Chamber and committees

We recently completed our second consultation on the New Build Heat Standard , which sets out our proposals for regulating direct emissions heating systems within new buildings, applying for a building warrant, from 1 April 2024.

An independent analysis of the responses received to the consultation is now underway, and this will inform the development of regulations prior to their laying in Parliament in Spring 2023.

The Scottish Government takes a whole population approach to tackling alcohol-related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.

The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Framework sets out our priorities for preventing alcohol-related harm. It contains 20 actions building on existing measures to change Scotland’s relationship with alcohol, including our world-leading minimum unit pricing (MUP) policy.

We are evaluating the impact of MUP at the current price of 50 pence per unit and will assess what level MUP should be set at going forward, if MUP is to continue. If our overall evaluation supports a continuation of MUP, we will lay Orders in Parliament in late 2023 to continue MUP beyond the initial six year period and if the evidence supports a change in price, to set a new unit price.

On 17 November we launched a consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion. This sets out a range of potential proposals including prohibiting alcohol advertising outdoors, phasing out alcohol sponsorship and reducing the promotion of alcohol in-store.

We are working on initiatives that will support people across Scotland to reduce alcohol consumption. These include the review of alcohol brief interventions, the managed alcohol programme pilot and supporting the UK Government on reviewing and updating clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.

This information is not currently available centrally.

However a Data Strategy for Health and Social Care is due to be published in early 2023, which will set the strategic direction on the improvement of data collection and use for the health and social care sector, including by local authorities.

Whilst we await publication of this strategy, Public Health Scotland will be making available, for the first time, data on those awaiting assessments or packages of care, and hours of care yet to be provided. This information will be available on their website from 23 November 2022.

The “ Families Affected by Drug and Alcohol Use in Scotland : A framework for holistic whole family approaches and family inclusive practice ” published in December 2021, sets out principles of how we will improve holistic support for families affected by substance use.

We want to ensure we are providing the right kind of support to enable families to thrive. Investing Whole Family Wellbeing Funding, which aims to deliver transformational change to improve holistic whole family support, with £32m already allocated to local authorities this year.

Since 2021-22, we have provided Alcohol and Drug Partnerships with an additional £3.5 million per year until the end of the National Drugs Mission, to support their implementation of this framework, which includes allocating funding to local family support services.

Our National Drugs Mission, provides £3 million each year, administered by Corra, through the Children and Families element for family support each year to front-line and third-sector organisations. This fund is intended to help these organisations to sustain, stabilise or increase capacity, extend or improve services and/or meet identified gaps in service provision.

We are providing funding of nearly £9 million over the course of the National Mission to Phoenix Futures Family Service, which is a family rehabilitation service offering a unique programme of interventions to benefit each family member and the family unit as a whole. As well as this, more than £5.5 million has been committed over this parliamentary term to support the establishment of two houses at Aberlour, specifically designed to support women and their children through recovery.

We also fund Scottish Families Affected by Drugs (SFAD), £160,000 per year, for family support services. This includes a national bereavement support service andhelpline. We have also allocated a one-off payment of £2,820 to SFAD for information booklets to support families who have lost a loved one to a drug or alcohol related death.

Additionally, we allocate £30,000 per annum for our Family Recovery Initiative Fund (FRIF). This is administered through SFAD and offers one-off grants of up to £5,000 to groups that support families affected by alcohol and drugs in Scotland.

In 2021-22, we funded £550,000 for the Partnership Drugs Initiative (PDI), which is managed and match-funded by the Corra Foundation. The PDI provides funding to locally based projects and charities working with children and young people affected by substance issues, and produces insights for policy and practice .

The Emergency Budget Review is about supporting those who need most help, whilst also managing the nation’s budget. This has meant making hard choices to further prioritise spending and find savings.

The Scottish Government, in collaboration with Public Health Scotland (PHS) is undertaking a review of alcohol brief interventions (ABIs). Initial recommendations are expected in Spring 2023, which will determine subsequent work and funding required to further develop ABIs in Scotland.

Work is underway on the development of alcohol treatment targets. An expert working group will provide recommendations to Ministers in 2023, which will determine subsequent next steps.

To end of March 2021 629,335* people have accessed Self-directed Support (SDS) since April 2014, with year by year data listed in table 1.

We do not hold this information centrally. Waiting time statistics on the waits experienced by patients for first appointments with chronic pain services can be found on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) website at the following link: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/chronic-pain-waiting-times/

However, PHS does not hold data that would capture the total number of patients with chronic pain who are being treated by NHS Scotland at a particular point in time, either under the care of specialist chronic pain services or otherwise.

Data is available by Board from the quarter ending 31 December 2015 to the quarter ending 30 June 2022.

A set of data tables for the most recent publication, which was released on 13th September 2022, can be found at the link above underneath the sub-heading of ‘Data files’:

• Table 4 shows the number of patients seen (adjusted) by NHS Board and quarter. A drop-down menu can be used to switch between data for pain clinics and pain psychology services.
• Table 6 shows the number of patients who were waiting for a first appointment (adjusted) by NHS Board and quarter. A drop-down menu can be used to view data for pain clinics and pain psychology services.

Data for the quarter ending 30th September 2022 is due to be published on 13th December 2022.

The statistics published in the data tables are based on aggregate data submissions obtained from the 14 NHS Boards.

One of the key pillars of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation is to strengthen Scotland’s position in new markets and industries to generate well-paid jobs and support a just transition to net-zero. The Strategy sets out a range of actions to deliver on this vision. We are now developing sectoral Just Transition Plans, which will identify relevant green industrial opportunities. Our first Just Transition Plan will be the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is intended for publication in due course.

Over the next year we will be developing Just Transition Plans to address the transport, buildings and construction, and agricultural sectors, as well as a standalone plan for the Grangemouth industrial cluster. Our Grangemouth Future Industry Board, established in acknowledgement of the significant role of the cluster in our energy system and our economy, has initiated and leads on the design of that Plan.

Our approach to Just Transition Plans builds on our world-first National Just Transition Planning Framework and sets out how we will be working with others on the economic and social impacts of transition. It has co-design at its heart, meaning that we will ensure that those who stand to be most impacted by the transition to net zero are given a voice in determining their future.

Work is currently underway to develop an updated Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework.

The Scottish Government has set up a steering group to bring together key stakeholders from across the sector to ensure that the new Framework is fit for purpose and supports ambitions to preserve Scotland's capability to deliver world-leading sexual health services, whilst also identifying key priorities which will require dedicated focus over the coming years.

The steering group, which includes representatives from NHS Boards, Public Health Scotland and third sector organisations, has been consulted on the content and format of the updated Framework, and they will continue to be called upon to comment on the document at all stages of development.

Broader consultation will also be undertaken during the drafting process, to ensure a wide range of stakeholder views can be heard.