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Scottish Government has no imminent plans to introduce at-home testing for hepatitis C.

Testing for hepatitis C is currently available through a range of routes, with a particular focus on settings which are most likely to be accessed by people at highest risk of infection, such as drugs services and prison healthcare. In addition, anyone who has concerns about exposure to hepatitis C can speak to their GP practice about getting a test, which would allow them to be referred into treatment and services rapidly if required.

Due to the current financial situation the Scottish Government is having to make some difficult budgetary decisions.

As part of this, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was asked to minimise any discretionary spend where possible. The Scottish contribution to DOCET is held as part of the NES budget and in that context, NES Optometry decided to remove the funding to DOCET as part of the savings exercise.

The Scottish Government provides considerable funding to NES to provide training and education to support the provision of NHS General Ophthalmic Services. NES delivers a programme of on-line and in person events, e-learning modules, Independent prescriber training, peer support groups, as well as teach and treat clinics that provide clinical experience. Funding also supports training for other practice staff including dispensing opticians, with access to resources also available to eyecare professionals working within the hospital eye service too.

In addition to their NES training, optometrists can continue to meet their mandatory continuing professional development requirements via a number of different sources including self-directed learning, The College of Optometrist’s programme of courses, their employer’s events and also by the extensive array of private provider provision.

On a comparative basis, and adjusted for size, even with the removal of DOCET access, the investment in education and training for Optometrists in Scotland remains dramatically better than England.

The Scottish Government is working with stakeholders on the review and development of various guidance to inform pain management services.

As outlined in the updated chronic pain implementation plan, Framework for pain management service delivery - implementation plan update (www.gov.scot) the national clinical guidelines for Scotland (SIGN 136), and polypharmacy guidelines are currently being updated.

We are also working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to deliver a national approach to specialist interventions for chronic pain and to consider the creation of national standards for chronic pain management.

The Scottish Government committed to reviewing the law on abortion to ensure that abortion services are first and foremost a healthcare matter.

An expert group chaired by Professor Anna Glasier, the Scottish Government’s Women’s Health Champion, has been established to take this forward. The Group will consider the legal framework for abortion and clinical practice with a view to making recommendations where appropriate.

Membership of the expert group consists of clinical, legal, reproductive rights and academic experts. Members were selected to reflect a diverse range of expertise relevant to the healthcare focus of the review and its aim to develop recommendations that best serve the needs of those seeking and providing abortion care, while also considering the complexities of the matter.

Stakeholder engagement is a vital part of the wider review. The work of the expert group is one element of that wider review, and written submissions will be provided to the group from a range of organisations, including pro-life groups. The Scottish Government has written to a range of pro-life groups to ask if they wish to participate in a stakeholder group to feed directly into the wider review. All organisational views will be carefully considered alongside a range of clinical evidence in addition to the recommendations made by the Expert Group.

All minutes of the Expert Group are published online, and can be accessed here: Abortion Law Review Expert Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The biodiversity duty requires public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity in the exercise of their functions, having regard to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. Biodiversity duty reports produced under the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 are the best measure we have for compliance, and this shows that at least 85 of 156 (54.5%) public bodies active during the most recent reporting cycle (2021-2023) are compliant with the duty. However, the actual figure is likely to be higher. A number of smaller public bodies which are technically covered by the duty have limited opportunities to further the conservation of biodiversity due to the nature of their remit. We do not consider it to be a good use of public funds to try to enforce the production of a biodiversity duty report in every case, but all the information we have suggests that where it is relevant, most public bodies take the duty very seriously.

The Scottish Government has received the report for a Single Building Assessment (SBA) based on the specification published on 21 June 2024 for one of the pilot entries. An invitation to tender has been issued to undertake SBAs based on the specification published on 21 June 2024 for a further twelve of the pilot entries.

Pilot works to mitigate or remediate risks have started for five of the pilot entries. Works in this context refers to any action taken to address known cladding-related risks, including Urgent Interim Measures. These numbers relate to known works on a pilot entry only, as developers or other organisations could have carried out works without informing the Scottish Government, and therefore the true numbers may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Works to remediate risks have not been completed for any of the pilot entries. Although work on the external wall cladding system has been carried out on one building, a Single Building Assessment carried out to the standard to be specified by Scottish Ministers under section 32 of the Housing (Cladding Remediation)(Scotland) Act 2024 is required to ensure that all works required have been identified and completed ahead of being designated as complete.

We are aware that there are potentially a larger number of buildings in Scotland affected by cladding beyond those in the pilot phase. Full remediation of a building is a complex process encompassing, assessment, design, remediation, and assurance, with physical completion of work dependent on the entirety of any remediation design and the commercial capacity to undertake such work.

We are continuing to take steps to improve our understanding of the number and nature of these buildings (for example, whether they fall within the scope of the Cladding Remediation Act) and will collaborate with relevant authorities in considering the action required.

For many such buildings, taking forward assessment and any remediation required will be a matter for the relevant developer or other responsible body.

The total Resource (RDEL) Block Grant funding received by the Scottish Government (SG) in 2024-25 is currently £39.8 billion. For 2025-26 the Spending Review confirms a resource block grant of £41.1 billion, £1.3 billion higher than 2024-25.

The following table shows the real terms calculations.

The member may wish to be aware that teachers are not employed on zero hour contracts as supply lists are registers and not contractual. The employment contract only begins once a teacher has taken up the supply work that is offered.

Whilst the recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for local authorities, the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to help maximise the number of teaching jobs available.

As part of this, we are providing £145.5m to local authorities to protect teacher numbers.

Despite substantial investment, and the progress we have made in recruiting thousands of additional teachers since 2018, we recognise that more work is needed to ensure that our teachers have access to long term, sustainable, employment opportunities, regardless of which stage of their career they are at, and we will continue to work with COSLA to ensure this can happen.

The Scottish Government believes it is important to work with a wide range of clinical, lived experience and third sector representatives in developing chronic pain policies. This includes the Faculty for Pain Management (FPM) Our clinical lead for chronic pain policy has recently joined its committee and we sought input from the FPM in our stakeholder engagement in the summer of 2023.

The Scottish Government last had specific discussions with the FPM in 2020 to understand if there were any safety concerns around receiving chronic pain interventions, including steroid injections, and an individual’s immune response to COVID-19.

As part of the updated chronic pain implementation plan, Framework for pain management service delivery - implementation plan update (www.gov.scot) we are working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to deliver a national approach to specialist interventions, which may cover steroid injections, for chronic pain. This process will review effectiveness, safety, cost effectiveness, and incorporate the views of patients and clinicians.

As outlined in the Terms of Reference, the Expert Group is considering the appropriate gestational limits for abortion alongside grounds for abortion; pathways for patients; the data and information collected about patients accessing services; regulations; the right to conscientious objection for healthcare workers; and criminal offences related to having or providing an abortion. This is in line with the commitment made by the Scottish Government.

The Terms of Reference can be accessed online; Abortion Law Review Expert Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).