Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not currently hold overall figures relating to employment outcomes or job creation as a result of our funded programmes. We are currently commissioning an independent evaluation which will help to determine this and the impact of the Fund to date, in due course.

The aim of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) of alcohol is to reduce health harms caused by alcohol consumption by setting a floor price below which alcohol cannot be sold. In particular, it targets a reduction in consumption of alcohol that is considered cheap, relative to its strength. It aims to reduce both the consumption of alcohol at population level and, in particular, those who drink at hazardous and harmful levels. In doing so, it aims to reduce alcohol related health harms among hazardous and harmful drinkers, and contribute to reducing harm at a whole population level.

The aim of MUP remains the same as stated at the Bill's introduction in 2011.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly meet with industry stakeholders, including OEUK to discuss their ongoing employment and training initiatives. The First Minister and I met with David Whitehouse, CEO of OEUK on 30 September 2024. The Scottish Government is working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce to ensure a fair and just transition for Scotland’s highly skilled offshore workers.

The Scottish Government publicly consulted on the draft Onshore Wind Policy Statement between October 2021 and January 2022. A final Onshore Wind Policy Statement was published in December 2022 after careful consideration of the 163 responses received during the consultation period. An analysis of the consultation responses can be found on the Scottish Government website – Supporting documents - Onshore wind policy statement refresh - draft: consultation analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The final Onshore Wind Policy Statement set out our ambition for 20GW of onshore wind to be installed by 2030. The Policy Statement also set out measures that the Scottish Government would take to reach our ambition of 20GW of onshore wind by 2030 and to ensure that Scotland’s people benefit from this ambition.

One such measure was the establishment of the Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group (SLG), which consists of government representatives, onshore wind industry leaders, Scottish Renewables, relevant Scottish Government agencies, Supply Chain representatives and a body representing issues affecting local communities. The SLG was tasked with the development of the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal. Since the publication of the Sector Deal in September 2023, the SLG monitors and scrutinises the delivery of the deal. There was no direct engagement with trade unions during the drafting of the Sector Deal.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. 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

Work is progressing towards finalisation of research after which a report will be published.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. 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 Migraine Trust were awarded £85,675 in 2022-23 through the Scottish Government Neurological Care & Support Framework, for work upskilling community, primary and secondary care pharmacists across NHS Grampian to help people with migraine manage their symptoms and treatments more effectively.

The Scottish Government funded an additional £135,501 in 2023-24 to further embed this work locally, and to partner with other Health Boards to extend the reach of pharmacists trained and increase care and support for people living with migraine based on the blueprint NHS Grampian approach.

We understand that a further six NHS Boards are working towards adopting this model of migraine care in future, including NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian & NHS Tayside who have project teams in place with plans to undertake work with support from the NHS Grampian/Migraine Trust project team.

An eLearning programme for NHS Education for Scotland’s platform TURAS has been developed through the project. This comprises a suite of training materials available for all pharmacists and pharmacy teams in Scotland to access.

The project in Grampian has forged links with Robert Gordon University’s School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences with the aim of helping to shape students’ learning, towards create a sustainable change to the way migraine care is given.

We receive regular progress updates from the Migraine Trust and myself visited the project in August. We are discussing options with the Migraine Trust for further adoption of this approach to delivering care for people with migraine.

Eligible Scottish pre-registration nursing, midwifery and paramedic science students receive funding through the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary Scheme (PNMSB) which is administered by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).

Eligibility for support depends on three conditions:

• that the course is eligible;
• that the individual has not had previous PNMSB funding; and
• that they meet the residence requirements.

Bursaries are for eligible students attending courses which:

• lead to registration on the Professional Register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which may include degree, honours and masters levels; or
• lead to the award of a BSc Paramedic Science; and
• are partly or wholly funded by the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates (SGHSCD).

There is no set timescale for ministerial decisions on energy consents. The consideration to be undertaken by ministers before reaching a determination will depend on the particulars of each application.