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The iMatter Continuous Improvement Programme, which was developed by NHSScotland staff, enables the measurements of staff experience and employee engagement across all 22 Health Boards as well as participating Health and Social Care Partnerships.

This enables Health Boards to ensure that the insights and experiences of staff are captured and acknowledged, helping to influence and shape initiatives to enhance staff support.

On 3 April I announced the intention to bring forward a revised Heat in Buildings Bill to set a new target for decarbonising heating systems by 2045 alongside continuing work to reduce fuel poverty.

The amount of brokerage owed by each NHS Board is outlined in the following table:

Alan Gray, Director of Health and Social Care Finance, wrote to Chief Executives of NHS Scotland on 04 December 2024 to provide the details of the indicative funding settlement for NHS Boards in the Scottish Government Budget 2025-26. This letter set out the Scottish Government position that brokerage would not be available in 2025-26.

NHS Borders are at Level 3 of the NHS Support and Intervention Escalation Framework. and the Board continue to receive enhanced monitoring and support commissioned by Scottish Government’s NHS Scotland Finance Delivery Unit; to support the Board to return to financial sustainability.

Under the terms of this support, the Scottish Government’s NHS Scotland Financial Delivery Unit maintain frequent contact with NHS Borders Executives regarding its financial position. At present, these conversations are focussed on securing a credible path to balance and, once this has been established and on course to be achieved, conversations will commence on brokerage repayment.

The Scottish Government published analysis of the impact of the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) on Scotland’s labour market in July 2024; Scottish Child Payment and the labour market - gov.scot and concluded it had not negatively affected labour market outcomes at scale in Scotland’s economy, while supporting the families of nearly 330,000 children.

The analysis also showed that the employment likelihood of Universal Credit (UC) clients in the planning for work regime – the majority of whom should be receiving SCP – was consistently higher in Scotland than in England, suggesting that interactions between UC and SCP are not materially impacting work incentives.

The Scottish Government continues to assess how SCP is interacting with the labour market. A further evaluation of SCP is due to be published this summer and will include a survey of recipients including questions about how and why SCP has affected their labour market activity.

We welcome the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s report which provides an independent assessment of how much the Scottish Government’s policies are likely to raise and cost. The Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts are used to set the Scottish Budget, and Scottish Government officials work closely with the Scottish Fiscal Commission to provide the data necessary to inform its forecasts.

Offshore oil and gas licensing, consenting and the associated fiscal regime are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government. As such, estimates of future production from North Sea oil and gas fields are a matter for the relevant UK regulator – the North Sea Transition Authority.

The Scottish Government has consistently called on the UK Government to approach decisions for North Sea oil and gas projects on an evidence-led, case by case, basis – with climate compatibility and energy security key considerations.

The Scottish Government, in its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (13 March 2025), committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for production going forward and will update the Committee in September 2025 on progress and next steps.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are responsible for considering welfare complaints and investigating potential breaches in welfare legislation. A lack of prosecution does not equate to a lack of enforcement; actions such as provision of verbal advice, written advice and follow-on visits are also legitimate elements of enforcement.

APHA veterinarians will continue to apply their professional knowledge and training to assess fish welfare against the provisions set out in The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, and use a range of evidence when considering whether obligations have been breached.

In 2025-26 we will provide an additional £55.6 million in funding for NRAC parity, ensuring that all Boards remain within 0.6% of parity.

Since 2012-13, over £4 billion of additional funding has been committed to those NHS Boards below their NRAC parity levels.

Additional funding for NRAC parity, broken down by NHS Board, is provided below. Where no amount is stated, the NHS Board is within 0.6% of parity.

Between the introduction of the Baby Box in August 2017 and 31 March 2025, 7,916 Baby Boxes have been delivered to families in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and 5,948 in the Scottish Borders. Over the past six years, the uptake rate has been over 91%. The Baby Box is offered to all parents in Scotland and provides essential items for the first 6 months of a baby’s life worth around £400.

In 2021, Scottish Government commissioned an evaluation of the Baby Box by Ipsos MORI and a link to the report can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/baby-box-evaluation/

The evaluation highlighted the positive impact of the scheme on families, particularly for first-time, younger and low-income parents.