Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26620 on 25 April 2024.

Scottish Water has committed to publishing annual reports on progress against the improving urban waters routemap.

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 .

We recognise there is a challenge around the recruitment of teachers in certain geographical areas and in certain subjects. It is for this reason that we have manually allocated Preference Waiver Payment (PWP) probationers this year. Manually allocating PWPs will ensure those probationers are placed in the areas who have the most difficulties in securing probationers.

I recently met with Aberdeenshire Council to discuss their concerns about teacher recruitment and probationer allocations. The Council indicated that they welcomed the approach taken to probationer allocations this year, which has resulted in an increase on the number of PWPs allocated compared to last year.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on waiting times for hearing aids centrally.

Statistics on audiology waiting times are included within Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) 18 weeks referral to treatment (RTT) publication but this does not include specialty-level data. This publication is based on a dataset that collects information on waiting times for complete patient pathways from initial referral to first treatment.

Information on pupils that are subject to reduced or part-time timetable is not reported centrally by the Scottish Government. Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Education authorities are responsible for determining the most appropriate educational provision for children and young people in their area, taking account of their legislative responsibilities and the individual circumstances of children, young people and their families.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in combination with retailers, already limit the sale of paracetamol to a maximum of two packs (containing up to 16 solid dose tablets or capsules) in a retail environment. The aim of these voluntary measures is to balance the need of people for access to pain relief medicines against the dangers for vulnerable individuals and reduce the opportunity for people to purchase, on impulse, excessive quantities of any single analgesic (paracetamol, aspirin, or ibuprofen). A pharmacy may sell larger packs containing up to 32 tablets or capsules under the supervision of a pharmacist; it is illegal to sell more than 100 tablets or capsules of either paracetamol or aspirin in any one retail transaction. Since most packs available for sale are for 16 or 32 dose units, this means that, in practice, 96 is the maximum number that can be sold.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has provided guidelines to community pharmacies on the dispensing and supply of medicines to children and young people. The decision on whether a supply is appropriate is on a case by case basis and will involve considering the individual circumstances. The guidelines apply for both NHS and private prescriptions as well as pharmacy services such as NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.

This is an operational matter for Abellio ScotRail for the year 2021-22 and for ScotRail Trains for the years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. We are providing an increased investment of half a billion for NHS boards in 2024-25, taking funding to over £14.2 billion - an increase of almost 3% in real terms. An investment of £30 million is also being provided and will target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic, including audiology.

However, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery and patient treatment. Therefore details of the funding NHS Boards have allocated to audiology services is held locally.

The resourcing and commissioning of local rehabilitation services is the responsibility of individual Health Boards.

The Once for Scotland Rehabilitation Approach which supersedes the Framework for Supporting People through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic (‘The Framework’) sets out the Six Principles of Good Rehabilitation. The Scottish Government expects that Health Boards have given consideration to these Principles to provide a good standard of rehabilitation services across Scotland.

This is an operational matter for Abellio ScotRail for the year 2021-22 and for ScotRail Trains for the years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the support that they need to reach their full learning potential.

Our national guidance on exclusion, ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2’ makes clear that exclusion should be the last resort. Where exclusion is used, it should be as a proportionate response where there is no appropriate alternative, and the wellbeing of the child or young person should be the key consideration. The guidance makes clear that the practice of “sending home” or “informal exclusion” is illegal and denies pupils and parents their rights. Following an incident where the decision is made that the child or young person cannot remain in school, for one of the reasons specified in regulation 4 of the Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975 as amended, this must be recorded as an exclusion. This will ensure transparency, allow for appropriate monitoring and enable support to be put in place through the education authority’s staged intervention system.