Chamber and committees

No GP’s have been recruited from ScotGEM into NHS Highland, Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, or Grampian as ScotGEM graduates are not yet eligible to apply for General Practice Specialty Training.

The first cohort of ScotGEM students graduated in summer 2022 after completing the four year course. All medical school graduates must then complete two years of Foundation training before they can apply for a specialty training post. The first cohort of ScotGEM students will therefore be eligible to apply for General Practice Specialty Training in 2024 following the completion of their second foundation training year.

The Scottish Government does not routinely discuss or publish legal advice received. In line with usual practice, the Scottish Government takes legal advice as and when required when preparing the Building a New Scotland series.

The information requested relates to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) operational data and is not held by the Scottish Government. This is an operational matter for the SQA and I have asked the Chief Executive to write to you.

While funding is provided by Scottish Government to support recruitment and retention initiatives in primary care services, such as Golden Hellos, practices are paid directly from this available funding by NHS Boards upon receipt of an eligible application. As the administration of initiatives is delegated to NHS Boards, Scottish Government does not hold detail of payments made as the data is held locally.

As at 29th June 2023, the number of premises in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency scheduled for connection through the Reaching 100% (R100) North contract is 2,206. The contract build for these premises is scheduled to begin in 2025, with live connections planned to be available through 2026, 2027 and 2028. Connections are delivered in line with plans submitted by BT plc as the successful bidder for the R100 North contract. The build is structured in phases that have been designed to maximise efficiency in order to deliver the greatest possible outcome for our investment.

A further 1,975 premises in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency are eligible for a connection through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS), offering up to £5,000 to secure a superfast broadband connection. This is a demand-led scheme and it is therefore a decision for residents and businesses whether or not they choose to secure a connection in this manner.

The R100 programme builds on the success of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme which made a significant contribution to broadband coverage in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency, delivering five subsea cables and over 15,000 fibre broadband connections in the area. In April 2015, just before DSSB build began in the region, superfast coverage was just 1.3%. By the end of that year, it was already up to 25.4%, and now stands at 80.5% as a direct result of Scottish Government intervention.

The operation of vessels and ports for scheduled services is a matter for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, CalMac Ferries Ltd and Serco NorthLink Ferries.

Information on the vessels owned by CMAL is available on their website.

Home | CMAL Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (cmassets.co.uk)

Information on how these vessels are deployed on Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Service routes is available on the individual operators websites.

Ferries to Scotland & Scottish Isles | Caledonian MacBrayne | CalMac Ferries

The Scottish Government do not hold full operational details of the ports at which CMAL or other vessels can dock but it is our expectation through the contracts that the Operator will utilise the vessels flexibly as it considers appropriate in order to maintain lifeline services for communities.

The Scottish Government has not made a decision to privatise charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network.

ChargePlace Scotland’s charging assets are owned by over 400 separate organisations across the public, private and third party sectors. These organisations are responsible for procurement, maintenance and commercial decisions relating to their own charge point assets.

The Scottish Government does not routinely monitor the number and type of privately run charge points at this time. This information is, however, monitored by the private sector – for instance, Zap-Map monitor and publish monthly statistics which includes the total number and type of privately-run electric vehicle charge points across the UK.

Transport Scotland is supporting local authorities to develop public electric vehicle charge point Strategy and Expansion Plans, to identify the opportunities to work with the private sector to grow Scotland’s network. These plans are identifying local and regional charge point needs, the investment requirements, as well as the best approaches to delivering collaborative investments with commercial charge point operators.

We have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing year-round childcare for families on low incomes by the end of this Parliament. This involves working with Local Authorities to design and deliver a system that works for those who use and deliver it.

This year, we are investing £4 million to support Local Authorities with costs related to the delivery of planned summer programmes for children from low-income families during the 2023 school summer holidays. This is in addition to the £21.75 million investment for delivery of holiday free school meal alternative payments for eligible families. We are also investing around £3 million to expand and deliver services in our four Early Adopting Communities (Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee and Inverclyde).

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Due to its rural location, and the distance to the nearest police stations, Police Scotland did not close Oban Police Station. Police Scotland did however implement an extensive programme of work to upgrade facilities. As a result of this work Police Scotland is confident that the works identified in the SPF report were completed and the standard across both the police station and the custody suite were significantly improved.

Following the publication of the SPF report, additional inspections have been introduced and further works have been carried out which involve close collaboration with Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team, SPF and Union representatives. Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team has confirmed that the improvement works meet health and safety requirements.

Given the age of Oban Police Station, Police Scotland has embarked on a programme of work which seeks to replace Oban Police Station, including a new custody suite.

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Prior to the publication of the SPF report, Police Scotland had already commenced improvement works to these two properties in Dunoon. The properties were closed and residing officers were decanted to suitable temporary accommodation whilst the improvement works were underway.

Since then, the SPA has approved Police Scotland’s Housing Strategy (2022) which aims to bring all of Police Scotland’s housing stock up to Scottish Government’s EESSH2 2032 standards over the next 3-5 years.

Police Scotland is currently undertaking further work around its Dunoon housing requirements as part of delivering its Housing Strategy.