Chamber and committees

The minimum number of road workers that are required to be onsite at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is 5 and 6 at the Old Military Road.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30105 on 7 October 2024 for what initiatives the Scottish Government is currently pursuing to protect capercaillie. 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 has not conducted any formal assessment of the impact of the initiatives to protect capercaillie. However, a review commissioned by NatureScot, A Review of Capercaillie Conservation and Management - Report to the Scientific Advisory Committee, was published on 25 February 2022. The Report is the output of a sub-group of NatureScot’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) who were asked to review the evidence and advise on further measures for the conservation and management of capercaillie in Scotland, with emphasis on the core area of the species in the Cairngorms.

The plan of positive management measures based on the SAC Report recommendations, along with best available evidence and learning from work recently delivered to benefit capercaillie, including through the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project and Cairngorms Connect, is being taken forward through the Capercaillie Emergency Plan which was published on the 30 September 2024.

Approximately 80% of deer culling in Scotland is carried out by the private sector and in these circumstances stalkers are not employed to do so by the Scottish Government, its bodies or agencies

Where deer are culled on publicly owned land this is done by trained stalkers which can include: agency staff, for example those employed by Forestry and Land Scotland; contractors; and recreational stalkers.

It is for those managing the land to decide how and when to shoot deer in line with their responsibilities and their Deer Management Plan, with support from NatureScot

I would also refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-30224 on 8 October 2024 which sets out methods being trialled to support and incentivise individuals to cull more deer in some parts of Scotland.

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.

As deer management increases over the next few years, in line with our aim to increase the Scottish deer cull by 25%, we want to maximise the benefits deer management can bring.

We have seen peaks and increased venison numbers in the past that our established network of processors has been able to accommodate, and we are working with the sector to ensure that there is no barrier to venison processing in future years.

We have previously provided £80,000 through the Covid-19 Recovery Fund to support three new deer larders in Scotland. With regard to mitigating venison waste, we will consider all proposals for venison distribution to ensure as much as possible makes its way into the food chain safely. This is an important aspect of the revised Scottish Venison strategy launched last year and closer engagement with the wholesale sector is underway.

Officials will be meeting shortly with Scottish Venison and Scotland Food and Drink to consider the specific issue of public sector procurement of wild venison.

Through NHS Research Scotland (NRS), the Scottish Government provides funding for infrastructure to support the delivery of both investigator-led and commercially-sponsored clinical trials in the NHS here.

The NRS infrastructure includes the NRS Cancer Network whose role is to support the recruitment of cancer patients into clinical research studies. Cancer | NHS Research Scotland | NHS Research Scotland.

In Financial Year 2023-24 the NRS Cancer Network supported a total of 56 Blood Cancer clinical studies across Scotland.

The Scottish Government co-funds in partnership with Cancer Research UK the Adult Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC's) in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a Paediatric ECMC in Glasgow. These form part of a UK-wide ECMC Network that works to support the delivery of commercial and non-commercial early phase cancer studies, covering both solid tumours and haematological malignancies:

Edinburgh | ECMC (ecmcnetwork.org.uk)

Glasgow | ECMC (ecmcnetwork.org.uk)

The Glasgow ECMC has supported early phase studies developed through Blood Cancer UK's Trial Acceleration Programme (TAP).

The NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Cancer Network monitors recruitment to eligibly funded non-commercial and commercial cancer clinical studies taking place in the NHS here, including in Blood Cancer. Routinely collected data includes postcode, date of birth and, where available, ethnicity of consented and recruited trial participants.

In February 2023 we published an Independent Report on Improving Equity of Access to Cancer Clinical Trials.

Improving equity of access to cancer clinical trials in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

We are working closely with the cancer research community here to develop plans for the implementation of the report’s key recommendations and have established an implementation board chaired by Professor David Cameron from the University of Edinburgh to oversee this work.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing high deer numbers in order to help us to achieve our biodiversity and carbon objectives. We are pursuing a range of actions to deliver this commitment including the provision of community deer larders and the three pilot incentive schemes led by NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park Authority which launched in early autumn to financially support deer managers to control numbers of deer in specific parts of Scotland.

One of these pilots is in Central Scotland and focusses on lowland and urban roe deer management, as well as expanding red deer populations. We will work closely with NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park as these pilots progress, and the findings from the pilots will be used to inform future deer management policy.

The Scottish Government is committed, through our draft palliative care strategy, to work with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and adult independent hospice organisations to develop a national guidance framework to support and improve consistency of local planning and commissioning of independent hospice services.

The Scottish Government continues to work with Integration Joint Boards (IJB) Chief Officers and adult independent hospice organisations to support longer-term sustainable planning and commissioning for the sector, and officials will take forward plans to develop a new national guidance framework.

The Electricity Act 1989 is legislation enacted by the UK Parliament. Interpretation of the requirements of paragraph 10(2) of Schedule 4 of The Electricity Act 1989 would be dependent on legal advice based on the circumstances of the individual case.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has provided funding to ensure that adult social care workers, delivering direct care in the third and private sectors, are paid at least the Real Living Wage (RLW).

As employment powers are reserved, this uplift is funded by the Scottish Government but processed, delivered and assured by Local Authorities through the annual contract variation process. This year, the Scottish Government transferred £230 million to Local Government to deliver the uplift to at least £12 per hour.

As we do not have access to the relevant contractual information in England, we are unable to estimate how much it would cost to replicate this approach in England or the subsequent Barnett consequentials.

In the absence of Barnett consequentials, the Scottish Government’s commitment to prioritise funding a minimum RLW rate clearly demonstrates the value we place on the Scottish social care workforce.