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The Scottish Government is increasing the number of pharmacist pre-registration training places from 200 by an additional 120 places over 5 years from December 2019, to create the opportunity for more pharmacists to enter the profession. To date we have increased places by 76, with the remaining 44 places due to be available by 24/25.

Patient care and service delivery are the statutory responsibility of local healthcare providers. NHS Boards are responsible for working with their partners to plan and provide health services which meet the needs of their populations.

When a patient has an experience that does not meet their expectations, they should contact their local Health Board at NHS Inform.

The Scottish Government remain committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We have allocated £48.6 million of supplementary funding to Boards this year via the Mental Health Outcomes Framework to improve the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services for all. This is in addition to the £36.7 million directly allocated to Health Boards via the Outcomes Framework in 2022-23, and to the total package of core funding that Health Boards receive.

The Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group was established to ensure a multi-agency, strategic approach towards the development and delivery of Scotland’s Hate Crime Strategy .

Members are drawn from the following organisations:

• Age Scotland
• BEMIS
• CEMVO
• COPFS
• COSLA
• Education Scotland
• Equality Network
• Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA)
• Interfaith Scotland
• Police Scotland
• Respectme
• YouthLink Scotland
• Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (observer)

Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) (observer)There is currently no expectation in the Terms of Reference for the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group that individual names of members from attending organisations will be published.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Detail on how funding has been used specifically for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain would require to be requested from NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government is contacted by a wide range of organisations and individuals on various policy issues, and we are committed to ensuring everyone in our society can live with dignity and enjoy their rights in full. Within mental health, we work closely with a range of human rights and equalities bodies through the Mental Health Equality and Human Rights Forum. This meets monthly and provides a space for human rights organisations to discuss and influence the development of mental health.

In addition, we have recently committed to establishing a Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme following on from the recommendations of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review, which considered how we could give further effect to human rights within mental health. The Programme will drive action to improve the way human rights are put into practice across mental health and incapacity law and policy, including care and treatment.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Based on our knowledge of the SPS estate, we do not believe that RAAC is present within the prison estate.

SPS is however conducting a further evidence based scoping exercise to identify any buildings that cannot be categorically ruled out as containing RAAC. Any buildings identified will require further investigation and may need more intrusive testing/inspection by specialist consultants.

The initial scoping exercise should be concluded by 30 September 2023.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) fully recognise the need to ensure prison infrastructure is fit for purpose for those that live and work in prisons, and supports the rehabilitation of people living there.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2023-24 we continue to invest in the prison estate, working towards replacing prisons in Inverness and Glasgow to ensure modern facilities that promote rehabilitation into communities and reduced reoffending. Given the current significant financial and operational pressures, we are having to prioritise capital investment based on risks and pressures across the estate.

This commitment within the Programme for Government 2023-24 will be delivered through additional investment in the delivery of the existing actions within ‘A Framework to Grow Scotland’s Renewables Exports’, which was published by the Scottish Government in March 2023.

Infrasound was considered within the UK Government commissioned WSP report . The ETSU steering group comprising the four Governments of the UK is considering, under the lead of the UK Government, how best to take forward the recommendations of the report.

The Scottish Government is represented on the ETSU steering group by officials from the Directorate for Energy and Climate Change.