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The National Digital Platform continues to undergo development, with core components that will enable individual access, such as standards-based data storage and integration, access controls and user authentication for the workforce now largely in place.

However, the Platform itself will not provide patients digital access to their medical records or the ability to book appointments, rather it will power the underlying data requirements and systems integration for digital services that are public facing. Examples of such services include the Scotland-wide national vaccine service, where patients could access their vaccine information and book appointments through systems that relied on the capabilities of the National Digital Platform. Additionally the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) digital application, which is designed, delivered and deployed on the National Digital Platform is currently live in two Boards, and being implemented in several others. The Platform is also being used to power the developing OpenEyes Ophthalmology electronic patient record and the development of a Stroke Assessment tool.

A more detailed update on the National Digital Platform, along with detail on how patient access to their medical information and how appointments will be able to be booked online, will be provided to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee in February 2024 in response to their correspondence on 05 December related to electronic patient records.

Historically Scotland has a relatively high number of mental health beds per 100,000 of the population and lower levels of bed occupancy (compared to the rest of the UK).

However, we are aware of recent pressures on the availability of psychiatric beds, exacerbated by the continuing impact of seasonal illness and COVID-19 on staff capacity. Officials have developed a support and engagement plan across mental health services. This will include routine engagement with NHS Boards, with additional support for those with the highest rates of delayed discharge.

We are continuing to invest record amounts into mental health provision across the country, to ensure the needs of the population are met effectively, safely, and in a timely fashion – this includes advancing our aspiration for care to be person centred and delivered in the community wherever appropriate.

The Scottish Government welcomes the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation that the four nations should move towards implementing a targeted lung screening programme for those aged 55-74 with a history of smoking. However, the roll-out of any screening programme is a complex undertaking, and the UK NSC acknowledged in its recommendation that there remain a number of significant issues that must be worked through before a full programme of lung screening can be implemented. Scotland is a member of the four nations group established to explore some of these issues, and has also established its own targeted lung cancer screening Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG).

The SEAG’s remit is to provide the Scottish Government with advice on the scoping, implementation, establishment and delivery of a targeted lung cancer screening programme. The first stage of this work is underway and will support development of an evidence-based assessment of timescales for design and implementation.

Older people can be particularly vulnerable to being targeted by criminals intent on carrying out fraudulent activity. The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT) to disrupt fraudsters and protect our elderly from being exploited.

The SOCT recently published its Progress Report which highlighted the success of the Banking Protocol. This has prevented the loss of £29 million since its introduction in 2018. The Scottish Government also funds and supports a range of campaigns, and online and in-person workshops, such as ‘ DigiKen ’ which aims to raise awareness of how to stay secure online, and Digital Skills Education , which supports older people on how to spot and avoid scams, and how to protect personal information.

A summary of discussions at the summits can be found at: Health and wellbeing in schools - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The findings from the summit will inform the national action plan which we expect to be published early in the new year.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes a range of data on school leaver achievement.

Summary statistics for attainment and initial leaver destinations’ reports annually on the percentage of school leavers in positive destinations and other destinations three months after the end of the school year. The report also provides information on school leaver total attainment in terms of numbers of National Qualifications gained at SCQF Level 3 or above and the highest levels achieved in literacy and numeracy.

The latest report, published this year, showed that the total percentage of 2021-22 school leavers in a positive initial destination, such as work, training or further study, was 95.7% - the highest figure on record.

The 2023 Annual Participation Measure, published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), shows that 94.3% of 16-19 year olds were participating in employment, education or training over the past year. This is also the highest rate recorded since this measure was introduced in 2016.

The estates of independent schools are for those building owners to manage, however, the Registrar for Independent Schools wrote to all independent schools on 15 September 2023 to receive assurances that managers were aware if and where RAAC was present in their schools and, where present, to confirm that the appropriate mitigations were in place. The Scottish Government continues to monitor the numbers of independent schools who have completed surveys of their estates via engagement with the Registrar.

The Scottish Government has published guidance for local authorities and schools, Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Promoting and Managing School Attendance , as well as guidance for parents which reinforces the message that they should support children to attend school.

The guidance sets out how to promote engagement and motivation, including among those who may be at risk of poor attendance.

It also sets out action schools should take in response to a child’s or young person’s absence from school.

Earlier this year I asked Education Scotland to undertake work to better understand the current barriers and challenges experienced by schools, children and young people and their families which influence school attendance. Education Scotland published this report on 28 November.

We are currently reviewing the findings of this report and will consider the recommendations for any future work on addressing attendance in schools.

We are also considering the findings from our Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, also published in November, which provides evidence-based information on the extent to which pupils are disengaging from learning. We are currently considering the findings of BISSR and plan to publish an action plan early in the new year.

It is up to schools and teachers to decide what resources to use when delivering relevant and engaging learning. A summary of resources that may be used to support delivery of RSHP education is available on Education Scotland's National Improvement Hub at https://education.gov.scot/resources/a-summary-of-rshp-resources/. One of these resources is the RSHP National learning and teaching resource which contains a learning activity at third/fourth level (Secondary 1 to Secondary 3) on abortion. This activity lets young people know that abortion or termination services are available and that sexual health services are confidential. The partnerships of health boards and local authorities who supported development of this resource conducted a review of all learning activities this year.

Officials have also been working with key stakeholders to review and revise the statutory teaching guidance on RSHP education. The public consultation on the revised guidance closed on 23 November 2023 with over 3,800 responses received. Officials are now analysing the contributions to the public consultation with a view to finalising and publishing the statutory guidance for the start of the next academic year.

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

The following tables set out the position in relation to recruitment (Table1), retention (table 2), and absence (table 3) across the SPS estate.

The data provided only covers operational prison officer grades, who have responsibility for delivering essential frontline services within Scotland’s prisons.

Data has been provided for the year 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2023 as data covering the period to 30 November 2023 has not yet been finalised and is therefore not available.

Table 1