The Scottish Government commissioned an independent review of funeral poverty in October 2015 and this was published in February 2016. The Scottish Government response accepts almost all of the report’s recommendations and we have been pursuing a coordinated set of activity since then. For example:

During autumn 2016 we are undertaking a series of engagement events including three themed round table discussions and a national conference on funeral poverty to promote a debate and develop a shared understanding of the issues. This work will feed in to a funeral costs plan which identifies practical actions.

Developing and consulting on options for a Scottish Funeral Payment to produce a benefit which helps more people, is more predictable and provides help more quickly.

Considering whether a Scottish Funeral Bond could help people plan ahead for their funeral.

The Scottish Government is concerned about variation in the costs of burial and cremation across Scotland and the impact this can have on people on low incomes. While it is for individual local authorities to set the level of their fees and manage their budgets, the Scottish Government will be working with them and the funeral industry to look at the impacts of variable fees as part of our wider work on funeral poverty. This will include a round table event with local authorities and a national conference on funeral poverty on 16 November 2016.

The running costs for the NHS Scotland Confidential Alert Line (NCAL) pilot (2 April 2013 to 31 July 2014) were £18,666. The running costs for the period 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2016 were £31,600.

Public Concern at Work, the charity that provides the NCAL service were awarded £120,660 in total from 2 April 2013 to 31 July 2016 to cover a range of services including whistleblowing training for NHS Sotland staff, reporting, communication and running costs of the NCAL.

All specialist cleft surgery - for both adults and children, to repair cleft lip and palate should be carried out by one of three specialist cleft surgeons, based in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Should the recommendation to consolidate cleft surgery in Glasgow be supported, this arrangement will continue. Patients will continue to be assessed by the national specialist cleft surgery service. Those who do not require a specialist cleft surgery intervention, will continue to be managed locally, including at St John’s Hospital in West Lothian.

A decision whether to approve the recommendation will be made in due course.

The main contractors in infrastructure projects are required to submit a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) to ensure that only eligible bidders with the requisite financial and technical capacity and capability are invited to proceed to the tendering stage. In respect of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children project, a minimum financial standing was set for each applicant’s construction contractor and each of the three consortia bidding for the contract met that requirement.

It should be recognised that the Royal Hospital for Sick Children is a Non Profit Distribution (NPD) project, where a fundamental feature is that an element of risk is transferred to the Project Company and that their Rate of Return reflects this transfer. Sub-contractors are managed by the main Project Company as per the agreed contract and while the two sub-contractors that went into administration has resulted in a delay to the project, the new construction timetable will not result in any additional costs to NHS Lothian.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Lothian to ensure that the delay in the construction of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh is kept to a minimum.

NHS Lothian had prepared a comprehensive and well developed commissioning and migration plan for the transfer of services from existing facilities based on the contractual handover date to the Board. This is now subject to review on receipt of a revised handover date from the Project Company. While it is disappointing not to be moving from existing facilities as previously anticipated, NHS Lothian recognise the cause of the delay and will respond in a positive manner to a revised programme demonstrating that neither health and safety, nor quality will be compromised in its delivery.

The hiring of new contractors is the responsibility of the consortium building the new facilities and they have a number of contingency plans in place to deal with the delay. This includes actions such as keeping a dialogue open with other sub-contractors who had bid for the original contract, dialogue with suppliers of the sub-contractors so they can take over supply of material and or labour if necessary and constant interaction with the workforce so they have the ability to hire personnel in the short term.

This information is not centrally available.

On 30 August 2016 NHS Information Services Division published information on the percentage of time spent at home or in a community setting in the last six months of life. This information can be viewed at: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Publications/.

This information is not held centrally by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government published the Waste Prevention and Re-use Guide which provides practical advice and guidance on implementing effective waste prevention systems within NHS facilities and includes guidance on clinical waste. It is aimed at hospital and healthcare staff including senior management, waste management officers, sustainability officers and any others interested in promoting resource efficiency in a healthcare environment.

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of actions through Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action. This includes improved substance misuse education in schools through Curriculum for Excellence and improved identification of, and support for, children affected by parental substance misuse. Also, support for diversionary activities for young people and guidance for parents and carers about young people and alcohol.

In addition the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 imposed a mandatory condition onto licences to have an age verification policy (Challenge 25) to make it harder for under-age drinkers to gain access to alcohol and the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 will make it an offence to give alcohol to children or young people in a public place helping the Police to address the scourge of drinking dens.