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A list of the NatureScot Better Places Fund recipients can be found on its website using the link below. It includes both recipients of the first round of the Better Places Fund in 2020-21, a NatureScot initiative, and a second round of funding in 2021-22.

Better Places Green Recovery Fund - Closed for applications | NatureScot

This second round of funding was provided by the Scottish Government specifically to support communities, local authorities and public bodies as they prepared for the 2021 season.

In total the £3.2m fund has supported 125 projects including 75 ranger posts, 54 visitor operatives and infrastructure such as advisory signage, recycling litter bins, temporary toilets, over-flow parking areas, car park upgrades and other developments.

Projects have covered a variety of locations across the majority of the country.

There is no legislative or other provisions which specifies timescales within which inspections must take place. The HM Chief Inspector of Education agrees on an annual basis with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills the scale and priorities of the inspection programme.

Schools are selected for inspection each year on a proportionate basis, using a sampling approach and predetermined set criteria rather than a cyclical approach. Therefore there is no set time between full inspections.

The criteria for selecting a school for inspection takes account of the context and characteristics of the school, the type of school, deprivation and balance across local authorities. Other factors include local circumstances as well as the length of time since the last inspection.

Education Scotland has strengthened its scrutiny functions and prior to COVID-19 had increased the number of school inspections carried out in each academic year. Routine inspections of early learning and childcare settings and schools have been paused since March 2020 as a result of the impact of COVID-19. On 3 December 2021, the HM Chief Inspector of Education announced that taking stakeholder views into account, along with the ongoing challenges settings and schools face dealing with COVID-19, HM Inspectors of Education will not resume routine early learning and childcare and school inspections in January 2022 as originally planned.

HM Inspectors of Education will continue to keep plans to resume the routine programme of inspections under review to changing circumstances linked to the pandemic.

The Scottish Government currently forecasts a balanced resource budget position by the end of 2021-22.

The £200 million of additional Covid support for Business’s and for Self Isolation Support Grants announced by the First Minister on 14 December 2021 has been reprioritised from existing budgets.

The 2022-23 Scottish Budget assumes £179 million of capital and financial transactions will be made available for carry-forward in 2021-22 through the Scotland Reserve.

Routine inspections of early learning and childcare settings and schools have been paused since March 2020 as a result of the impact of COVID-19. HM Inspectors of Education are aware of the ongoing challenges faced by local authority staff, education staff, learners and communities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Scottish Ministers requested HM Inspectors conduct an inspection of Spark of Genius Harbour Point School in accordance with section 66 (1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. This inspection was carried out in May 2021.

Between January and March 2021, to support and improve the delivery of high-quality and effective remote learning, HM Inspectors of Education developed a national overview of practice of remote learning. During this period HM Inspectors of Education engaged with all 32 local authorities and 474 schools. They also reached 12,105 parents and 2,667 learners through surveys. This resulted in 12 weekly National Overview of Practice Reports publishing between January and April 2021.

In March to April 2021 HM Inspectors of Education undertook a national review of local authority approaches to quality assurance as part of the Alternative Certification Model. This review was to ensure that the range of measures being undertaken by local authorities ensured that the approach to certification delivered for young people across Scotland. As part of this review, HM Inspectors of Education engaged with all 32 local authorities, headteachers, SQA co-ordinators, teachers and representatives of professional associations. This national review was published on the Education Scotland website.

On 3 December 2021, the HM Chief Inspector of Education announced that taking stakeholder views into account, along with the ongoing challenges settings and schools face dealing with COVID-19, HM Inspectors of Education will not resume routine early learning and childcare and school inspections in January 2022 as originally planned.

Between September and December 2021, HM Inspectors of Education visited over 200 schools and services. This included visits to establishments and services that were due to have a further inspection or as part of national thematic inspections.

For visits, HM Inspectors of Education will follow public health and local authority guidance complying with the COVID-19 mitigations for each establishment. Plans are continually reviewed and are linked with public health guidance and local circumstances.

From February 2022, if COVID-19 conditions have improved, HM Inspectors of Education will carry out ‘recovery focus’ visits to engage with a selection of early learning and childcare settings and schools to support the education sector as it continues to respond to the impact of the current pandemic. HM Inspectors of Education will continue to keep plans under review to changing circumstances linked to the pandemic.

A total of 22,635 dental staff are registered on the Vaccine Management Tool (VMT). This includes both dentists and dental nurses.

These staff would register voluntarily, as independent contractors, on the relevant staff bank of their health board, and book shifts via that system, which does not constitute secondment.

NHS Boards will be allocated the £30 million to support GP practices in two tranches based upon their practices’ weighted share of registered patients under the Scottish Workload Formula at the time of the allocation. The following table provides an indication of what the first NHS Board allocation will be based upon practice shares of patients in October 2021.

Information on the amount of people living with dystonia in each NHS board area is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or Public Health Scotland (PHS).

The Scottish Government has submitted a request through NHS Scotland’s Scottish Primary Care Information Request (SPIRE), which holds information from GP patient records, to better understand prevalence amongst neurological conditions including dystonia. We expect this data to be collected in 2022.

The funding associated with the Health and Social Care Levy is estimated to be around £1 billion per annum on average across the UK Spending Review period; however HM Treasury has not specifically quantified this funding within our overall settlement. All frontline Health and Social Care consequentials are being passed on.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with dystonia are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

While the Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally have responsibility for both service delivery and people’s care. NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those who require care and support for dystonia, have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition.

Dystonia UK, a leading charity that provides supports for people living with dystonia, is a member of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland (NAoS). The NAoS are key members of our National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions which is working to drive improvement in outcomes for people with a range of neurological conditions, including dystonia.

In 2019, we published a Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action, with a vision to ensure everyone with a neurological condition, including dystonia, can access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms.

We are investing £4.5 million of funding to implement the 17 commitments in the framework, supporting innovative practice in neurological care for people with conditions such as dystonia. No applications have been received to date for projects in relation to the direct support and care of people affected by dystonia and we would welcome future applications.

Through Commitment 13 of the Framework, the Scottish Government will support neurological research by promoting the work of the Chief Scientist Office, third sector organisations’ research and Scottish neurological research networks; encouraging opportunities for people with neurological conditions to become involved in research trials; and highlighting the need for further qualitative research on the impact of living with a neurological condition.

The Chief Scientist Office research funding committees are open and applications on the underlying causes, diagnosis, treatment and management of dystonia are welcomed - Response Mode Funding Schemes – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)