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The Scottish Government does not currently have an estimated cost for the provision of a 24/7 thrombectomy service.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service that is available across Scotland whenever people need it.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

While there is not a specific date for publication, we expect the next steps for service expansion to reflect work to align the governance and delivery of thrombectomy with similar national programmes. This alignment with wider health service planning aims to support oversight of thrombectomy planning for the NHS Chief Executive Group and encourage greater collaboration between NHS Boards in delivering this vital service. This work will include developing costings for further service expansion.

The Scottish Government expects that any decisions on treatment for people affected by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) or long COVID should be informed by current clinical guidelines.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidance exists for the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS and for managing the long-term effects of COVID-19. These comprise NICE guidelines NG:206 and NG:188 respectively. Further information on the process by which NICE guidelines are developed can be accessed at How we develop NICE guidelines | NICE

The information requested is not held centrally.

A Minute of Appointment, following recall of this appeal, setting out the process by which Scottish Ministers considered the case should proceed, was received by DPEA on 24 June 2025 and dated as such. The Minute was published to the DPEA website on 4 July 2025.

DPEA deals with a number of appeals and other case types and receives a high volume of correspondence on a daily basis. It is not always possible for DPEA to process and upload all documentation received in its casework to the public website as soon as received.

We do not set an annual budget for marketing campaigns for smoking cessation and this would form part of the overall budget for tobacco and smoking, which since 2023-24 has been £2.93 million. The Scottish Government ran Community Pharmacy poster campaigns promoting the free Quit Your Way Scotland (QYWS) service in 2022-23 (£15,288) and 2023-24 (£16,544). The initiative encouraged individuals to engage with their local pharmacists for tailored support and advice on quitting smoking. As part of the implementation of the Tobacco and Vaping Framework we committed to continue to support, promote and review Community Pharmacy cessation campaigns.

A series of campaigns led by Public Health Scotland (PHS) have also promoted the QYWS. Including a national campaign in February 2024 to increase awareness of, and engagement with the free QYWS service and, most recently, an organic social media campaign in August 2025 to raise awareness among pregnant women, their partners, and families of the support available to quit smoking. Spend and evaluation for PHS’ campaigns are not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not have data on the number of enquiries or support sought as a result of these awareness raising campaigns.

The Scottish Government provides funding annually to Health Boards for smoking cessation and prevention services as part of a wider Outcomes Framework allocation, whereby budget is provided to Health Boards to cover a range of outcomes. It is up to Health Boards to decide how much of this funding to allocate to each outcome. The published Scottish Budget for 2025-26 includes £72.2 million for the Outcomes Framework.

In 2023-24 PHS statistics from NHS Stop Smoking Services showed there were 30,319 attempts to stop smoking, a 12.4% increase from 2022-23. Data is not yet available for 2025-26.

There have been no redundancy payments for staff in the Scottish Government’s international offices in any year since 2021.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring equitable access to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure as we transition to a net zero transport system. Approximately 40% of households in Scotland do not have access to off-street parking, and we are committed to supporting innovative solutions such as gully cableway systems and other cross-pavement charging technologies to address this challenge.

The installation of cross pavement charging is complex, covering road works permissions, neighbourhood relations, pedestrian safety and ongoing maintenance, liabilities and responsibilities for residents and local authorities. This is why we are working closely with the Scottish Collaboration of Transport Specialists (SCOTS) – a strategic collaborative body representing Scotland’s 32 local authorities and seven regional transport partnerships - to develop Scottish specific guidance for local authorities. The draft guidance will be issued to stakeholders for consultation in autumn 2025.

In order to ensure a just transition, it is critical that as many households as possible can access lower cost home charging. That is why in this year's Programme for Government Scottish Ministers have committed to enabling the wider implementation of cross-pavement charging solutions via a pilot scheme for those without access to their own off-street parking. The learning from the pilot scheme will complement the work with SCOTS, to demonstrate safe and legal ways of rolling out cross-pavement charging infrastructure across all of Scotland’s local authorities.

Since 2021 we have also made grant funding available to those who live in flatted & factored properties through EST. Funding allocated to recipients of the ‘flatted/factored development scheme’ since its inception can be found in the following table.

The preferred source for data on business closures is the annual Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Demography series, the latest edition is available at: Business demography, UK - Office for National Statistics. Business closures are a proxy for the number of businesses closed down. Business closures are measured as businesses removed from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a database of all businesses registered for Value-Added-Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax. A business is removed from the IDBR if its turnover and employment are zero for several periods, or if the ONS is notified that the business has ceased trading through an administrative or survey source.

Note that the annual publication does not include data for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector. However, business closures for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector are included as part of the quarterly ONS Business Demography series – these data for Scotland are provided in table 1. We don’t have access to disaggregated quarterly data for the agricultural, forestry and fishing sectors separately.

It is important to note that the quarterly ONS Business Demography series is classed as official statistics in development. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are in the testing phase and are not yet fully developed, and will potentially have a wider degree of uncertainty. In particular, the last four quarters of the ONS series are provisional and are subject to future revision. Revisions can arise due to business reactivations as later information on business turnover or employment is received.

Table 1: Business Closures – Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing – Scotland

The Scottish Government recognises that hyperbaric oxygen therapy may offer benefits for some individuals living with long-term health conditions. Decisions about treatment are made by clinicians in consultation with patients, based on clinical need and the best available evidence.

NHS Boards are responsible for determining which therapies to provide, taking into account national policy, local priorities, and the needs of their populations. We expect all care to be safe, effective, person-centred, and sustainable.

The Scottish Government has not conducted a national workforce assessment for the staffing requirements of a 24/7 thrombectomy service, although regional planning groups have previously assessed the staff in various roles required to deliver a 24/7 thrombectomy service.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for thrombectomy service expansion, and this will include assessment of workforce requirements.

Work is also progressing with a review of how the stroke specialist decision-making workforce works nationally, using telemedicine and cross board working, to improve resilience in rotas and increase capacity to be able to support hyperacute stroke care, such as thrombectomy, out of hours.