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Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 (CAFS2) was published in July 2021 with two actions on the topic of nitrogen deposition. At the time of publication these actions were assigned a medium term timescale for delivery by 2024.

In April 2022 the Nitrogen Impacts on the Natural Environment (NINE) project led by the James Hutton Institute commenced as part of the Strategic Research Programme for air quality. In considering how to take the CAFS2 actions forward, Scottish Government worked with the NINE project team to ensure it would deliver the CAFS2 evidence needs. Following commencement of the NINE project we revised the delivery milestones for the CASF2 actions to align with the project deliverables.

The NINE project was commissioned on time and continues to be on track for delivery by 2027, with CAFS2 elements to be delivered in 2026.

We recognise the financial challenges faced by all students, including nursing, midwifery and paramedic students, and know that this has been exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.

The Scottish Government package of support for Scottish student nurses, midwives and paramedics is at its highest level and remains the highest level of support available to nursing, midwifery and paramedic students across the UK. The annual £10,000 bursary is non-means tested and non-repayable.

Last year the Scottish Government created a short-life working group comprising representatives from the Scottish Government, Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and higher education institutes (HEIs) to review the clinical placement expenses guidance. This was in response to growing student concerns and following the Royal College of Nursing roundtable.

This group recently concluded its review and the revised guidance was finalised on 1 July 2024. This work will ensure students continue to be refunded as promptly as possible and provides students with greater clarity and flexibility on issues such as claiming advance payments. A national frequently asked questions document has also been developed to ensure greater consistency in the application of the guidance by HEIs across the country.

In addition to this, the Scottish Government has committed to carrying out a review of the package of financial support for those in receipt of the nursing, midwifery and paramedic student bursary.

Potential age restrictions for non-surgical cosmetic procedures are one of a number of issues that are being considered during the scoping work that Scottish Government officials are currently undertaking with a variety of stakeholders including healthcare professionals (representatives from British College of Aesthetic Medicine and British Association of Cosmetic Nurses), hair and beauty industry representatives, Environmental Health Officers, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS).

We hope to be in a position to update Parliament further in due course.

We are committed to reducing waiting lists backed by an initial investment of £30 million has been allocated to Health Boards and will target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This funding is being targeted at a series of national and local plans to reduce backlogs by maximising the use of local and national resources across Scotland. As part of this, we have allocated additional funding to Gynaecology services which we expect to l deliver around 3,500 New Outpatient Appointments.

NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is also playing a central role in working with Health Boards to ensure that they are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign.

CfSD programmes have developed strong clinically-led Specialty Delivery Groups (SDG), including one for Gynaecology, which promote multidisciplinary team working, and support local adoption of service improvement programmes. These groups are now well established and have supported several new and innovative pathway developments, many of which are now being successfully scaled up across Scotland, including Active Clinical Referral Triage (ACRT), Patient Initiated Review (PIR) and Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS).

This is all part of our programme to drive up productivity and tackle waiting lists, supported by the CfSD. Together, our actions will further enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver year-on-year reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.

Scottish Government officials are currently undertaking scoping work with a variety of stakeholders including healthcare professionals (representatives from British College of Aesthetic Medicine and British Association of Cosmetic Nurses), hair and beauty industry representatives, Environmental Health Officers, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), and other UK Governments in order to bring forward proposals regarding the potential further regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures within the beauty sector in Scotland.

The scoping of further regulation of non-surgical cosmetics procedures includes the consideration of age restrictions, the levels of insurance, training, qualifications and supervision required to safely perform various types of non-surgical cosmetic procedures that pierce and penetrate the skin, is underway.

We hope to be in a position to update Parliament on timescale for this in due course.

The anticipated cut by the UK Government to the Scottish Government's capital budget of up to £1.3billion in real terms over the coming years has consequences. In December 2023, given the extremely challenging capital funding position, NHS Boards were instructed to pause any project development spend and instead direct capital budgets towards maintenance of the existing estate and essential equipment and digital replacement. Boards were notified that the Scottish Government does not anticipate starting construction of any new project over the next two years at least. Obviously should the UK Government change course on capital investment we have an opportunity to look at this again alongside the capital review ongoing across the Scottish Government.

There is therefore no change to the position on NHS Capital Projects as a result of the ongoing review of the Infrastructure Investment Plan.

All applications are subject to site specific assessments which are expected to address cumulative impacts. Where there is a need for co-ordination between applicants proposing development in the same area, the Scottish Ministers expect all parties to work together to co-ordinate development and minimise any impacts on communities and the environment. When determining applications made under the Electricity Act 1989, the Scottish Ministers are required to seek advice from planning authorities to ensure that decision-making is co-ordinated to reflect local circumstances.

The Scottish Government remains wholly committed to supporting the development and deployment of CCUS, including the Acorn Project and the Scottish Cluster, including with up to £80 million in support. When we, the project and the Scottish Cluster, are provided with more details by the UK Government on the next stage of the process, timelines and funding, it will then be possible to assess when and how best to support the project with Scottish Government funding.

We are committed to delivering on the priority in the Women's Health Plan (WHP) to improve access for women to appropriate support, speedy diagnosis and best treatment for endometriosis.

We know that, for many women, diagnosis time for endometriosis is not acceptable. It is vital that we improve care and support throughout the whole diagnosis process.

To do this a number of actions have been taken including:

• The development of the Endometriosis Care Pathway for Scotland which aims to provide a holistic approach and timely care for those with endometriosis and endometriosis-like symptoms.
• A NHS Education for Scotland (NES) training package and framework focused on menstrual health for general practice and others working in Primary Care.
• A NHS NES ‘Masterclass’ on endometriosis for healthcare professionals.
• Improving the information available for women and girls on endometriosis and menstrual health through our work with NHS Inform, Young Scotland, the ALLIANCE and Endometriosis UK.

We are working closely with our stakeholders across Scotland to understand the effectiveness of these workstreams and their impact upon reducing diagnostic times for endometriosis.

The Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy recommended that no further planning permission is awarded to incineration facilities, beyond those for which planning permission has already been granted, with some limited exceptions. This analysis took into account the need to develop some additional capacity to ensure that Scotland can manage its own waste and implement the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste by 2025, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee. We addressed this recommendation through National Planning Framework 4.

Our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map consultation, published January 18, set out further detail and proposed provisional associated timescales on the steps we will take to minimise the environmental and climate impacts of waste, including the development of an indicative capacity cap as part of our Residual Waste Plan to 2045, with a provisional publication date in 2025-26.

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) regulations 2012 (“the PPC regulations”) require that SEPA make impartial assessments of all PPC Permit applications and make decisions relating to environmental permits in accordance with these regulations. While Scottish Ministers do have the ability to intervene in the PPC process by way of a direction, SEPA is Scotland’s independent environmental regulator and intervening in the PPC process needs careful consideration and typically would not be appropriate in the absence of exceptional circumstances.

Further information on these developments can be found here: Circular economy and waste route map to 2030: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)