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The Scottish Government Cyber Resilience Unit hosts regular Public Sector Cyber Resilience Network webinars bringing together more than 150 information/cyber security experts from across the sector to raise awareness of the latest threats, share good practice and ensure that lessons are learned from incidents and exercises.

Specifically for the health sector, the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE) has been established. The CCoE will empower continuous improvements by focusing on key enablement pillars including Centralised Security, 24/7 Monitoring, Threat Hunting, Incident Response and Training & Awareness. It is complimented by the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) which will be a key partner to the CCoE, enhancing our national incident response capacity and capabilities.

The Scottish Government conducts audits of Health Boards considered to be operators of essential services to obtain compliance assurance. From October 2021 – December 2022 we have spent £220,498. The Scottish Government has entered a new agreement for the delivery of audits, with up to £900,000 reserved for a third party to conduct audits over the next six years.

In addition, the Scottish Government has established the Cyber Centre of Excellence to enhance its response to security threats. For 2021-2022 the total spend was £420,000.

NHS Inform and Care Information Scotland are Scotland’s public facing online health & care information resources. NHS 24 currently receive £923,000 in recurring funding from Scottish Government to support the delivery of these services.

Currently, staff can access digital skills learning and development resources through the Turas platform managed and run by NHS National Education for Scotland, and through the skills platform of SSSC. Work is underway on reviewing the accessibility of this, with a view to considering the creation of a Central Library of Digital Skills Resource. This work aims to understand the user needs in relation to digital confidence, accessing technology and building digital skills. It is tailored to the requirements of specific roles to enhance career progression for all staff across health and care. We will work with our wide range of partners across health and care to ensure effective communication of this resource and that it complements existing resources.

Scottish Government is undertaking a wide range of digital programmes to support partners including work on Microsoft 365, the roll out Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA),the rollout of new General Practice IT systems, development of the National Digital Platform and Digital Diagnostics. Delivery is ongoing, as set out in the annual delivery plan for Digital Health & Care (see Care in the Digital Age: delivery plan 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Government is doing a range of things to support care at home. Delivery is ongoing, as set out in the annual delivery plan for Digital Health & Care (see Care in the Digital Age: delivery plan 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). An update will be published later this year with delivery priorities for 2023/24, and will include an overview of progress against existing commitments.

In addition, key work is being taken forward through the digital telecare programme, being led by Local Government Digital Office (LGDO), to safely transition over 180,000 users of telecare in Scotland from analogue to digital telephony connections. This offers significant opportunities to look to further develop this service with more advanced technologies and better use of data. This has, to date, included the development of key resources for local areas through a developed digital telecare playbook.

The purpose of the occasional licence is to cater for the multitude of events which take place on premises which are not 'fully' licensed but feature the sale of alcohol. These can often include events arranged for the benefit of local communities such as local community fetes, gala day celebrations, wedding receptions and arts events. Occasional licences offer a flexible regime for the hospitality and entertainment sector to provide alcohol at events outside licensed premises.

The Scottish Government previously consulted on whether the current £10 occasional licence fee should be reviewed, and also whether the Scottish Ministers should make regulations setting limits on the number and duration of occasional licences granted. This follows concerns that occasional licences can be used in a manner designed to avoid the consequences of a permanent alcohol licence. Work in relation to this consultation was paused as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Having reflected carefully on this matter, the Scottish Government is minded to bring forward regulations which will put in place “occasional licence limits” in terms of the number of occasional licences, or the number of days on which occasional licences have effect, in relation to the same applicant or premises in any 12 month period.

The Scottish Government is also planning fresh engagement with licensing stakeholders to consider the level of fee currently charged for an occasional licence.

The approach of the Scottish Government will seek to balance the need for the cost and burden of occasional licences to be met by those seeking them while avoiding any undue impact on important local community events such as gala days and fetes. Any draft regulations would be subject to a targeted consultation and ultimately it will be for the Scottish Parliament to consider and approve.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

Significant work has been undertaken to develop and test a Dynamic Support Register, which has been led by a working group and co-designed with people with lived experience, HSCPs and NHS professionals across Scotland. We will be launching the Register soon following successful testing.

The Scottish Government has accepted all 5 key recommendations in the Coming Home Implementation Report and is working with people with lived experience, COSLA, professionals from Local Authorities; Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs); the NHS; and other key stakeholders to implement these recommendations. This includes progressing the Dynamic Support Register, Peer Support Network and National Support Panel recommendations, focussing in the first instance on getting it right for people with learning disabilities using a collaborative and partnership approach.

We will work to address wider issues around the delayed discharge that people with enduring mental health conditions experience. Our work on the National Care Service, the Barron Forensic Services Review, and the Scottish Mental Health Law Review will further improve the care and support of people with enduring mental health conditions.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

Following the publication of the Coming Home Implementation report, the Scottish Government has worked with key stakeholders to understand the role and remit of a Peer Support Network in order to design a model that provides value and allows for genuine collaboration across Scotland. Further details on the establishment of the Peer Support Network will be available soon.