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Scottish Government asked Public Health Scotland (PHS) to investigate the apparent decline in alcohol treatment numbers and PHS will publish their findings on 3 December 2024.

We are continuing to work with partners and stakeholders to develop a national specification for alcohol and drug treatment in Scotland. The national specification will build on the forthcoming UK Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment which will support the improvement of alcohol treatment in Scotland, mirroring the use of the Orange Book Guidelines for drug treatment.

In 2024-25, £112.9 million is being made available to ADPs. This funding is used to ensure that local services meet the needs of people who experience alcohol and drugs harms.

In 2023-2024, the number of statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements increased to 938, the majority of which included alcohol use or co-dependency. This shows that we are on track to meet our commitment to 1000 people accessing public funding for residential rehabilitation by 2026.

The First Minister wrote to Friends of the Earth Scotland on 21 August and again on 25 October to set out his detailed considerations of their allegations and his conclusion that the Code had not been breached.

The application under consideration in these exchanges and as noted above was received on 18 February 2022 and that this application has yet to be determined.

Scottish Government is working closely with ADPs to ensure further roll-out of Alcohol Harms Groups and Alcohol Death Reviews across Scotland.

The ADP Survey highlights that in addition to the 30% of ADPs with specific Alcohol Harms Groups in place a further third report having other structures in place for informing surveillance. These include multi-agency groups working on wider public health monitoring including drug and alcohol harms and sudden death groups whose remits include both death reviews and suicide reviews.

Several ADPs have indicated that alcohol harm and death review groups are currently in development.

Scottish Government is working in partnership with Alcohol Focus Scotland to ensure that all ADPs in Scotland have agreed processes to review alcohol deaths and build on the learning of the 27% of ADPs already delivering.

The Scottish Government has no plans to undertake a national hedgehog census in Scotland.

Hedgehogs are protected in Scotland under the Wildlife and Countryside (Scotland) Act 1981. Alongside this legal protection, steps are being taken to halt the decline of hedgehogs in our towns and cities including the promotion of green space and green networks.

It is important to recognise that hedgehogs exist in some parts of Scotland where they are a non-native species. In those areas, such as South Uist, work is being done to manage the population through methods such as trapping and translocation.

We are committed to ensuring that people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and person-centred.

Significant additional activity is already underway following the allocation of £30 million funding to target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This includes over 40,000 extra diagnostic procedures.

Our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan has so far delivered four mobile endoscopy units across Scotland, providing 5-6 additional endoscopy rooms, and a Dyce facility to provide additional endoscopy procedures for NHS Grampian. Additionally, the national endoscopy surveillance framework, introduced in February 2022, has been implemented in all Health Boards.

We have also funded the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) with a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in IBD care which is being taken forward through the MPPPs National Gastroenterology Speciality Delivery Group (SDG). They have developed a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland which is due to be published imminently.

In addition, the Gastroenterology SDG is developing a lower gastrointestinal pathway which will provide primary care guidance about testing and diagnosis for people with IBD and Coeliac Disease in Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling the child-poverty related attainment gap and is already ensuring eligible pupils in Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 can receive free school meals.

Local authorities issue specific complementary guidance about how Pupil Equity Funding operates locally. This varies across Local Authorities and is designed to provide targeted support for children and young people affected by poverty to achieve their full potential. Headteachers have the flexibility to use this funding to help support children in their schools to close the poverty related attainment gap.

In light of the challenging financial context, we have been clear that our initial focus will be on expanding Free School Meals to Primary 6 and 7 pupils who are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, which will be delivered in this Parliament.

There is a package of national and local support available to assist schools in planning how to use their Pupil Equity Funding (PEF). Local authorities issue specific complementary guidance and headteachers can use their professional judgement to identify children in their school who may benefit from targeted interventions. Headteachers must develop a clear rationale for their use of PEF and plans must be grounded in evidence of what is known to be effective at raising attainment.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to update the 2005 Guidance for Local Authorities and National Park Authorities on Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

Section 40 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 introduces an offence of significant environmental harm and sets maximum penalties for convictions for this offence. As set out in the Scottish Government’s draft Annual Report on the Scottish Government's commitment to align with the European Union where appropriate that was laid on 31 October 2024, we are considering Directive (EU) 2024/1203 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on the protection of the environment through criminal law. As a part of our consideration of this Directive, we are assessing the provisions for qualified offences for conduct that causes widespread and substantial environmental damage to particular features of the environment, and comparing this with existing provisions in Scots law to protect the environment.

Taxis and private hire cars (PHCs) are a vital part of transport networks for citizens, businesses and visitors across Scotland, and all taxi and PHC drivers should be able to go about their work without the threat of any violence and abuse from their customers.

Taxis and PHCs are licensed under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (“the 1982 Act”). While the Scottish Government has responsibility for the overarching legislation, the day to day administration of the licensing regime, as set out in the 1982 Act, is devolved to independent licensing authorities – in effect the 32 Scottish local authorities.

Within this context, any reports of non-payment of fares, and/ or abuse of drivers would be directed to the local licensing authority and the local police. The Scottish Government does not hold data in relation to the non-payment of taxi and PHC fares or abusive conduct towards taxi and PHC drivers.

The Scottish Government recommends that licensing authorities should actively promote and facilitate good links between the taxi and PHC trades and the local police force, including active participation in any crime reduction initiatives.

Owners and drivers of vehicles will often want to install security measures to protect the driver. Licensing authorities may consider that this is a matter best left to the judgement of the owners and drivers themselves. However, it is recommended practice for licensing authorities to consider, as part of their licensing policy under the legislative framework of the 1982 Act, sympathetically, or indeed actively encourage, their installation.

Further information about security measures in vehicles is available in the taxi and PHC licensing best practice guidance document published by the Scottish Government, in conjunction with Transport Scotland, last year: .