Chamber and committees

The move to the Preference Informed Allocation (PIA) model was supported by the Medical Schools Council, the British Medical Association and all four UK governments. Medical students were extensively consulted on the changes and their impact, with 66% in favour of the change.

2024 recruitment data shows that 75.42% of applicants to UK Foundation programmes received their first choice of foundation school, an increase from the 2023 cycle (pre-PIA) of 71.02%. This has risen further in 2025 to 83.78%, indicating that more applicants are being allocated to their first choice compared with previous years, an improvement that has continued since PIA was first introduced.

The first year of the PIA process has resulted in more resident foundation doctors wanting to train in Scotland being allocated a place in Scotland and has resulted in a more even and equitable distribution of Foundation doctors across NHS Scotland Boards.

More information about the move to the PIA can be found at the following link: https://foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/resources/foundation-programme-allocation-process-stakeholder-engagement/

The Scottish Government has not carried out modelling of this type.

The Scottish Government appreciates the unique challenges faced by remote, rural and island communities across the country. As such, a Task and Finish Group focussing on supporting sustainability of health services across Scotland has been created. Utilising a population-based planning approach, the Group aims to improve access to safe, quality healthcare for our population.

Working with stakeholders across the Remote, Rural and Island landscape, this Group will determine a framework for a sustainable model of care in these areas, acknowledging the unique challenges faced by patients and Health Boards within these regions.

Guided by the eighty-three recommendations of the 2008 Delivering for Remote and Rural Healthcare Report, and aligning to the principles of the National Clinical Strategy and forthcoming National Clinical Framework, the Group will develop a sustainable operating model for the provision of high-quality, efficient healthcare services, offering parity of care across these communities.

Over the last two months, the Group has facilitated two workshops with a variety of key Remote, Rural and Island stakeholders, including healthcare and policy professionals. Through examination of current ways of working, the Group has identified a number of areas where improvements to service delivery may be possible.

This work forms the basis of the Group’s Remote, Rural and Islands Action Plan, which will be further developed and implemented over the coming months.

The Scottish Government has set out its commitment to giving people information about independence. Across the Scottish Government, a range of civil servants provide input to developing and communicating this information. We do not routinely record details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on research and compilation, as there is no business need to do this.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Details regarding the Campbeltown workforce including students on clinical outreach placement will be held by NHS Highland.

Assaults committed against anyone including retail workers are unacceptable and law enforcement has a range of powers available in dealing with such behaviour.

Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics define a conviction rate as the proportion of people prosecuted in court that are subsequently convicted and are recorded in the financial year in which the case concluded in court. Where the main charge (the most serious offence) was under section 1 of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted Products) (Scotland) Act 2021, the latest official data relates to the period 2022-23 and this showed a conviction rate of 95%, with 163 convictions out of 172 prosecuted persons.

More generally, the number of charges reported to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of offences under the 2021 Act in the period since it was introduced in August 2021 is 6,577. This is for the period up to March 2025. Please note it takes time for criminal cases to flow through the justice system from being recorded by the police through to reporting to prosecutors, decisions being made whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute and a prosecution proceeding through to conviction and sentence. In addition, a single case may include multiple charges and in general counts of charges, cases and people are distinct and provide different perspectives on the justice system. As such, care must be taken in use of data which seeks to assess the rate at which reports made and recorded by the police lead to prosecution and conviction.

The next set of criminal proceedings data for the period 2023-24 is currently being processed and will be available later in the year. This will contain conviction rates for 2023-24, including the second full year under the 2021 Act.

Our programme of Public Service Reform is addressing all opportunities to remove duplication from the public sector landscape, including consolidation of public bodies where appropriate and where a value for money case can be made. This work is part of our wider focus on driving a culture of continuous improvement to support efficiency and effectiveness across the delivery of public services.

The Public Service Reform Strategy document is due to be published at the end of May.

Within Health and Social Care, delivery of efficiency savings has been a key focus for the Portfolio, reflecting the commitment to optimising use of core resources, ensuring that best practice is identified and implemented across NHS Scotland and delivering best value. Our Service Renewal Framework due to publish in the summer will explore opportunities to redesign the delivery of corporate functions as an integral element of the investment in new business systems including exploring using digital enablement to manage demand and improve access to services.

We do not want to see the closure of good quality care homes and we understand the concern this causes for residents and their families, as well as for the wider community. Of course, when a home closes this can have a knock-on impact to the local economy, this particularly is felt in rural and remote areas of the country.

The economic impact on families and communities can go beyond traditional economic measures and can be greatly influenced by individual’s own circumstances and their reactions to any such changes.

We know that Scotland’s Adult Social Care sector is a significant contributor towards the Economy, adding multiple billions in Gross Value Added and employing tens-of-thousands of people. Whilst challenging to estimate we do note recent reports, commissioned by the Skills for Care and Development Alliance, which provides some indication of the potential scale of the economic value of social care in Scotland (Economic and social value of the UK adult social care sector: Scotland).

Additionally, I would highlight that although we have overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, the statutory responsibility for delivering, commissioning, providing appropriate social care capacity at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS boards and integrated Health and Social Care Partnerships. This includes the responsibility for these local authorities to develop contingency plans for each service they commission or provide, to have robust plans in place should a service close, as well as risk assessments to determine potential impacts on the local social care sector, wider system and economy.

While I recognise the seriousness of the risks faced by the social care sector, the projections from partners such as Scottish Care are the worst-case scenario. Investment by the Scottish Government into the social care sector has increased quite substantially, during a period in which pressures on public finances have been most acute

We do understand the anxiety and growing concerns within the care home and wider social care sectors regarding the current pressures on the financial viability of the sectors. Pressures that have been significantly added to by decisions taken by the UK Government, such as the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions, changes to the social care visa system and salary threshold levels.

Scottish Government officials are undertaking a programme of work to understand and respond to the current financial viability pressures in the sector and the impact that this change will have. That work remains ongoing and will continue to work with partners across social care to help manage the current risks and move towards a more sustainable future for social care within the country.

We are providing this information as at 31 December 2024 using data from the most recent official publication of the Scottish Government's workforce statistics. As at that date, the total number of staff employed within SG Core was 9,349. Of these staff, 8 were Senior Civil Servants who were registered as taxpayers elsewhere in the UK which represents less than 0.1% of staff and includes staff who are based in Scotland House, London or in overseas postings.

There is an expectation that individuals will relocate to live in Scotland if they are employed by us, however this is not a legal requirement unless there is an occupational reason to reside within a certain travelling distance of the workplace. Employees are required to attend their contractual work location in Scotland as required for business need.

This information has been compiled with reference to address information held on our HR systems as at December 2024. It is therefore a snapshot as at that date and does not, for example, reflect where individuals may have since relocated to Scotland following their appointment to the Scottish Government or where a revised tax code is awaited from HMRC.

MPAs are managed in line with the conservation and management advice provided by NatureScot. Management measures are already in place to achieve the conservation objectives for native oysters where they are a protected feature, by reducing the pressures that affect them. Additional protection is being considered for native oysters through the proposed PMF management areas as part of development of the inshore fisheries management measures.

The Scottish Government, with support from NatureScot, is currently developing a Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan which will support the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy objective of accelerating restoration and regeneration.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-36472 on 1 May 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers