We have made an initial £3 million available from our £10m long COVID Support Fund over this financial year to provide NHS Boards and partners with additional resource to respond to the needs of people with long COVID in their areas.

Territorial NHS Boards’ 2022-23 funding from the long COVID Support Fund has been split into two tranches. The first tranche (70%) was provided to NHS Boards in June. The second tranche (30%) will be made later in the financial year following progress reporting.

This is a well-established practice for the allocation of health board funding to account for any slippage in programme delivery, and is used across a range of policy areas.

The following table outlines the organisations to which funding has been made available for 2022-23, and the associated amounts. The full amount spent for 2022-23 will only be known at the end of the financial year.

The development of the National Digital Platform (NDP) is a core commitment from the joint SG/COSLA Digital Health and Care Strategy (2018). This strategy was refreshed in 2021. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was commissioned as the lead delivery partner.

Information on this important work is available via the website: www.nationaldigitalplatform.scot .

Up to 31 March 2022, a total of £6.838m was spent on the design, development and support for the NDP. NES accounts for spend during 2022-23 financial year have yet to be finalised and so associated costs for the NDP in this financial year cannot be provided as part of the answer.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland indicate that as of the end of November 2022, a total of 3,444 referrals have been made to the charity’s long COVID Support Service since its inception in February 2021.

Scottish Government funding of £156,924 has been made available to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland to support the continuation and development of the service over 2022-23. This funding has not been drawn from the long COVID Support Fund.

We are committed to working collaboratively to design the National Care Service with people, stakeholders and partners. We published a document on the National Care Service and the co-design process on 21 June 2022. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-care-service-co-design-national-care-service/documents/

To find out more about what co-design is, the phases of work involved and the activities and tools that can be used to support we have been running introductory sessions for the public. Further information on upcoming sessions can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/policies/social-care/national-care-service/

We are in the process of commissioning expert pensions advice in relation the National Care Service proposal. We have received bids and hope to award the contract shortly. Once the contract is in place full details will be made publicly available.

Provisions related to Anne's Law are included within the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill.

A Financial Memorandum was published alongside the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill which sets out a range of costs that could be incurred within the establishment and running of the NCS. This included anticipated costs for co-design.

For people participating in the Lived Experience Experts Panel expense costs they incur to participate will be remunerated. The cost of co-design will therefore be dependent on the level of engagement and remuneration claimed by individuals for the cost of participating. A policy document on remuneration is currently being drafted and will be published before the end of the current financial year.

Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum refers to this. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced

Once the structure and governance of care boards and their localities have been decided, decisions about the employment of local government staff can be made. Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) / Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSOP) principles will apply if the delivery of services is transferred from local authorities to care boards. If that is the case, the TUPE process would be followed.

To support the Bill, provisions in the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Financial Memorandum sets out an assumption of the range of required investments in pay and terms and conditions for frontline local government care staff, if all staff were to transfer to the National Care Service. This is set out at page 16, paragraph 53, table 8.

The method for the geographical and membership makeup of care boards will be considered as part of the collaborative design work with people who access and deliver health and care support, stakeholders and partners.