 10. Python is the general question from one question for all of our Mandel. Okay. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support rural health boards. Cabinet Secretary Neil Gray. Thank you very much. For health boards, to plan and provide services, best meet the needs of locals, including those in remote and rural areas, consistent with national policies and frameworks. As someone who grew up in a rural island community, I recognise that remote and rural NHS boards experience particular challenges, which is why work is on-going to support the delivery of services that are flexible and responsive to local population needs and geographic challenges. An example is the National Centre for Remote and Rural Healthcare, which was launched last October. In terms of overall resources, the Scottish Government's budget for this year provides funding of more than £19.5 billion for NHS recovery, health and social care, including more than £14.2 billion investment for NHS boards, delivering a real-terms uplift of almost 3 per cent compared to UK Government-continued austerity. Oliver Mundell. I thank the minister for that answer. Steering away from the political debate round specific budgets, I am concerned that the current funding model does not take into account the ageing demographic in areas such as Dumfries and Galloway and the challenges around delivering health services across a wide geography. I wondered in light of the recent work on rural depopulation if the cabinet secretary would undertake to look again at whether or not current funding formulas are truly accounting for the need, particularly of ageing people in rural communities. I hope wherever it is that Oliver Mundell is steering to, he does so safely, but go back to the question in hand. I obviously recognise, as I set out on my initial answer, the fact that remote rural island communities have particular demographic challenges. I will always look and take representation from Oliver Mundell and other colleagues who represent rural areas. Indeed, those in our boards around how we can support them in the delivery of those services have already referenced in my initial answer the work that has been done for the national centre for remote and rural health and care. I hope that the work that they continue to do will help to inform the decisions that we need to make in this area. However, as much as Oliver Mundell would wish not to talk about the budgetary situation, the financial landscape is incredibly pressing, and we need to be cognisant of that as we take our decisions. The Western Isles help board is offering record salaries for GPs to relocate to the islands because of staff shortages. Will the Scottish Government now reassess rural and island recruitment incentives in order to attract staff because of the cost of employing what comes as excessive? Given that one of the reasons for the difficulty is the inability to find a home, will it also take steps to address the housing crisis in these areas by placing a ceiling on the number of holiday homes and second homes that can be sustained by a community and placing a burden on homes subsidised by the public person in order to keep them within the local housing market? Colleagues across Government will absolutely note that Rhoda Grant's calls are on the housing front and her call to further crack down on holiday lets. I know in terms of the rural housing action plan that my colleague Paul MacLennan has taken forward that there is action being taken in order to provide greater supply in those areas. I recognise that that is one of the issues that is facing recruitment, not just for the health and social care services but across the public sector in ensuring that we can attract people to live and work in those areas. It is something that I will continue to work with colleagues across Government upon. To ask the Scottish Government whether it has intervened to direct NHS5 and the relevant education authorities to permit schools to issue basic medications such as power settlement, ibuprofen, without the need for a GP prescription in light of reports that primary care is struggling in NHS5. Minister Jenny Minto, the Scottish Government has not directed NHS5 or Fife Council to give permission to schools to issue basic medications such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. Our guidance on supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools states that schools should not purchase non-prescribed medication unless they are using powers permitted under the provision of the human medicines regulations. Those regulations permit schools to buy and hold ibuprofen inhalers to treat asthma or adrenaline auto injectors to treat anaphylaxis. Parents may provide schools with non-prescribed medications alongside clear and appropriate instructions for their use, as well as consent for the medication to be administered. Alternatively, pupils or parents or carers on their behalf can access the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service provided by community pharmacies to receive advice and medicines to treat minor illnesses and common clinical conditions. I declare my register of interest as a practising NHS GP and someone who has recently worked in NHS5, which has proved to be far more challenging than it needed to be. I was unable to order blood tests that I can in other health boards and I could not organise radiological investigations. It was an absolute nightmare, but none of that compares to the disgrace that was the rejection of referrals from GPs to the hospital. Speaking to other GPs across the health board, it is clear that there is an underlying presumption of rejection of referrals, presumably to improve figures. I was told that it depends upon the day and the mood of the consultant whether a GP referral would be rejected or not. So, forcing GPs to waste their time issuing prescriptions for basic medications because schools insist on it and please just help sort this and wasting time fighting the system to get your patient seen and treated is unacceptable. Will the minister call out this postcode lottery and undertake an investigation into the practices of NHS5? That was quite a question. With regard to and also something that we take note of and will look at, we have regular meetings with NHS5 and have discussions on those things. With regard to prescriptions to schools, I have laid out that community pharmacies are the places for families to go to. I have laid out in my first response that. North East Fife health centres have not been given the members of the multidisciplinary team that they were promised. Local GPs have, however, offered to solve the problem by recruiting themselves, but the previous health secretary said that that would lead to different services in different parts of the country. Does the minister accept that people in North East Fife are already facing different outcomes? Will she allow GPs to recruit those staff themselves? We have been working with GPs in Fife to ensure that we get the right volume of staff. I am happy to look into his proposals with regard to allowing GPs to specifically appoint people in their practices and get back to him. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of assaults by pupils in schools. I am absolutely clear that our schools should be safe and consistent learning environments for all. No teacher, support assistant or pupil should face violence in Scotland schools. The behaviour in Scottish schools research published in November provided the robust and accurate national picture in relation to behaviour in Scotland schools. In the series of behaviour summits that I held in September, October and November, alongside the findings from the BISA research, I informed the national action plan. In my statement to Parliament last year, I confirmed that that multi-year joint action plan would be developed to tackle instances of challenging behaviour working with local authorities, trade unions and others. The plan will publish in spring. This week, the First Minister and I also launched the gender-based violence framework, which aims to address the issues of misogyny and gender-based violence in schools, a theme captured by the BISA research. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I was recently contacted by a constituent in Angus who told me how her son required hospital treatment after being assaulted by a fellow pupil. Unfortunately, my constituent has been dismayed at the school's response. The head teacher has twice declined to meet with her personally. A proposed safety plan was full of holes and, incredibly, it was suggested that her son be removed from his peers and educated separately, whilst requests to exclude the alleged attacker were rebuffed. Does the cabinet secretary believe that this family are receiving the support that they need and what will the member do to ensure that they get that support? I thank Mr Golden for raising his constituent's query. Obviously, he has outlined some of the detail in relation to that case in the chamber today. If he is able to share more detail with my office, I will speak to officials regarding the specifics. Of course, it would be in this instance a matter for the local authority to engage with that parent and, of course, to engage with the head teacher, although he has outlined a challenging instance today. I think that it is worth reflecting that that is also captured by the BISA research that was published last year, so I am happy to engage with the member to the specifics of his answer today. Cabinet Secretary, poverty and child hunger is an area that we know as a key impact in child behaviour at school. Can I ask you what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that no child goes to school in Scotland hungry? Cabinet Secretary? We have the most comprehensive free school meal offer in any nation in the UK, and we are currently extending that offer to cover primary 6 and 7 children in receipt of the Scottish child payment from February 2025 as the next step in universal expansion in our primary schools. I am very grateful, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government when it last met the EIS and other teacher unions to discuss school-based violence. I meet with our national teaching unions regularly to discuss a range of topics, including violence, and I met with the EIS and other teaching unions last Monday. I chaired a meeting of the Scottish advisory group on relationships and behaviour in schools on 31 January to discuss the national behaviour action plan, which was attended by the main teaching unions, including the EIS. I held a round table with the EIS and other teaching unions on 6 December to discuss their reflections on the national behaviour in Scottish school research and their own views on actions that are required within the relationships and behaviour action plan. I am very grateful to the cabinet secretary for that response, and she will no doubt have heard from those unions about the disappointment that they felt that the Scottish Government was so desperately unaware of the EIS Aberdeen report on violence, where 800 teachers had responded. To that point, there is a national plan coming forward, but can the cabinet secretary confirm that teacher wellbeing will be added as a quality indicator in school inspections, given the impact of violence on our teachers? I thank the member for his question. The localised evidence that he speaks to is hugely important in informing the national action plan. That will set a range of actions for the Government to respond to, but also for local authorities. It is important that that is understood. I continue to engage with the EIS at national level with Andrea Bradley, but with the other teaching unions, a number of whom have also published documentary evidence on the extent of challenging behaviour in our schools. The member asks a very specific point in relation to a quality indicator in school inspections. I think that that would be a matter for the newly appointed interim chief inspector, but I am more than happy to speak to the chief inspector about that process and including that in future school inspections for her consideration. Following the shocking EIS report on violence in Aberdeen, Aberdeen City Council is introducing a whistleblowing form for teachers who feel that they are discouraged from reporting violent incidents by pupils. Does the cabinet secretary welcome this move or does she have concerns? I do not think that I would have concerns. I think that it is an appropriate move from that local authority to respond to challenges in their area. There are other local authorities, as I understand, that use similar protocol in relation to incidents of this nature, and we will certainly seek to engage with Aberdeen City Council, as I have already done so, on their approach to challenging behaviour. Question 5, Ben Macpherson. To ask the Scottish Government how it is taking forward the work and priorities of its ministerial population task force. The population strategy sets out the task force priorities around the opportunities and challenges for Scotland's changing population. We are committed to a collaborative approach to delivering those ambitions, including along with COSLA and local authorities, through our recurring population round table with membership from Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, on the population programme board, which supports the task force. Our addressing depopulation action plan, published in February, states our commitment to working with regional, local and community partners to deliver a sustainable solution to population challenges. We will also launch our talent attraction and migration service this year to support our ambition for Scotland to be as attractive and welcoming as possible by helping employers to use the immigration system to fill skills needs and support individuals to move to and settle in Scotland. Ben Macpherson. I thank the minister for that substantial answer and I appreciate the need for actions to try to address depopulation in some areas of Scotland. Conversely, however, we also require actions to meet the growing needs of areas with significant growing populations, such as my constituency of Edinburgh, Northern and Leith. Therefore, as the Scottish Government begins to consider its budget for the year 24-25, will the ministerial task force examine rapid population growth in the Lothians and will it consider meeting with Lothian MSPs, local councils, NHS Lothian and other relevant bodies to hear about the pressures and concerns? As the minister responsible for population, I am more than happy to meet with anyone and to discuss the impact of a lack of a balanced population, which I know affects both those facing depopulation and rapid growth in different ways. The Scottish Government did undertake exploratory research in 2023 about the drivers and implications of rapid localised growth, which was considered by the ministerial population task force and local government partners. As a next step, COSLA is currently working with local authorities to develop an enhanced understanding of the implications of population growth, particularly in east coast local authority areas. We are engaging directly with local authorities through the joint Scottish Government COSLA population round table to hear about those distinct challenges, and that work will build on our understanding of those challenges and inform the next steps of the ministerial population task force. To ask the Scottish Government what public health measures are being taken to minimise harm from vaping prior to the introduction of the proposed ban on single-use vapes? Our tobacco and vaping framework published in November 2023 committed to taking action to reduce vaping among non-smokers and young people. Vapes should not be used by young people or adult non-smokers. There are one of a range of possible cessation tools available for existing smokers to quit. Alongside the framework, we launched the take-hold marketing campaign, which successfully increased parents, carers and children's awareness of the harms and risks of nicotine addiction from vaping. New resources on vaping were also launched on parent club, NHS inform and Young Scot. We continue to work across the four nations on progressing the outcomes from the smoke-free generation consultation. Organisations are concerned about how disposable or single use are defined. They are concerned that manufacturers may try to add a USB port to a disposable vape to get around potential regulation as well as the potential scope of exemptions within the regulations. Could the minister provide some assurances on those issues and detail any other work that is under way while we wait for a ban to be in place, such as instructing retailers to put vapes behind cover and tackling advertising? The Scottish Government has published its draft regulations, which defines a single-use vape as a vape that is not designed or intended to be reused and includes any vape that is not refillable, not rechargeable or not refillable and not rechargeable. That is to support any future design changes to these devices. Organisations can view the full proposed definition in the draft regulations on the Scottish Government website. We are currently working closely, as I have said, with other UK nations to ensure a consistent definition across the UK and with trading standard officers and other organisations to ensure that the definition is fit for purpose. To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed NHS Dumfries and Galloway's funding deficit with the NHS board. Over half a billion increased investment is provided for front-line NHS boards in the 24-25 budget, a real terms uplift and taking total funding to £13.2 billion. Despite our significant investment, the system is under extreme pressure as a result of the on-going impacts of Covid, Brexit, inflation, cost crisis and UK Government spending decisions. The Scottish Government's financial delivery unit is in on-going contact with all boards to address the financial challenge. That includes scrutiny and challenge of financial plans and agreeing actions to support recurring savings and financial sustainability. The FDU last met with NHS Dumfries and Galloway on 4 March. NHS Dumfries and Galloway have projected that they will face a £54 million deficit by March 2025, and the Scottish Government has ordered them to find £29 million in savings in the forthcoming year alone. In a region where you cannot find an NHS dentist to register with, where mums to be and Wigtonshire have to travel a 150-mile round trip to Dumfries to give birth because a maternity unit in Stranra remains closed, where cottage hospitals closed to deal with Covid haven't reopened, where there are record vacancies for consultants and record waiting lists, where exactly does the Cabinet Secretary expect NHS Dumfries and Galloway to make cuts of nearly £30 million in the next year alone without having a devastating impact on patient care? I thank Colin Smyth for his question and is interested in this area. Despite our significant investment that I have already outlined all the NHS boards, like all other, public services are under unprecedented pressure as a result of inflation, a result of yesterday's budget, quite frankly. The support that we are providing through the likes of the financial delivery unit is funding to cover pay increases, scrutiny and challenge of three-year financial plans, considering and reviewing the financial impact of national and local service planning options, work to deliver recurring savings of a minimum of 3 per cent, supported by our sustainability and value programme and the financial improvement group. That targeted additional support through the Scottish Government's FDU will be there to monitor and support boards in their financial performance and support financial improvement. However, I recognise the challenges that Colin Smyth has set out and I will continue to work with boards in order to ensure that we can see continued progression and improvement in our health service, while also addressing the significant financial challenges that we are facing.