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The Scottish Government is committed to the recruitment of a minimum of 1,500 additional staff to support the operation of Scotland’s National Treatment Centres (NTCs) and is supporting a range of activity to achieve this.

The recruitment data we collate is management information and not suitable for publication. NTC Recruitment is the responsibility of each NHS Board. It is therefore for NHS Golden Jubilee to provide detail regarding their recruitment.

The following table provides a breakdown of the core activity undertaken at the National Eye Centre at NHS Golden Jubilee, by month, since it opened in November 2020 up to the end of June 2022.

This does not include activity undertaken in main theatres at the NHS Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in 2020-21 prior to the National Eye Centre opening, nor any activity carried out in the National Eye Centre as part of the current independent sector contracts.

The following table shows the number of cardholders under the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme as of the end of the day on 12 September 2022, broken down to local authority level.

This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data. The table includes travel products collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application.

The Scottish Government recognises more than ever, the importance of people with mental health problems getting the right help, at the right time and in the right place. We are committed to providing clear, comprehensive and accessible support for those with mental health needs.

Under The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 local authorities have a duty to provide support to adult adoptees. If an adult adoptee or any other person affected by adoption requires support they should approach their local authority who are required to carry out an assessment and provide support to address any needs, including mental health, that are identified.

The 2022-23 Local Government Settlement of almost £12.7 billion provides local authorities with a cash increase of over £1 billion or 9.2 per cent compared to
‎ 2021-22, and it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on support for adult adoptees, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

In 2020-21 NHS Mental Health Expenditure was £1.25bn. Through investment of £21m in 2021-22 in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults, including people affected by psychological trauma or adverse childhood experiences, we have made over 1,800 awards to community projects focused on prevention and early intervention. The Scottish Government is providing a further £15m in 2022-23.

At June 2022 our latest published statistics show that Social Security Scotland had reached 3,061 employees with 1,050 these colleagues employed with Dundee as their office location.

By Autumn 2022 we expect Social Security Scotland to directly employ more than 3,500 people. We have made 2,000 offers of employment with new staff joining up until the end of 2022. We have 11 organised campaigns to launch with a Dundee specific location in 2022-23. We have/have not yet planned the specific Dundee campaigns for 2023-24.

The Scottish Government recognises that pulmonary rehabilitation is an important element of respiratory care. Since the publication of our Respiratory Care Action Plan in March 2021, we have established the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee (SRAC) to oversee its implementation. They have identified pulmonary rehabilitation as one of the key priorities for 2022.

To take forward this key priority, we have established a group of clinical experts from across Scotland, as well as involving people living with respiratory conditions. The group are currently carrying out a scoping exercise to determine areas of good practice and areas that require improvement, including access to appropriate venues. This scoping exercise will aid the development of consistent guidance on access to and delivery of pulmonary rehabilitation services across Scotland. The group will also seek out new and innovative approaches in pulmonary rehabilitation and support boards to test new models out with traditional health settings.

Increased energy costs are one of a range of cost pressures NHS Boards need to manage in order to deliver services that best meet the needs of their local populations.

We have committed to an Emergency Budget Review to tackle the challenges facing public finances and help support those hit hardest by the cost crisis. The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS Boards to address financial pressures across the system, to the support recovery and reform and delivery of a financially, environmentally and socially sustainable health and care services.

As part of the Scottish Medicines Consortium’s (SMC) continuing role in the UK-wide multi-agency RAPID C-19 initiative, the collaborative partnership between the SMC and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will extend to the multiple technology assessment (MTA) of the range of therapeutics for the treatment of COVID-19; therefore, a separate assessment of these medicines by the SMC will not be required.

According to the latest quarterly edition of the Scottish Child Payment statistical publication, between 9 November 2020 and 30 June 2022, the number of applications received for the Scottish Child Payment benefit from people living in the Dundee City Local Authority area is 5,990. In total, 5,500 applications had been processed as of 30 June 2022.

Scottish Government published an estimate on uptake in October 2021 as part of their benefit take-up strategy. The estimate of national take-up for the Scottish Child Payment benefit was 77%. This publication did not include geographical breakdowns.

As of 30 June 2022, it is estimated that 104,000 children were in receipt of Scottish Child Payment. Whilst this 104,000 figure is included in the latest Scottish Child Payment statistical publication, we do not currently produce equivalent information by Local Authority areas.

Between 15 February 2021 when the benefit officially launched and 30 June 2022, Social Security Scotland had issued £2.9 million of Scottish Child Payments to clients living in Dundee City Local Authority area.

Project Neptune was published on 8 September 2022 and can be accessed:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/strategic-framework-of-options-for-the-chfs-network-project-neptune/

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10433 on 20 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers