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The Draft Scottish Budget on 4 December 2024 announced plans to invest £3m in 2025-26 in Bright Start Breakfasts.

At this stage the Budget remains subject to Parliamentary approval and therefore, more detail about Bright Start Breakfasts will be provided ahead of the fund launching in Spring 2025, including how the scheme will operate.

The Draft Scottish Budget on 4 December 2024 announced plans to invest £3m in 2025-26 in Bright Start Breakfasts.

At this stage the Budget remains subject to Parliamentary approval and therefore, more detail about Bright Start Breakfasts will be provided ahead of the fund launching in Spring 2025.

Recent mapping work carried out by the Improvement Service and Assist FM shows that nearly half of all primary and special schools in Scotland are already providing breakfasts at the start of the school day, with a range of delivery models and service providers supporting delivery. Bright Start Breakfasts aims to enhance and expand provision across Scotland, building on this existing local delivery.

In order to ensure the efficient and timeous processing of dental payments to contractors all claims require to be submitted for payment within 3 months of the completion date of the claim.

This reflects the period from the closure of the claim for the care and treatment undertaken. As this requirement is widely understood within the sector there are no plans to review this.

To accompany the launch of changes to the dental payment system from November 2023, Scottish Government ran a marketing campaign via commercial radio, social media and surgery posters to highlight the changes to patients and direct them to NHS Inform for more information on a range of oral health matters.

NHS Inform is Scotland’s national health information service and supports people in making informed decisions on all aspects of their health. Information on oral health and dental care includes typical scenarios which patients can expect in attending the dentist, including the importance of regular attendance. In addition to this national resource, each individual dental practice is required to display its policy for late cancellations and non-attendance at scheduled appointments.

There is already existing discretion within NHS arrangements for dentists to charge patients for late cancellations and missed appointments, in accordance with their business need.

As circumstances may vary considerably between practices with respect to demography, registered patient numbers and other key determinants for the viability or necessity of additional charging, it would not be appropriate to implement a national policy on such matters.

Capitation payments are paid monthly per patient to NHS dentists to help ensure that patients remain registered. Where a patient does not attend for examination or treatment for a period of greater than 3 years the monthly payment for that patient falls to 20% of the full rate.

This arrangement incentives dentists to re-engage with patients who have not attended for some time to better manage their oral health. There is no intention to review this arrangement.

The Scottish Government is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable educational environment. Engaging with key partners such as Education Scotland to gather feedback on professional learning, training and the information provided about antisemitism takes place in various ways, including during meetings of the Education Learning and Professional Leadership workstream of the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education programme.

Education Scotland supports a range of organisations who create resources for or deliver teaching about antisemitism. It is crucial that any approach to antisemitism within educational materials also considers the broader context of how race and racism operate in society. This includes understanding the role of structural racism, institutional discrimination, and the persistence of stereotypes.

The Building Racial Literacy (BRL) Programme is funded by the Scottish Government as part of the work of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme. An interim review Building Racial Literacy (education.gov.scot) was undertaken in 2022 and the programme underwent an external review in 2023 by The Collective, which can be viewed here. BRL External Evaluation (education.gov.scot).

While the programme does not focus on one single experience or type of racism, feedback from participants evidences the wide range of racialised experiences, including antisemitism, which are incorporated into the programme’s learning, as well as the ongoing commitment to spotlighting the social evolution of systemic racism.

There is a range of investment and resources available to support teachers to promote equality and address racism and other forms of discrimination within their school communities.

For example, Education Scotland, our national education improvement body, in partnership with Interfaith Scotland, has developed an Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning framework: Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework | Leading professional learning | Professional Learning | Education Scotland which includes resources on religious literacy, aimed at supporting teachers’ understanding of the diverse needs, issues and discrimination experienced by different religious communities in the UK, including Jewish communities. Education Scotland also provides guidance on preventing radicalisation and extremism in schools; Prevent radicalisation and extremism | Resources | Education Scotland.

In relation to antisemitism specifically, the Scottish Government provides funding for the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Holocaust Educational Trust - LFA Project (het.org.uk) and Vision Schools Scotland’s Holocaust education programme: Vision Schools Scotland (uws.ac.uk) which aims to promote excellence in Holocaust teaching. While both programmes focus on the Holocaust, they also promote awareness of Jewish people, culture and their contribution to society and address antisemitism in the world today, including through professional learning and resources for teachers.

In 2023, Scottish Government published revised guidance on the Provision of Equipment and Adaptations, which includes actions regarding provision for short-term wheelchair loans. Officials are currently engaging with Health and Social Care Partnerships to better understand how this and the related guidance on the Provision of Wheelchairs for Short-Term Loan is being locally implemented. Throughout the course of their engagement, officials will consider if any updates to this guidance or additional materials are necessary.