Chamber and committees

The opening of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral route has removed 50% of traffic from the city centre.

According to latest local air quality data, pollution levels for the King Street area are low and have been for most of 2019.

The Scottish Government continues to provide practical and financial assistance to Aberdeen City Council to assist them with monitoring and implementing their action plan to improve air quality and reduce air pollution in Aberdeen.

Natural Capital is the stock of Scotland’s natural assets including geology, air, water and all living things. The Scottish Government’s Biodiversity Strategy, “The 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity” , stresses the desirability of including natural capital assets in national and business accounting; and, as a major step in realising this goal, the ‘Scottish Natural Capital Ecosystem Service Accounts’ were launched on 22 March 2019, making Scotland the first of the UK nations to publish country level estimates.

The Scottish Natural Capital Ecosystem Service Accounts are built using the guidance and principles set out by the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, and present estimates of the quantity and value of ten services being supplied by Scottish natural assets. In 2015, the total value of Scottish natural capital was £273 billion, 34% of the overall UK asset valuation.

The Cleaner Air for Scotland review is progressing well. The review Steering Group is currently drafting its report for submission to Ministers.

Zero Waste Scotland delivers Scottish Government priorities in respect of waste and resources management. Information on Zero Waste Scotland’s delivery programme for 2018-19 and 2019-20 is detailed below. The way work was grouped into outcomes and objectives changed between the two years in question.

ZERO WASTE SCOTLAND (ZWS)

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) last published its annual carbon metric technical report in September 2018. The report is available on ZWS’s website and covers carbon metric figures for 2016. The next report is due to be published in summer 2019, covering carbon figures for 2017.

The new EU legislation that enables the introduction of electronic identification for bovine animals will come into force in April 2021. In preparation for this we are working with industry on an industry led voluntary bovine EID pilot in Scotland. The pilot is operated by ScotEID and is funded by the Scottish Government. It aims to trial electronic tags and electronic data transfer systems through the supply chain. The pilot is open to both new born calves and cattle from the existing herd and includes farms, markets and abattoirs.

In the last year a number of north east practises have merged, resulting in a slight reduction in overall practice numbers. In addition a practice has closed due to the retirement of GPs with the patient list being absorbed by other practices. Together this has led to the number of practices reducing from 74 to 71 over the last 12 months, however patients will always have access to a GP when they need one. We have a record number of GPs working in Scotland.

The Attend Anywhere video consultation initiative is being made available to GP surgeries in the north east of Scotland, with investment committed to enable and support surgeries to adopt and embed the option of video consultation for patients.

NHS Grampian have been working on a range of local initiatives to improve GP recruitment in the North East of Scotland. These include:

• Employing seven Career Starts Doctors this year.
• Working closely with the undergraduate team to promote general practice to medical students.
• GP mentoring for medical students to encourage them to consider the career.
• A targeted Grampian recruitment campaign through the GPjobsGrampian Facebook page, blogs, the GP trainee moodle page, and through the Scottish Rural Medical Collaborative.

We have also launched our GP marketing campaign and are actively promoting Scotland as excellent place to live and work, and encouraging GPs to come and discover the joy of General Practice.

The Scottish Government’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) published on 30 May 2019, sets out the Scottish Government’s plans to borrow £450 million in 2019-20. This is an outline at this stage and has been modelled at 2% over a 25 year repayment term. A final decision on the amount and term of borrowing will be taken nearer the end of the financial year, taking account of relevant factors at the time.

The MTFS publication can be found by way of the following link www.gov.scot .

The Scottish Government manages Scotland’s public finances in a competent, responsible and balanced way. This Government has a strong track record in this respect as we continue to invest in Scotland’s economy and public services in the face of Westminster austerity.

In our second Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) published on 30 May, we set out the key financial challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The MTFS is accompanied this year by a framework for our forthcoming Spending Review, which will assist us to allocate budgets to meet the changing needs of Scotland’s people. Both the MTFS and spending review framework are key parts of our Written Agreement with the Finance and Constitution Committee, which followed the recommendations of the Budget Process Review Group.