The Scottish Government will continue to protect free tuition for Scottish-domiciled students undertaking under-graduate courses in addition to stepping in to address specific workforce challenges directly related to government workforce policy ambitions . At present there are no plans to extend bursaries to those studying on allied health professions’ courses outside of Paramedic Science.

I am aware that Recycling Technologies Ltd. and Group Plc, which are involved in the Scottish recycling project, Project Beacon, have recently gone into administration.

Zero Waste Scotland awarded Recycling Technologies £1 million on 24 August 2017 as part of the Circular Economy Investment Fund. There is a two-stage application process for this Fund. Each stage includes financial due diligence including a credit check at stage 1 and commercial review at stage 2.

Given the ongoing administration process, it would be inappropriate to comment further on this matter at this stage.

The leadership of NHS Forth Valley has been unable to demonstrate the necessary governance, leadership and culture required to drive sustainable improvements in poor performance.

The Scottish Government has established an Assurance Board, chaired by Christine McLaughlin, co-Director of Population Health. The Assurance Board is supporting NHS Forth Valley in determining what steps are necessary to ensure the delivery of high quality governance, leadership and culture in, and in doing so is intended to support improvements in performance in out of hours, unscheduled care, mental health, and integration.

I have asked Professor Hazel Borland, former Nurse Director and interim Chief Executive of NHS Ayrshire & Arran, and Dr John Harden, Deputy National Clinical Director, to lead the senior level external support to the board. Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) will also provide tailored support to deliver on the actions they set out following recent inspections.

AposHealth for osteoarthritis of the knee is being reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The draft medical technologies guidance on AposHealth is currently out for consultation with an expected publication date of March 2023.

Whilst NICE medical technology guidance does not have official status in Scotland, the Scottish Government will await publication of the NICE guidance before deciding next steps. This could include commissioning the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) – who provide the equivalent of NICE medical technology assessments for Scotland – being asked to review and adapt guidance for NHS Scotland.

SHTG has a remit to provide evidence support and advise NHSScotland on the use of new and existing health technologies. However, it is ultimately a decision for individual NHS Boards to decide whether to offer this as part of their treatment options for patients or not.

The adjustable car ramp (mezzanine deck) on the MV Hebrides has not been removed and is fully operational on specified sailings.

The Scottish Government does not hold recorded information on the number of leakage incidents of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) from onshore and offshore power generation sites that have been recorded in the last three years.

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact of this potent greenhouse gas on the environment and of the risk of leakage incidents. We are currently working with the UK and Welsh Governments to review the F-gas Regulation. We have already done a retrospective assessment of the Regulation and will publish an assessment report on the findings in the coming weeks.

Following the report, we will jointly consider policy options to ensure our regulations continue to support our ambitious Net Zero targets. As part of this, we will also consider other important issues including leakage. We expect to publish a joint consultation on these future policy proposals in due course.

The legislative changes recommended by the completed review of the Storage and Spreading of Sewage Sludge on Land in Scotland (‘The Sludge Review’), are being implemented via the forthcoming Integrated Authorisation Framework (IAF) regulations.

The proposed changes are designed to strengthen SEPA powers to ensure effective management practices are implemented and followed by operators within the industry.

A consultation on proposed IAF regulations is due to be published early next year and stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the proposals relating to sewage sludge.

Information setting out the requested methodology is in the public domain: Heat in building strategy modelling: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We are committed to delivering a just and fair transition to net zero, where the distribution of costs and impacts protects those in the most vulnerable circumstances while also optimising benefits for everyone. This means continuing to take account of changes in the external environment so that our modelling of funding and support remains appropriate. We are currently reviewing our cost estimates to deliver the heat transition on this basis, and will provide a further update in due course.

The original published budget for Digital Health and Care was £112.9 million, not £108.729 million. See https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2022-23/pages/5/ . Since the budget was published in December 2021 there has been a Scottish Government wide Emergency Budget Review and the agreed corporate savings from this exercise have resulted in a budget of £99.6 million being allocated to Digital Health and Care in 2022-23.

This budget provides funding for the delivery of ‘ Care in the Digital Age’ , with individual activities as set out in the accompanying Delivery Plan . Funds that are allocated are based on need, and final confirmation of spend will be included as part of the Scottish Government provisional outturn.

A national oversight group responsible for a review of AHP Education and Workforce Review has recently concluded its work. The collaborative group involving a wide range of AHP stakeholders including professional bodies, HEIs and NHS Boards have produced a number of recommendations. Workforce and recruitment and education delivery models have been considered and, although I will not pre-empt the recommendations of that group, I look forward to receiving the suite of recommendations the group has put forward regarding the future of training and development of AHP staff.