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A number of alternative methods of control are available to aid bracken management depending on the intended outcome of a control strategy and the challenges that could be encountered.

The Scottish Government will continue to support stakeholders by working with NatureScot to progress priorities that were identified at the stakeholder roundtable in August. These include delivery of best practice guidance, to be in place for June 2024, and development of a bracken framework which will help land managers consider where bracken control is needed, how it could be undertaken and the intensity of any control.

The Scottish Government takes the use of chemicals very seriously. Pesticide products are only authorised where data demonstrates that the proposed use will not have unacceptable effects on human health or the environment.

The Brush Up campaign has been developed to raise awareness of changes to NHS dentistry from 1 November, and to assure patients that they will still be able to access a full range of treatment on the NHS.

In particular the campaign directs patients to updated NHS Inform webpages which set out key information in relation to NHS dental treatment in Scotland. This includes a plain English explanation of the changes to examination frequency, noting these are now determined with respect to individual risk factors; entitlements to exemptions; and information on accessing a dentist.

Information on the incidence or occurrence of rare conditions such as cystic fibrosis is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, however, it is estimated that approximately 900 people in Scotland have cystic fibrosis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23215 on 11 December 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.

The Scottish Government maintains an ongoing dialogue with all health boards to discuss performance and issues such as workforce arising across the system. The last series of quarterly Biannual Performance reviews with each of the territorial health boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran concluded in September 2023.

In addition, the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWS), at NHS Education for Scotland (NES), throughout October and November 2023, attended by Scottish Government officials, held medical insight meetings with each individual health board - including NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Commissioned by the Scottish Government, the aim of these were to better understand medical workforce gaps; scope out whether international recruitment could help with filling vacancies; identify any innovative supply initiatives currently underway; and understand what centralised support from the Scottish Government or the CWS could help Health Boards.

Text messages have been used routinely and positively for many years in NHS Scotland. Scottish Government’s Information and Risk Assurance Team has been working extensively with Health Boards and other NHS delivery partners in assessing the proportionality of using text messages for different purposes, including appointment reminders, medication adherence, health education, and remote monitoring.

The benefits often identified across different NHS organisations include reduction in non-attendance, improved patient engagement, increased adherence to treatment plans, and cost-effectiveness. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have previously stressed the importance of wording text messages appropriately and advice was given during the COVID-19 pandemic on messages not adding unnecessary confusion and being easy to read. We also recognise that the use of text messages is limited by critical privacy and security requirements and potential for misinterpretation.

The national Connect Me programme has been well received in allowing patients to report information like blood pressure readings via text message to receive feedback based on their condition. Alongside web and mobile app access, this importantly supports public choice in how they engage with NHS services whilst reducing the need for unnecessary appointments.

The Scottish Government is currently working with our partners at COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council to refresh the New Scots strategy and we are undertaking a series of engagement events to enable both refugees and people seeking asylum to inform the strategy refresh. The first phase of the engagement work began in November and involved refugee leaders and organisations with expertise in supporting people seeking asylum and refugees. A representative from LGBT Health and Wellbeing attended one of these events.

The second phase, focused on those with lived experience, is currently underway and is being coordinated by Scottish Refugee Council on behalf of New Scots partners. It will run until the end of February 2024. This phase includes providing funding to enable local groups to run events which can be tailored to the needs of their specific groups and communities, for example to enable groups to run an event in their community language or to ensure that vulnerable groups have a ‘safe space’ to speak openly. LGBT Health and Wellbeing are liaising with the Scottish Refugee Council to contribute to this lived experience work.

We are fully committed to taking action to support the recommendations of the Alternative Pathways to Primary care and to our key aim of ensuring people can access the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

In particular, since 2018, we have significantly expanded the multi-disciplinary primary care workforce, with total staff of 4731 WTE working in multi-disciplinary services including physiotherapy, pharmacy and phlebotomy, at March 2023.

There was an increase of 518 WTE staff overall between March 2022 and March 2023, giving the average practice access to more than 5 multi-disciplinary team members.

However, recognising that implementation gaps remain, we are now also introducing an additional ‘phased investment programme’ working with a small number of areas to demonstrate what a model of full multi-disciplinary team implementation can look like in practice, over an initial 18 month period.

The findings from this work will inform a long-term Scottish Government investment for all areas.

The Scottish Government has now delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (the 2019 Act) and encourages all local transport authorities to consider the full range of tools available to them, to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport regardless of where they are in Scotland. As part of the development and delivery of the bus powers within the 2019 Act the Scottish Government has been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including local transport authorities. As part of this engagement we have received interest in each of the Act powers from local authorities across Scotland, however it will be for local transport authorities to decide what flexible tools within the 2019 Act, if any, they want to use to improve bus provision in their area.

In line with our commitment to develop a fairer funding approach for the third sector, we will increase the number of multi-year grants in the forthcoming budget and ensure timely notification of funding.

In the current fiscal climate and within the constraints of the significant financial challenges facing us in this budget, we will consider each proposal for funding carefully and do what we can to support third sector organisations.

Decisions about the provision and commissioning of individual community justice services, including any re-tendering exercises, are a matter for local authorities based on local needs. The Scottish Government has continued to invest around £134 million in community justice services this year, including providing around £123 million to local authorities, and has not asked local authorities to reduce any specific funding within that.

We understand that Glasgow City Council are working closely with Turning Point Scotland to support those currently using the service. The Council has also provided reassurances that other relevant services and approaches are available to support people with similar needs following the anticipated closure of the service.

These include residential placements in addiction services, the trauma-informed Tomorrow’s Women Glasgow service and the use of women-only drug courts and problem-solving courts, and the Lilias Centre Community Custody Unit.