Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) Tool contains a default count of households who are both overcrowded and concealed. The Scottish Government's Centre for Housing Market Analysis (CHMA) also publishes separate counts of overcrowded and concealed households which local authorities may choose to use. Alternatively, local authorities may choose to use local information about overcrowded and concealed households using sources such as waiting lists or local survey work, where they can evidence that this is robust.

Specific details are published as bespoke separate documents, as follows:

• Single count of overcrowded households and single count of concealed households (see Table 3)

Estimating concealed family rates with overcrowding using Scottish survey data (2016-2018) (www.gov.scot)

• Count of households who are both overcrowded and concealed (see Excel worksheet called ‘HoTOC’)

Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA): tool 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We expect clinicians to adhere to current guidelines from authoritative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The NICE quality statement on surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma, published in 2017, states that adults with cirrhosis should be offered six monthly surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma. The European Association for the Study of the Liver published updated recommendations in the Journal of Hepatology in 2020.

We awarded a contract through a competitive tender for independent VAT advice from Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP. AAB have been commissioned to provide advice and support to SG on VAT implications. This work is ongoing. We will engage with the wider sector and HMT prior to any decision being taken which would have a VAT impact.

Please see the details of contracts awarded to private companies to undertake work regarding the establishment of a National Care Service in the following table.

Following careful consideration of the Reporter’s findings, conclusions and recommendations, I have determined that the Orders for the A9 Dualling Killiecrankie to Glen Garry scheme should be made. A decision letter in relation to the Orders is being issued today to all those who made representations to the draft Orders. I want to thank everyone who did so and give an assurance that those representations have been carefully considered.

This significant decision now clears the way for publication of the Made Orders for this scheme. Subject to there being no challenge to Made Orders, we will then be in a position to complete the statutory process for the scheme and acquire land required to build it.

This significant milestone for our ambitious programme to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness means that 92% of the programme now has Ministerial decisions to make Orders and complete the statutory process.

Road users on the A9 are already benefitting from the dualled stretches between Kincraig and Dalraddy and Luncarty and Pass of Birnam, which opened in September 2017 and August 2021, respectively. Procurement for award of the construction contract for the section between Tomatin and Moy, which will be subject to our normal tender evaluation and business case approval processes, is underway. I expect to be able to update Parliament shortly on the progress of this section.

When completed the A9 Dualling programme will bring many benefits to local communities, businesses, visitors and road users living, travelling and working along the corridor including reduced journey times, improved journey time reliability, improved road safety and opportunities for active travel.

In 2022-23, funding of £18 billion is provided for health and social care. This substantial investment is already benefitting a range of services that are supporting the needs of people living with long COVID.

Health funding for 2023-24 will be confirmed through the forthcoming budget process.

We engage with NHS Boards on a regular basis regarding their capacity needs, and will continue to do so in order to inform the allocation of the long COVID Support Fund.

After competitive tender, a contract was awarded to Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP to obtain expert independent advice on the implications of VAT on the NCS and associated Care Boards. This work is ongoing. We will engage with the wider sector and HMT prior to any decision being taken which would have a VAT impact.

As committed to in the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care we will, for the first time, publish our high level indicative projections for the Health and Social Care Workforce.

As part of the development of the indicative workforce projections a Short Life Working Group, comprising of key stakeholders developed an initial specification for workforce projections. Development of any projections is complex with many interlinking factors and as such we will look to continue to build the complexity of our workforce projections over time. Initially we will include job families from across the health and social care sector and utilise data from existing workforce data sets. Unfortunately we currently do not hold national level workforce data on consultant hepatologists, liver nurse specialists and alcohol liaison nurses and are therefore unable to include these specialities in initial workforce projections beyond the level of nurse and medical job families.

As part of the strategy we have also committed to taking forward specific actions to improve how we gather, use and assess workforce data. This includes taking steps to improve the demographic data we collect and the analysis we undertake of data obtained at different geographic levels within our health and social care system. This work to improve workforce data will be done in concert with development of workforce projections and the continued development of these.

After competitive tender, a contract was awarded to Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP to obtain expert independent advice on the implications of VAT on the NCS and associated Care Boards. No decisions have been made at this point and a full understanding of the impact of all options will be considered.

The loss of a baby, at any stage of pregnancy, is a significant and traumatic event that affects many parents and their families throughout Scotland. In our 2021 Manifesto we committed to emulate New Zealand where families who sadly experience miscarriage or stillbirth are entitled to three days of paid leave. We will implement this commitment by delivering it within the public sector.

We are also calling on the UK Government, who have the reserved powers to make the necessary changes to employment law, to make this provision available for everyone.

As an employer, the Scottish Government bereavement leave policy already provides two weeks leave, at full pay, to those staff who experience the loss of a baby through miscarriage in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. The NHS and other public bodies are separate employers and determine their own terms and conditions of employment.