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We have always been clear that we want the work of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry to be delivered at speed, addressing the range of questions that people have, so that we can learn and benefit from lessons as early as possible.

It is for the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry itself to comment on its work.

Section 17 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives an inquiry Chair alone, rather than Ministers, responsibility for deciding how an inquiry should operate. Operational matters such as the timetabling, procedure and conduct of hearings are for the Chair to decide, entirely independent of government.

It is for the Chair to determine how to strike the right balance between addressing the wide range of questions people have and making sure that the inquiry can be delivered at speed, so that we can learn and benefit from lessons as early as possible.

The Scottish Government remains committed, in its role as sponsor, to providing operational support as the Chair considers necessary and appropriate, in order to enable the Inquiry to carry out its independent work and help ensure the progress made so far is continued.

Updates from the external support team and other matters relating to the escalation of NHS Forth Valley are discussed at meetings of the NHS Forth Valley Assurance Board.

The Assurance Board was established by the Scottish Government to support NHS Forth Valley in determining what steps are necessary to ensure the delivery of high quality governance, leadership and culture, and in doing so support improvements in performance in out of hours, unscheduled care, mental health, and integration.

The minutes of the Assurance Board meetings and other information relevant to the escalation of NHS Forth Valley are published here: NHS Forth Valley Assurance Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

We understand the distress and pain that migraines cause and want to ensure that everyone living with this debilitating condition can access the best possible care and support.

The Neurology Specialty Delivery Group (SDG), commissioned via the National Centre for Sustainable Delivery, has developed a national pathway for headache, including migraine, which will be published and implemented this autumn.

The pathway will aid the diagnosis and management of headache disorders and offer guidance on management. It is aimed towards those working across primary care including community pharmacy and general practice and those working across secondary care including emergency care, acute/general medicine and neurology.

The SDG have also developed factsheets on migraine for use by primary care clinicians.

Funding for mental health services is drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland by the Scottish Government. The latest available data from the Public Health Scotland Scottish Health Service Costs shows that for
‎ 2021-22 total expenditure by NHS Scotland on mental health was £1.299 billion.

https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/scottish-health-service-costs/scottish-health-service-costs-high-level-costs-summary-2021-to-2022/

The percentage of individuals procured by the Scottish Government to provide specialist services under Service Level Agreements compared to the total headcount (as at 30 June 2023) is 1.44%.

As at October 2023, our records show that across the whole of the Scottish Government there are currently 155 individuals procured to provide specialist services under a Service Level Agreement.

The Agreements that are put in place stipulate the length of the service period, and so will often set that Agreement in place for a period of two years, or more. Some Agreements have been established with short service periods, such as 6 months, but the norm is for two to three years. Agreements are reviewed annually to consider the service being provided and whether there is a business need for that service continuation.

The consultation on extending the scope of the 2021 animal licensing regulations closed on 26 September. We are considering all the responses received and will publish a consultation summary report in due course. This report will provide a breakdown of responses and set out our proposed next steps.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Ayrshire and Arran to increase capacity and reduce cancellations. A number of improvement actions to enable the prioritisation of resources to areas where the capacity gap has the greatest impact are already underway, including:

• A bottom-up review of operating capacity within surgical teams;
• Increase resilience of the planned care service through protection of planned care beds to ensure that operations are not cancelled as a result of bed capacity; and
• Introduction of new enhanced roles across the wider multi-disciplinary teams to increase capacity and improve sustainability, such as surgical care practitioners, anaesthesia associates and theatre assistant practitioners.

These actions will help NHS Ayrshire and Arran deliver its plans to increase capacity which include targeted recruitment, extended workforce roles and new models of service delivery.

Forecasts provided by the recipients of the Green Jobs Fund awards estimated projects will support up to 4,462 full time jobs over the life of the individual project.

The latest data available on admissions and length of stay for people in Mental Health Hospitals is collected as part of the Mental Health & Learning Disability Inpatient Census and Out of Scotland NHS Placements Census, 2022 .

At the census point 11 April 2022, 152 adults with a diagnosis of autism were inpatient within an NHS Scotland hospital. In addition, there were 9 patients under 18. There were a further 11 adults with a diagnosis of autism inpatient outwith an NHS Scotland hospital. These individuals also may or may not have a co-occurring diagnosis for a learning disability.

Data on the numbers of people with a diagnosis of autism who have been admitted to hospital for treatment following offending is not collected.

There were 24 patients with a diagnosis of autism who have been in an NHS Scotland hospital more than a decade, with an average length of stay of 16 years and 10 months. There are fewer than 5 further patient(s) with an autism diagnosis who have been treated outwith NHS Scotland more than a decade. These individuals also may or may not have a co-occurring diagnosis for a learning disability.

The latest publication of the Mental Welfare Commissions Mental Health Act Monitoring Report covers the period 2021-22 and provides some information on compulsory treatment under criminal proceedings and you may wish to ask if they have further information on disaggregated data.