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Our Diabetes Improvement Plan contains a commitment to improving access to diabetes technologies, including CGMs for all who would benefit.

We work closely with key stakeholders through the Scottish Diabetes Group to identify challenges and opportunities which result from the availability of new diabetes technologies.

We recognise the impact that the update to Freestyle Libre 2 devices will have on existing users and will ensure that these changes are built into the ongoing development of technology pathways.

To improve access to diabetes technologies, we have initiated a partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) and their Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) programme.

Through the ANIA pathway workstream, the Scottish Government has invested a further £350,000 to accelerate the distribution of Closed Loop Systems which were procured nationally in 2022. This additional investment will be used to establish a national ‘onboarding’ team and trial new models of care. This will be in partnership with all 14 health boards in Scotland and will require ongoing engagement with the Managed Clinical Networks.

We are also working closely with key stakeholders across Scottish Government, NHS Boards and industry suppliers to determine the most effective plan for longer term access to diabetes technologies.

The 2023-24 Scottish Budget delivers record funding of £19 billion including increases in funding for community and primary care health services such as GP practices where the vast majority of people with chronic pain seek support. Detail on how funding has been used specifically for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain would require to be requested from NHS Boards. NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally have responsibility for both service delivery and people’s care.

After being temporarily paused in March 2020, chronic pain services started to resume in September 2021 as part of the planned remobilisation of services. Referrals are now back to pre-pandemic levels and we’re working with all health boards to understand the challenges and improvement opportunities to address longer waiting times as boards deal with extremely challenging circumstances.

The Task Force was created in June 2022. No money was spent on the Pain Management Task Force or its subsidiary committees in 2021-22.

The scoping exercise is complete with a final report anticipated by late September 2023. The specialists have been further commissioned to undertake a stage 1 desktop and stage 2 visual inspection of the SG Estate for the presence of RAAC. This work is anticipated to be completed by mid November 2023.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) wrote to all college and university principals on 8 August 2023 highlighting the issue of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and where they can find guidance on the identification and assessment of RAAC.

The SFC has asked all colleges and universities to provide information on the presence of RAAC in their estate buildings.

The Scottish Government and SFC are working closely together on this matter; and SFC will keep principals informed of further guidance and sources of information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19803 on 31 July 2023. 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

Councils are responsible for developing their licensing policies in line with powers and duties under The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022, as amended in 2023, and they can add proportionate conditions to address local needs and concerns. We continue to work closely with COSLA, SOLAR and licensing authorities on the implementation and monitoring of the short term lets licensing legislation. We are therefore aware that the City of Edinburgh Council has acted on the Judgement made on 8 June 2023 to revise its local licensing policy and information for applicants. We remain confident that licensing of short-term lets can be operated effectively by councils so as to respect the rights of hosts and guests in short-term let accommodation, and is appropriate for the whole of Scotland.

As part of our ongoing joint programme for delivery, following the launch of the Winter Heating Payment, Scottish Government officials have been working with counterparts at the Department of Work and Pensions to develop a revised timeframe that will allow payments to be issued earlier in Winter 2023-24 and subsequent years. I will provide a more detailed update to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on this work in due course.

Scottish Government Internal Audit have initiated an independent review which will focus on the following areas:

1) Review of policy and compliance

2) Analysis of transactions to identify areas of non-compliance e.g. personal use, unauthorised expenditure.

Resource of 2 members of staff and budget for 15 days have been allocated for the review. This will be funded through standard arrangements for providing an internal audit service. A draft report on the review is anticipated to be provided to the Permanent Secretary and Director of Procurement and Property by 1 September, with interim findings on focused transactions review expected before then.

Many items within the Baby Box such as thermometers, play mat, changing mat, books, and the box itself are all suitable for a premature baby, and the clothing will be suitable as the baby grows. The Scottish Government seeks to deliver best value by purchasing the contents of the Baby Box in bulk, in line with Scottish birth rates. Costs would increase significantly if we moved to purchase smaller amounts of different items. Therefore in the current financial climate we do not plan to make any adaptions to the Baby Box. The Scottish Government is keen to offer financial support to parents or primary carers of babies who are born prematurely and have to receive inpatient care. All parents whose children have to stay overnight in hospital are eligible for financial support through the Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF).