Chamber and committees

This government has seen a 87.7% increase in the consultant oncologist workforce (from 69.5 WTE in September 2006 to 130.6 WTE in June 2021).

While information on numbers of oncologists according to specialist cancer fields is not centrally held, the numbers of Clinical and Medical Oncology Consultants currently employed in each NHS Board, by Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) and headcount can be found in the medical and Dental dashboard on the NES website available here: Medical and Dental | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

The Scottish Government do not provide any directly means tested benefits and therefore have not taken any decisions as to whether military compensation would be categorised as income or not.

Determination of what is considered income when assessing reserved qualifying benefit entitlements is a responsibility of the UK Government.

Preparation of detailed timetables is an operational matter for ScotRail, which is responsible for developing operational timetables to meet the overall strategic requirements of the Scottish Government. Ministers, advised by Transport Scotland, will need to be assured that the overall strategic requirements have been met.

The payment of sustainable rates to providers in the private, third and childminding sector to deliver funded early learning and childcare (ELC) is a key aspect of Funding Follows the Child. To support this the landmark multi-year funding agreement reached by Scottish Government and COSLA in April 2018 to fully fund the expansion to 1140 hours includes funding to enable local authorities to pay sustainable rates to providers delivering funded ELC.

In August 2021 alongside the Financial Sustainability Health Check the Scottish Government published updated information ( Overview of local authority funding and support for early learning and childcare providers ) on the sustainable rates that services currently receive from their local authorities. In light of this report and the findings from the Health Check we are working with COSLA and local authorities to progress the actions set out in the Health Check to strengthen the processes by which local authorities set local sustainable rates.

The Scottish Government does not agree that Scotland’s performance in relation to training pharmacists is declining. In fact, since 2020-21 there has been an increase in the overall numbers of students studying pharmacy.

There are approximately 240 students each year who graduate from the two Schools of Pharmacy in Scotland. In 2018 to support the pipeline of new pharmacists we extended the number of NHS pre-registration pharmacists places we funded nationally from 170 to 200. In 2019 we committed to increasing pharmacy pre-registration places again in the Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan. Therefore, by 2024/25 there will be a further 120 pharmacist trainees over 5 years staying in Scotland to complete their pre-registration training.

The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS National Education for Scotland (NES) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in developing a joint programme to encourage more students, and not just school leavers, to consider careers in pharmacy, including ensuring the output reaches deprived and remote and rural communities.

In addition, both Schools of Pharmacy work towards the widening access targets set by the Commission on Widening Access for universities to drive forward the delivery of equal access in Scotland.

There are also wider initiatives such as The Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP). The partnership develops access programmes for adults returning to education, and targets adults who reside in the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland and particularly those who have no, few or out of date qualifications. This can help support people with few suitable qualifications to progress to degree level Pharmacy studies.

North Ayrshire Council has an estimated unitary charge payment of £4 million in 2021-22 for the ongoing Largs Campus contract that formed part of the NPD/hub Programme. The council also has an estimated unitary charge payment of £13 million in 2021-22 for the ongoing North Ayrshire Schools PFI contract.

The Scottish Government is not aware of existing scenarios where veterans would be financially disadvantaged as a result of military compensation payments reducing or removing reserved benefit entitlements.

As such, there has not been any examination of whether the Scottish Parliament's existing powers could be used for top-ups or discretionary payments. In scenarios where veterans were being disadvantaged as a result of compensation payments it would be appropriate for this to be remedied at source by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Defence.

The Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) published in December 2020 sets the Scottish Government’s approach to ensuring our workforce has the skills to support Scotland’s transition to net zero. This approach includes raising awareness amongst employers of all sizes of the need to change behaviours and workplace practices to contribute to the transition to net zero and of the options available for upskilling and retraining.

The implementation of the CESAP requires a collaborative approach to action and investment across employers, local and national government, and its skills agencies.

The Scottish Government does not however hold information on the number of businesses that have undertaken training developed by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

As noted in the answer to S6W-04370 on 1 December 2021, the Scottish Government does not conduct means-testing for any of the devolved benefits that it delivers.

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

The Scottish Government published the National Marine Plan in 2015, which sets out the marine planning and policy framework for Scottish inshore waters (out to 12 nautical miles) and offshore waters (12 to 200 nautical miles). This plan was delivered in accordance with the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, an Act of the Scottish Parliament, and by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, an Act of the UK Parliament, respectively.

The Scottish Government undertakes regular reviews of the National Marine Plan. The most recent review was published in March 2021. Additionally, the Scottish Government carries out sectoral marine planning and supports Marine Planning Partnerships to undertake marine planning at a regional level, allowing more local ownership and decision making about specific issues within their area. All of these planning processes are subject to plan-level strategic assessments to ensure impacts are fairly measured and assessed.