Chamber and committees

Since 2017-18, more than £1 billion of Pupil Equity Funding has been allocated to 97% of Scotland’s schools. Headteachers use Pupil Equity Funding to support activity over the academic, rather than financial, year, and the National Operational Guidance provides flexibility to carry forward Pupil Equity Funding, in agreement with local authorities, over the financial, and in some cases academic, year, where that best meets the needs of the children and young people. The Scottish Government has therefore not requested the return of any Pupil Equity Funding at the end of any financial year: the Guidance focusses instead on ensuring that the funding is invested to beneficial effect.

As of 3 April 2025, the number of postgraduate medicine training places occupied by individuals who studied as undergraduates in Scotland is 4081, the number of places occupied by individuals who studied as undergraduates in the rest of the UK is 1558. NHS Education for Scotland do not record UK citizen status or permanent UK residency status specifically.

Dealing with pest infestations and basic hygiene failures in NHS buildings is the responsibility of local NHS Health Boards.

Scottish Government decisions are informed by appropriate analysis of any legal considerations. All legal advice is confidential. It is a long-established convention that legal advice provided to the Scottish Government is not disclosed, and that the Scottish Government does not disclose the source of legal advice other than in the most exceptional circumstances.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as international students cannot be identified from the A&E data collected by Public Health Scotland.

The Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance for public bodies in Scotland on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. This guidance recommends that statistics producers should collect data that best serves the needs of users in their specific context, an approach that aligns with the guidance published by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2024.

We continue to support and work in partnership with Police Scotland and Local Authorities in tackling vehicle nuisance and related safety issues.

Police Scotland have a range of existing powers under road safety and antisocial behaviour legislation and common law to prevent and tackle vehicle misuse. They have also pursued educational awareness campaigns and highlighted that 442 vehicles had been seized in 2024 comprising of 327 e-bikes and 115 e-scooters.

We welcome the development of innovative tools such as the recent use of SelectaDNA tagging spray, which provides a forensic link, by officers in Hawick as part of ongoing work to combat antisocial behaviour connected with off-road bikes.

Ministers met recently with MSPs and Police Scotland about this issue and as a result of that, options are being explored including liaising with the UK Government, and on its legislative proposals, as part of a cross-party approach. We will also continue to liaise with the UK Government where there are reserved matters relating to road safety, including vehicle licencing, off-road vehicles and legal use of both e-scooters and e-bikes.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many international students have accessed GP services in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is a Member's Bill, introduced to the Scottish Parliament by Liam McArthur MSP, not a Scottish Government Bill. It is the role of the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee to scrutinise the Bill and it will be for the Scottish Parliament to decide on whether or not to pass it into law.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36274 on 17 April 2025. 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.