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The responses to the consultation on the draft guidance on the Delivery of relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education are currently being analysed ahead of the report being prepared for publication. The Scottish Government expects to publish a report on the consultation analysis in Spring 2024.

Officials have been engaging with COSLA on partnership development of this strategy and are jointly planning stakeholder engagement which is expected to commence in the coming weeks.

The commitment to develop a new digital strategy for education was made in the 2023 Programme for Government and is expected to complete by Autumn 2024.

As is indicated in the answer to question S6W-25608 on 4 March 2024, the Scottish Government will review the Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools Guidance in due course. This would include taking account of any significant legislative or policy developments. The CASS Review is considering clinical gender identity healthcare for young people. How this care is provided by the NHS is beyond the responsibilities of schools and education authorities. The guidance makes clear that school staff are not required to be involved in the process of a young person seeking or accessing gender identity healthcare. That is a matter for the young person themselves and their family.

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 non-statutory guidance on supporting Transgender Young People in Schools sets out a range of advice on legislation, policy and practice including illustrative examples. It is for education authorities and schools to use the guidance as they see fit, in line with local priorities and circumstances.

As would be usual with any relevant significant legal or policy developments, the Scottish Government will consider whether the guidance requires to be updated to reflect these.

The Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools non-statutory guidance sets out a range of advice on legislation, policy and practice including illustrative examples of the concerns faced by young people through a range of statistical information. All statistical material used in the production of the guidance was reviewed for suitability when the guidance was written. It is for education authorities and schools to use the guidance as they see fit, in line with local priorities and circumstances.

In the June response we committed to establishing a new Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme to co-ordinate and drive further change and improvement over time in line with the Scottish Mental Health Law Review ambitions. This Spring, we intend to publish an initial delivery plan setting out the key actions being taken forward against priorities identified under the Programme.

The Scottish Government commissioned Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is playing a central role in working with Health Boards to ensure that they are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign.

CfSD programmes have developed strong clinically-led Specialty Delivery Groups (SDG), including one for Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT), which promote multidisciplinary team working, and support local adoption of service improvement programmes. These groups are now well established and have supported several new and innovative pathway developments to free-up additional capacity in the NHS system, many of which are now being successfully scaled up across Scotland. For ENT this includes Active Clinical Referral Triage (ACRT), Discharge Patient Initiated Review (PIR) and Opt-In Pathways.

We know there is more to do but we are making progress; since the introduction of our long wait targets in July 2022, ENT waits over two years have reduced by 93% for new outpatient appointments and by 54% for inpatient and day-case patients.

The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 contains a number of actions linked to resource use, including management and reduction of waste, in line with Scottish Targets. Walking aids are included within this, and a number of Boards have trialled and put systems in place to take-back, test and re-use items subject to warranty and liability.

Scottish Government’s guidance on the provision of equipment and adaptations states “partnerships and their equipment and adaptation service providers should ensure they maximise the potential benefits from recycling of all equipment”. In line with this guidance, we are currently engaging with Health Boards to gather a national picture of what action is being taken on this matter, and to ensure the timely provision of equipment to support people to live safely within their own home and community.

Digital technology is an important aspect of any modern education system. To support continued development and use of digital technology to enhance teaching and learning, the Scottish Government is developing a new digital strategy for education.