Chamber and committees

The information requested on how many NHS staff have worked within the HR function of the NHS in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by NHS board is not centrally available.

Information on Administrative Services staff in post in the last 10 years, broken down by NHS Board, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: 05 March 2024 Workforce | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland, an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, is consulting on how disclosure fees could be discounted for certain groups in future. No decisions have been made on this. The consultation response from stakeholders and the public will help to shape decisions by Scottish Ministers. Since 2011, Disclosure Scotland has fully subsidised qualifying voluntary organisations to get free PVG disclosures for volunteers. Reviewing the policy on fee waivers and discounts helps to ensure the effective use of public finances and the potential impact of any changes, whilst providing an effective public service.

Disclosure Scotland does not expect any of the options detailed in the consultation to have an impact on child and adult safeguarding. Disclosure Scotland keeps a list of people unsuitable to do regulated work with children and a list of people unsuitable to work with protected adults. If an individual is listed, they are barred from working with the group covered by that list, that includes working as a volunteer. It is a criminal offence for an individual to carry out regulated work with the vulnerable group they are listed for. It is also against the law for an organisation to employ a listed person in regulated work they are barred from. If an individual is listed they are not eligible for Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme membership for that type of work.

In addition, when the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 is implemented it will become mandatory for anyone carrying out a regulated role, including as a volunteer, to be a member of the PVG Scheme.

a) The annual Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) measures physical activity of children from the ages 2 to 15, young people from the age of 16 are captured in adult data. Questions are asked on the subject of walking, frequency of physical activity, physical activity at school, sports participation and sedentary time. Data is also captured on gender, age and socio-economic status, including deprivation.

b) The Scottish Government understand the importance of sport and physical activity for women and girls in Scotland and the positive impact that has on their physical, mental, and social health across all stages in life.

Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week is an annual Scottish Government campaign which provides an opportunity to celebrate the ways in which women and girls take part in sport and physical activity and increases visibility and participation, highlighting the impact and health benefits it brings to their physical, mental and social health.

Active Schools, one of sportscotland’s flagship programmes, provides more opportunities for children and young people to take part in sport and physical activity, and develops effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community.

In the 2022-23 academic year, the Active Schools programme successfully engaged with over 124,000 girls and young women who made over 2 million visits to Active Schools sport and physical activity sessions. This was an increase of 35% in the number of visits by girls and young women from the previous year.

Fit for Girls is a national programme developed in partnership between sportscotland and the Youth Sport Trust delivered to girls aged between 11 and 18. The workshops aim to inspire and empower girls and young women to create local change in their school, club, and community by developing their self-esteem and confidence so they can inspire more girls to start, maintain, or return to sport and physical activity.

The movement and management of fire crews at an operational incident is entirely a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The safety and wellbeing of firefighters is a priority for both the Scottish Government and for the fire service.

Assessment of risk at the attendance of any incident is entirely an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The safety and wellbeing of firefighters is a priority for both the Scottish Government and for the fire service.

The number of firefighters attending any incident, and the manner in which they operate, is an entirely operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The safety and wellbeing of firefighters is a priority for both the Scottish Government and for the fire service.

Decontamination both during and after any incident is an entirely operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The safety and wellbeing of firefighters is a priority for both the Scottish Government and for the fire service.

The provision of infrastructure and equipment at any incident to ensure decontamination is entirely a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The safety and wellbeing of firefighters is a priority for both the Scottish Government and for the fire service.

The Scottish Government does not hold the full level of information requested.

Each FIF partner was distinct in terms of their delivery and approach, which was often demand-driven through referral partner networks. We agreed an approach to monitoring and evaluation of support provided by delivery partners which sought to avoid excessive demands for data gathering and reporting, yet provides a level of robust quantitative and qualitative data, which ensured the FIF could be distributed to those most in need.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) support included funding for Registered Social Landlords and cooperatives, covering distribution across the 32 local authorities as set out in the following table:

Microsoft are a key partner to NHS Scotland Boards. NHS Boards regularly engage directly with Microsoft regarding licencing and systems required.

As the member will appreciate, it would not be appropriate to disclose information publicly that may compromise the security of Scotland’s NHS.