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Planning with People Community engagement and participation guidance contains guidance on major service change to NHS services. An updated version of Planning with People: community engagement and participation guidance was published on 21 April 2023 following consultation with service users and service providers in 2022. The findings of these consultations are included in Annex A of Planning with People. The decision-making process for NHS major service change as set out in this document is unchanged from previous guidance.

This guidance is also supported by documents published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland – Community Engagement, including the Quality Framework for Community Engagement and Participation .

The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR) introduced a comprehensive control regime for abstractions which allows the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), on behalf of the Scottish Government, to manage water resources across Scotland. Under CAR, SEPA is provided with a three-level abstraction authorisation process: General Binding Rules (GBRs); Registrations; and Licences.

GBRs represent a set of mandatory rules which cover specific low risk activities. Activities complying with these rules do not require an application to be made to SEPA, as compliance with a GBR is considered to be compliance with an authorisation. Abstraction activities which do not comply with any relevant GBR must obtain authorisation from SEPA in the form of a Registration or water use Licence to abstract water.

All water users undertaking a controlled activity have a duty to take all reasonable steps to secure efficient and sustainable water use. During periods of prolonged dry weather, SEPA will review authorised abstraction volumes and, where necessary, SEPA have direction from Scottish Government to suspend specific abstraction authorisations using regulations under CAR. When suspensions are applied, abstractors are required to suspend their abstraction activities from Scotland’s water environment, including rivers and underground sources across Scotland and in sensitive habitats, to mitigate impacts the environment.

Further requirements for abstractors are set out by SEPA in their Water Scarcity Plan in conjunction with Scotland’s third River Basin Management Plan 2021 - 2027.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17190 on 5 May 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

I refer the member to the question S6W-16845 on 25 April 2023 which details how we arrived at our restoration targets. We are currently reviewing the proposals put forward in the Climate Change Committee’s Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland: 2022 Report to Parliament and will publish our response in due course.

Annual budgets are allocated and approved based on delivery forecasts and budget requirements from our delivery partners. The pipeline of work changes from year to year and so, therefore, does our allocated budget. We allocated around £20 million, £23 million and £23.7 million in funding in the years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. There has been underspend in each of these years due to a range of factors including a reduction in the number of hectares delivered and over-estimation of capital required.

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 pupil census, which records a snapshot of data at a particular point in time, showed that on the date of collection in September 2022 there were 2,062 pupils reported as asylum seekers and 5,746 reported as refugees.

Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 local authorities have a duty to provide adequate and efficient provision of school education for all children residing in their local area.

This duty does not distinguish between children and young people on the basis of their country of origin, race, belief or religion or refugee status.

This is a matter for individual local authorities. The information is not held centrally.

The identification of one probable case of tick-born encephalitis (TBE) in Scotland is insufficient evidence to conclude that there has been a significant change to the risk to human health in Scotland from TBE. On 5 April, the HAIRS group published an updated TBE Risk Assessment which states that the risk of infection to the general population in the UK remains very low, and low for high risk groups (such as those living, working or visiting affected areas, as determined by duration of time spent outside).

However, the potential seriousness of TBE infection and this finding has prompted increased clinical surveillance. Furthermore, Public Health Scotland have requested the UK Health Security Agency undertake tick capture and testing in Lochearnhead this spring to assess whether TBE infection can be identified in ticks in Scotland.

The Scottish Health Protection Network group on Tick Borne Diseases reconvened in April 2023 and will be looking to include surveillance as part of their future work.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing its work on raising awareness of Lyme disease and ticks.

The Scottish Government-led Lyme Disease Awareness Raising Group will run the Lyme Disease Awareness Raising Campaign in May 2023 to coincide with National Lyme Disease Awareness Month, during which patients, activists, educators and Government share information on how to prevent Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with stakeholders and clinicians through the Health Professionals Education Sub Groups. This is chaired by the Scottish Government and comprises representatives from primary and secondary care, including experts in infectious disease in general and Lyme Disease. The group are examining the current resources being used by GPs and considering options for additional learning and development.

Clinical decisions on the care and treatment of individual patients are always matters of professional judgement for the responsible practitioner. NHS Boards and clinicians are required to use methods of treatment that are clinically appropriate and have a strong evidence base for their efficacy.

The Scottish Government will continue to use its own platforms to highlight the need to be tick aware and to set out the signs and symptoms of possible infection.

The Scottish Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant scheme will invest, as a minimum, capital funding of £30 million in 2023-24 to enable the delivery of heat decarbonisation projects across the public sector, including the NHS, and £1.5 million of resource funding to enable the building of a pipeline of investment ready, strategic heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects across the public sector. Since the scheme was relaunched in 2022-23, Health Boards have successfully applied for over £13 million.

In addition, the Scottish Government has funded Health Boards to prepare initial net-zero route maps which will be used as a basis for planning the decarbonisation of the NHS estate.

More information on NHS Scotland’s approach to decarbonisation is set out in the NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 which is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-climate-emergency-sustainability-strategy-2022-2026/

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water [and this data is not held by Scottish Government] I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

In respect of published guidelines on reporting, Scottish Water is not currently required to report the number of days for which overflow event monitoring is unavailable. Overflow events are calculated in January using available telemetry data downloaded throughout the year.

As part of Scottish Water’s annual reporting of overflow events, a lack of data available would be noted within the commentary along with any additional explanatory information.

As outlined within Scottish Water’s Improving Urban Waters Routemap, there is significant investment underway to increase data monitors on our overflows by 2024. As part of this work, data capture and availability is being reviewed to allow further enhancements. In due course, we will publish information on the number of days for which monitors are unavailable to support the reporting of 2023 overflow events in January 2024.