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The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly published our Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan in March 2021, which builds on existing autism and learning disabilities strategies. The plan looks at the actions needed to shape supports, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of autistic people and people with learning/intellectual disabilities are respected and protected and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board has recently agreed the final version of the National Neurodevelopmental Principles and Standards of Care. The Principles and Standards of Care is for those children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles and support needs, including those with autism, and require more support than is currently available. The National Neurodevelopmental Principles and Standards will be published shortly.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those with autism. We provide free professional learning opportunities for practitioners, including the Autism Toolbox and Inclusive Practice online professional learning modules.

In addition, we published our Autism Action Plan in December 2020, setting out the actions we will take to improve the support to children and young people with autism in Scotland’s schools. We have made significant progress in implementing these actions and will formally report our progress in December 2021. Our work on supporting young people with Autism in mainstream schools is also supported by our guidance on the presumption of mainstream education.

The Scottish Government also directly funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) which supports NHS Boards to consider best practice and improve service in the redesigning of autism diagnostic services.

The covered walkway between Exhibition Centre station and Scottish Event Campus (SEC) is owned by Glasgow City Council (GCC). As GCC is an independently elected body, the Scottish Government cannot intervene on matters relating to local responsibilities or decisions.

Notwithstanding this, as part of preparations for the upcoming COP26 Conference, my officials are engaged with SEC, Scotrail, GCC and UK Government, as the event organiser, in regards to transport, including the use of the covered walkway. This decision on such use will ultimately rest with United Nations Security Lead, who will be carrying out an inspection of the premises in the coming weeks.

The total cost of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People and Young Persons is £223,097,800.

This cost is for financial year 2020-21, and includes free bus and ferry travel and the Covid-19 Support Grant payments for the Older and Disabled People scheme, and bus, rail and ferry travel for young people aged 16-18 and volunteers up to age 25.

The Prior Information Notice (PIN) referred to confirmed Ministers’ intention for Scotrail services to be delivered through a wholly owned company of the Scottish Ministers in terms of the Operator of Last Resort following expiry of the current ScotRail Franchise Agreement.

It is intended that Operator of Last Resort arrangements will provide a period of stability for passengers and staff while we assess the scale and pace of recovery from Covid 19 and future rail reform.

As the PIN was published on 31 March 2021, almost 2 months ahead of the UK Government’s delayed White Paper on Rail, there was considerable uncertainty around reform at the time. Accordingly, through the PIN, Ministers reserved the right to put OLR arrangements in place as appropriate, up to the maximum period of 10 years. It also indicated the envisaged direct award at that point was for a period of 3-5 years with any optional additional period(s) exercisable at the sole discretion of Ministers.

Although the White Paper has now been published, we are pressing the UK Government for further clarity on how their proposals, and timescales for implementation of future rail reform, will impact our aspirations for Scotland’s railways. This will help inform future decisions about the duration of the OLR arrangements, subject to the 10 year maximum referred to in the PIN.

Before the Summer break, schools and education leaders were advised to provide all staff and secondary pupils with a pack of Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs) test kits prior to going on leave that they can use to restart testing in the week prior to return. In addition, they were also advised to ensure they have sufficient stock to support testing for at least the first few weeks after the return and to make any necessary orders before the Summer break – though of course they are also free to make additional test kit orders after their return to school in August. In preparation for the return of schools this month, the Scottish Government has allocated sufficient stocks of lateral flow tests to support the continuation of the twice weekly testing programme in all schools and ELC settings across Scotland.

The Scottish Government has taken a range of actions, in collaboration with key partners including the UK Government, local authorities and Young Scot, to support staff and secondary pupils to test and record their results regularly. For example, in response to user feedback about the discomfort that some pupils experience when using tests, we will be transitioning from LFDs that require both throat and nasal swabs to a nasal-only LFD model over the first months of the new term. These new LFDs are also quicker to use, cutting down on the time it will take staff and pupils to test. Feedback suggests also that some participants are testing but not recording results for a range of reasons. We have shared relevant feedback with UK Government partners about the UK-wide online reporting portal to support ongoing improvements. To make reporting easier, users of the self-reporting portal now have the ability to create a “household account” where the results of multiple family members can be inputted at the same time without having to manually enter their child’s details every time they report. Best practice has been actively shared with local authority Directors of Education and we have refreshed national communications in advance of the new term, including a communications pack developed in collaboration with Young Scot that will be provided to every secondary school in Scotland. All local authorities have also been asked to ensure that their return to school communications make clear the need to test and record results prior to return and twice-weekly thereafter.

The Scottish Government continues to be committed to improving the lives of autistic people in Scotland. We work closely with autism organisations in the third sector and the public sector and actively seek the views of people with lived experience on autism services. This is reflected in our “Towards Transformation” plan and in specific pieces of nationally funded work, such as the National Post Diagnostic Support pilot for Autistic People.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropriate and suitable range of services to meet these local needs, as mandated under statute in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act.

Local Authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set out in statute and as such are entirely separate from the Scottish Government, however it is also the expectation of the Scottish Government that Local Public Bodies will engage with the third sector regarding local autism services.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropriate and suitable range of services to meet these local needs, as mandated under statute in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act.

Local Authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set out in statute and as such are entirely separate from the Scottish Government, however it is the expectation of the Scottish Government that Local Public Bodies will engage with autistic people and children, including their families where appropriate, in relation to decisions regarding the allocation of funding for autism services.

In addition, the Scottish Government works closely with COSLA and HSCPs in relation to the aims and objectives of our national autism strategies. Those strategies and the delivery of them is shared jointly between the Scottish Government and COSLA. We are currently looking at monitoring and engagement arrangements for the “Towards Transformation” plan involving a range of key stakeholders, including people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropriate and suitable range of services to meet these local needs, as mandated under statute in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act.

Local Authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set out in statute and as such are entirely separate from the Scottish Government, however it is the expectation of the Scottish Government that Local Public Bodies will engage with Autistic people and children, including their families where appropriate, in relation to decisions regarding the allocation of funding for autism services.

Scottish Government decisions on national funding in relation to the autism strategy, are taken in consultation with key stakeholders including autistic people through our national strategy leadership arrangements.

Provision of services by a Scottish Government owned company, called ScotRail Trains Ltd, in line with our Operator of Last Resort duty will ensure the continuity of rail services in Scotland and also provide stability to staff, suppliers and passengers over this period.

Abellio ScotRail staff with their terms and conditions will transfer to the new entity.

The Scottish Government has recently announced a suite of measures to continue to support NHS dentistry, including a vital funding package of up to £5M for improved ventilation in dental premises, and an extension of free PPE for the dental sector, which from this month has increased by up to 50%. This builds on the continued phased remobilisation of NHS dental services, ensuring that as many patients can be seen within the current set of infection, protection and control measures required for the safe operation of dental treatment.

NHS dental services are largely provided by independent dental contractors. Information on appointments is held by each individual dental practice.

The removal of all dental charges for NHS dental treatment is a Scottish Government manifesto commitment and more detail will be published in due course. These changes will take place in the lifetime of this parliament and the processes are currently underway.