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There are three licensed Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal use (CBPMs) available on the NHS in Scotland to treat specific conditions. These are:

• nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, as an add-on treatment for adults with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting;
• Sativex®, a combination of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol for moderate to severe spasticity in adults with multiple sclerosis;
• and Epidyolex®, a cannabidiol for treating seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)

The decision on whether to make a licensed medicine routinely available on the NHS in Scotland is made by healthcare professionals and other experts who make up the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), following an application by the manufacturer. This is independent of Scottish Ministers. If a medicine is recommended for use,- Health Boards’ local Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees will consider and decide whether to include it in their prescribing formulary.

Clinical guidance does not recommend the prescribing of unlicensed CBPMs, other than in clinical trials. The biggest barrier to the prescribing of other CBPMs on the NHS is that most products remain unlicensed with a limited, or non-existent, peer-reviewed clinical evidence base for their use.

The Scottish Government is aware that supplies of various ADHD medicines continue to be intermittent. At present, market data and information provided by the UK Government indicates that some of these supply issues will continue into Autumn 2024. Scottish Government officials continue to monitor the situation for any further developments and are maintaining a close dialogue with all Health Boards to help manage these medicine supply disruptions and provide support when needed.

The supply of medicines and associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government, and we continue to engage with them on this supply issue and other medicine shortages. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland is a member of a UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group, set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provide advice to prescribers on alternative therapeutic options.

The UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care, on behalf of all four nations, regularly meets with the manufacturers of ADHD medicines to discuss their supply chains challenges and any issues where they may require assistance, including providing an overview of current and forecasted demand to assist manufacturers with planning to increase production forecasts. T he Scottish Government has not had any separate engagement with the manufacturers of ADHD medicines.

All bat species found in Scotland are classed as European protected species. They receive the highest level of species protection under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994.

This protection also extends to bat roosts. As bats return to the same places every year, a bat roost is protected even if no bats are present. Any action taken which might disturb or damage a bat roost requires a licence from NatureScot.

NatureScot bat workers and Licensing staff advise residents on bat species protection and how to manage the bat roosts within their homes in line with this protection through the Bats in Houses helpline or, for more complex cases, a home visit. NatureScot staff encourage residents in the first instance to retain these roosts, though in some circumstances they need to be excluded under licence because of the public health issue they can pose to residents. The licence to exclude bats contains conditions for the actions to safeguard the bats during the exclusion.

Scottish Government International Climate Change Officials are attending the 60th Sessions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Scottish Ministers are not in attendance.

Although Scotland is not a UN member state, the Scottish Government is resolute in our commitment to utilise our convening and influencing powers wherever possible in order to drive forward climate action internationally.

NatureScot holds data on the type of roosts recorded by bat workers during visits to homes, including the number of bats present, and whether the roost was retained or excluded under licence.

In 2023, in Bats in Houses, a total of 74 bat roosts were excluded from properties across Scotland, following householder requests to do so due to Health & Safety requirements:

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water is currently developing its Long Term Strategy, due for publication in January 2025, which will include the investment requirements for addressing the forecast supply-demand deficits through demand reduction activities, increased connectivity between supply systems and potentially new water sources.

Scottish Water is also working on a zonal model which will inform the strategic choices for managing their supply-demand balance. Scottish Water is in the middle of the detailed planning activities and will be in a position to respond to the specifics of this query by the end of December 2024/early in 2025.

The Scottish Government regularly monitors for hazardous substances in the Scottish marine environment. Hazardous substances highlighted to be of particular concern and routinely monitored include heavy metals (cadmium, mercury and lead), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These contaminants are measured in biota (mussels and fish) collected as part of the UK Clean Seas Environment Monitoring Programme for four biogeographic regions: Irish Sea (Clyde and Solway), Minches and Western Scotland, Scottish Continental Shelf and Northern North Sea.

More information related to the testing for contaminants in marine animals in Scottish waters can be found in the Scotland's Marine Assessment 2020 | Scotland's Marine Assessment 2020 .

The GP Sustainability loan scheme was paused in March 2024 due to a greater than anticipated number of loans having completed this year with the result that our budget for loans was oversubscribed.

The Scottish Government’s position on GP premises remains that set out in The 2018 General Medical Services in Scotland document: we recognise and support a long-term shift that gradually moves towards a model which does not presume GPs own their practice premises.

We intend to resume Tranche 1 of the Sustainability Loan Scheme in 2024-25 once we have completed the disbursement of funds for those loans already completed and confirmed a budget. This will likely not be until midway through the financial year.

Our preference remains to continue the loan scheme into Tranche 2 and beyond – however, this will depend on whether the UK Government resumes the allocation of Financial Transaction Capital to the Scottish Government.

In the meantime we have carried out no assessment of the potential impact of the suspension of the GP sustainability loan scheme on health inequalities as we intend to resume the scheme as soon as possible.

MPV Minna was commissioned in 2003 with an expected service life of 25 years. Concept designs for the vessels replacement have been developed and we are currently looking at funding options for a replacement in the near future. To ensure service continuity, upgrades and replacement of machinery and equipment have been scoped so we can safely extend the service life of the vessel should that be required.

The Scottish Government’s recent investment into diabetes technologies will specifically support children and adults to access closed loop systems.

Alongside this additional investment, we will also encourage all NHS Boards including NHS Lothian to utilise the national onboarding team based at Centre of Sustainable Delivery as well their own local diabetes clinical teams to support technology starts.

This should increase the rate and scope at which individuals will be able to access closed loop systems and therefore have a positive impact on waiting times.