Chamber and committees

As the member is aware from previously submitted questions, most recently S6F-01607 on 8 December 2022, arrangements for setting water charges are set out in the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002, and the role of setting of annual price rises is primarily a matter for the Board of Scottish Water. During 2021-27, customers are protected by a cap on charges of CPI+2% as set out in the Water Industry Commission for Scotland’s Final Determination.

The answer to S6F-01607 is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .

Drinking water quality is regulated by the Drinking Water Quality Regulator. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency monitors the water environment by assessing water quality and quantity.

Both regulators publish information on their websites about the compliance of drinking water quality and environmental water quality on their websites at https://dwqr.scot/public-water-supply/national-water-quality/ and https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/water/

As the former First Minister reported to the member in answer to S6F-01607, the Scottish Government expects the Board of Scottish Water to take a proportionate position when setting charges; balancing affordability with critical investment needs to protect the quality of our drinking water and the environment.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting people in light of the rising costs of living and has already taken action on affordability of water charges; from 1 April 2021 – the start of the current 6-year regulatory period for the water industry - we increased the maximum discount under the water charges reduction scheme from 25% to 35% to support those struggling to pay their bills.

The answer to S6F-01607 is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .

Data on the Whole-Time Equivalent GP Workforce is published annually by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in the General Practice Workforce Survey report . As of March 2023 the estimated WTE number of GPs (excluding GP registrars/specialist trainees) was 3,478.4, where 1 WTE is defined as 8 contracted sessions per week.

GP headcount is published by NES through the General Practitioner Headcount report. In September 2023 there were 5,168 Headcount GPs in Scotland (including GP Registrars on placement in general practice).

NES are due to publish results from the 2024 General Practice Workforce Survey and the 2024 General Practitioner Headcount data later this year.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many whole-time equivalent GPs have (a) been employed and (b) retired or left the profession, in each year since 2019.

Data on the GP Workforce is published annually by NHS Education for Scotland in the General Practice Workforce Survey report and includes the whole time equivalent number of GPs in Scotland.

The number of undergraduate medical school places available since 2015, broken down by domicile, has been provided in the following table. As requested, these reflect the places available, rather than the eventual entrants.

The amount spent by NHS Boards on Family Health Services (FHS), which includes the four primary care contractors, is reported in the annual Cost Book published by Public Health Scotland. This information is publicly available on the PHS website: Costs Book publication - Costs Book - Finance within the NHS - Acute and emergency services - Our areas of work - Public Health Scotland We would expect the 2023-24 data to be published in February 2025 and the 2024-25 data to be published in February 2026. The Scottish budget, including NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care is published on the Scottish Government website: Scottish Budget - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Information on the number of vacancies for (a) paediatric nurses in NHS Scotland, broken down by NHS board can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: Dashboards | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot) (Vacancy tab)

Information on the number of vacancies and vacancy rates for (b) neonatal nurses in not centrally collected.

Information on paediatric nursing vacancy rates across NHS Scotland in each of the last five years can be found in the following table:

The requested information on how many of the 2024 cohort of graduate (a) paediatric and (b) neonatal nurses have secured jobs in NHS Scotland, and how many have not been able to secure a post is not centrally held.

Information on the number of nursing staff joining the NHS broken down by band, NHS board and specialty can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce (phase one) | Turas Data Intelligence (turnover tab)

The requested information on how many graduate nurses have been employed by NHS Scotland in 2024, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) speciality is not centrally held.

Information on the number of nursing staff joining the NHS broken down by band, NHS board and specialty can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce (phase one) | Turas Data Intelligence (turnover tab)