thousands of responses which we want to ensure are given due consideration. We have now begun collating and analysing the responses we have received and will be carefully considering this feedback before setting out our next steps in due course.

The Just Transition Fund sends a clear signal of our support for the North East and Moray however government alone cannot finance the region’s journey to net zero. The Scottish National Investment Bank will invest this £25 million funding in line with the Bank’s Investment Strategy, its missions including to support the Just Transition to net zero, and the Fund’s geographic remit.

Officials have engaged regularly with the Enterprise Agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank to inform the approach to Just Transition Fund investment capital.

On 24 January officials engaged with representatives from local councils, chambers of commerce, enterprise agencies, regional economic development organisations and community groups to reflect on the lessons learned from the first year of the Just Transition Fund.

On 9 February 2023 the former Minister for Just Transition held a series of engagements with representatives from Opportunity North East, Energy Transition Zone and the Net Zero Technology Centre.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) has developed a number of tools and resources to improve medicines safety. One area of focus has been on developing resources around the use of high risk medicines, and within high risk situations. The high risk medicines framework and discussion tool has been reviewed by the clinical team supporting Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to ensure they remain up to date and beneficial. There are also some more in-depth evaluations and updates of specific resources. The sick day rule cards are being updated in collaboration with the Quality Prescribing and Therapeutics Division of the Scottish Government and will be included in polypharmacy guidance, and HIS has commissioned the University of Strathclyde to complete a national evaluation of the Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) safety bundles. This evaluation will be completed in the coming months and a report will be issued outlining the findings.

As the First Minister recently announced, the Fuel Insecurity Fund’s budget for 2023/24 has increased from £20 million to £30 million. The Fund has been allocated as follows:

• £9 million to enable Advice Direct Scotland to administer Home Heating Support Fund grants to those struggling with the rapid increase in gas, electricity and oil prices;
• £8.5 million for the Fuel Bank Foundation to rapidly support more than 85,000 households, including those with prepayment meters and at risk of imminent self-disconnection;
• £7.25 million to enable the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to provide more than 55,000 households across Scotland with advice, support with bills and energy-saving items;
• £5 million for one-to-one mentoring for households to be provided by a new funding partner, The Wise Group, as part of a longer-term approach to tackling poverty and its causes;£250,000 for Energy Action Scotland to support both an uplift to their core staff costs and opportunity for expanded roles to aid our longer-term approach to tackling fuel poverty.