Chamber and committees

UNESCO membership is reserved to the UK Government, which is the State Party to the convention, responsible for the UK’s general compliance with the World Heritage Convention and for nominating sites.

The UK Government, as the State Party to the World Heritage Convention, submitted a nomination proposal for The Flow Country in 2023.

‎As the member will know, the Flow Country is the most intact and extensive blanket bog system in the world and straddles Caithness and Sutherland. It comprises a complex set of interlinked pool systems and micro features that not only host an eye-catching flora and fauna but also play a vital role in our defence against the effects of climate change.

It is expected that a decision on whether to add the site to the World Heritage List will be taken at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting on 21-31 July 2024.

The general Intangible Cultural Heritage principles of transparent collaboration, open communication, mutual respect and inclusivity are intrinsic to the way the Scottish Government operates. From the National Performance Framework values to the Programme for Government’s key priorities of equality, opportunity and community, the Scottish Government is committed to transparency and respect as we work with and for all the people of Scotland.

Scotland’s strategy for the Historic Environment “Our Past our Future” sets out a national mission to sustain and enhance the benefits of Scotland’s historic environment, for people and communities both now and into the future. Be that through the Intangible Cultural Heritage of local stories, traditions, rituals, crafts, customs, music, poetry and languages Gaelic, Scots, as well as the languages spoken by Scotland’s migrant communities which are all essential to understanding and passing on our shared living heritage.

However, Intangible Cultural Heritage does not exist independently from the people who create and enact it, and who identify with it. Therefore, it is important that our local communities take the lead to shape our Intangible Cultural Heritage and lead from the ground up to define and share cultural practices and customs.

The Scottish Government has no plans at present to develop such a framework for living heritage/ Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Living heritage is protected through the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Protection and Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The convention has virtually global coverage, with over 180 nations signed up. However, despite Scottish Government encouragement the UK remained one of a very few countries that had not ratified until the UK Government announced their intention to ratify on 23 December 2023.

The Scottish Government has been a vocal supporter in recognising the intrinsic value of our Intangible Cultural Heritage and is pleased that Scotland already has an online Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory at https://ichscotland.org/ with ongoing collaborative work continuing between Museums Galleries Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, Creative Scotland and local communities throughout Scotland.

Going forwards, the Scottish Government will work with the other UK nations alongside key Scottish stakeholders to develop methods to incorporate Scottish living heritage entries into a Scottish list and a UK wide list.

Both Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf hosted 3 events each at Bute House in 2023. All Ministerial engagements are published here: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The following table shows the total costs for each event:

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). Within that overall context there will always be a number of posts which do not fill. Diagnostic Neuropathology ST3 is a small specialty with only 1 post advertised in 2023, therefore, as this post has not filled, the fill rate appears as 0%. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.

The Scottish Government greatly values the positive effects that twinning can offer to communities home and abroad and the opportunities it can provide to maintain close international relationships with partnering countries.

With the financial challenges we currently face, there are no current plans for the Scottish Government to provide financial support towards town twinning in the near future.

However, the Scottish Government and the international network will continue to work with partners at home and abroad to support and promote meaningful and valuable twinning arrangements.

(a) For Local Authorities there were 140 separate lines in the funding formula being used in the consultation process for the 2024-25 revenue settlement. Twenty-six lines specifically use rurality-related indicators, though about 120 of the lines attract extra funding for island communities .

(b) Formula allocations to territorial NHS boards are informed by the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula. The NRAC formula captures the variation in both the relative need for health services across small area populations and the relative unit costs of delivering services across different geographies. The formula models 6 care programmes separately: Acute (with 7 discrete diagnostic groups), Care of the Elderly, Maternity, Mental Health and Learning Difficulties, Community and Prescribing. An adjustment to take account of the difference in relative unit costs across urban, rural and remote areas is applied to all of the care programmes except GP prescribing (because prescriptions are reimbursed at national prices).

NHS 24 call handlers are not medically trained, they are classed as healthcare support workers.

Callers to NHS 24 will initially have their symptoms triaged by a call handler before being passed on to a clinician within the Service or to another area of the health service best placed to meet their needs as appropriate.

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 14 posts were advertised in Geriatric Medicine at ST4 level and 7 (or 50%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; end-year data for all UK nations and specialties will be published by NHS England in the coming weeks. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities. Examples in Geriatric Medicine include:

• Increasing the number of Internal Medicine Training (IMT) posts in the system. IMT is one of two primary routes into Geriatric Medicine. 22 additional posts will be created in 2024 to feed supply into Geriatric Medicine among other specialties.
• The Geriatric Medicine team within NHS Education for Scotland arranged a national teaching session in December for IMT trainees which focused on progression opportunities in the specialty, and a virtual ‘Geriatrics for Juniors’ conference was run in November which included career advice sessions.

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). Within that overall context there will always be a number of posts which do not fill. Medical Ophthalmology ST3 is a small specialty with only 1 post advertised in 2023, therefore, as this post has not filled, the fill rate appears as 0%. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.