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In an assessment of ways to overcome the challenges of rurality, submitted by Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in several rural areas to Public Health Scotland, a number of collaborative and innovative actions were described.

These included:

• Increased use of non-statutory services, informal local networks and peers to engage and support people, thus freeing up capacity to deliver rapid access and ensuring that staff can work at highest level within their banding
• Utilising generic primary and secondary care staff and settings to deliver care for example when weather disrupts usual access
• Development of more generic pathways for all drugs and alcohol referrals (given in many places the same staff deal with these issues)
• Some areas now have formal arrangements with other Health Boards to utilise 82 guidelines (Shetland and NHS Grampian), and to share expertise (Western Isles and Borders)

We are committed to listening to the victims’, and their families, views on how the parole system can be improved.

This why the First Minister, Minister for Victims, and I, are committed to meeting victims and hear how we can better support them through the parole process.

Continuous improvement is essential to ensuring the parole system remains effective and fit for purpose.

However, any proposals to amend parole rules need to be carefully considered, and fully assessed, to understand their impact.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes a register of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) submitted to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation since 2012: https://www.gov.scot/publications/compulsory-purchase-order-register/. The current register, published in December, includes CPOs received up to the end of October 2024.

Whilst the register of CPOs does not include information on whether orders submitted for confirmation were opposed, it does indicate where orders were confirmed with modifications.

The number of cancelled operations under ‘non-clinical/capacity reasons’ is the most granular level of detail that’s provided from PHS’s website, breakdown as follows:

It is forecast that £3.185m will have been spent by the end of March 2025 for activity related to the aims in the Neurological Care and Support in Scotland: A Framework for Action 2020 – 2025.

The Framework was published in 2019 and despite the extensive disruption to health and social care services during the pandemic, and accompanying pressure on Scottish Government and health board priorities, we sustained our focus and efforts to deliver the commitments of the Framework.

Actions will continue in the financial year 2025-26 for which the budget is still to be passed. We are asking Parliament to unite behind the Budget to ensure this funding reaches the people who need it.

The number of cancelled operations under ‘non-clinical/capacity reasons’ is the most granular level of detail that’s provided from PHS’s website, breakdown as follows:

This information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-33200 on 21 January 2025 and S6W-33202 on 17 January 2025 which set out the information we do hold on how the carcasses of the 138,534 deer reportedly culled in the 2022-23 season were processed. 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 is in the process of establishing a stakeholder group on Employment Injury Assistance which will be comprised of organisations and experts with experience of Industrial Injuries Scheme benefits.

Invitations for the Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group will be issued in the coming weeks. The first meeting will take place early this year, subject to members’ availability.

This group will take forward considerations raised in the consultation and provide valuable input for our ongoing work on Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is prioritising longer term reform so that Employment Injury Assistance better meets Scotland’s needs. This is the option which was supported by the largest number of responses to our public consultation held last year.

Our work on Employment Injury Assistance has taken longer than initially intended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated delays to the development and delivery of social security benefits. Furthermore, we have prioritised the delivery of Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment, in line with the expectations of disabled people and stakeholders.

The Industrial Injuries Scheme has undergone minimal reform by successive UK Government’s since it was introduced more than 75 years ago. While reform will therefore take time, a like-for-like replacement would have been complex, not offered value for money and would not meet the needs of people in the modern workforce.

This information is not held centrally.