Chamber and committees

The overall cost of training Foundation Year 2 doctors from August 2023 to July 2024 was £56,590,177.

Advertising effectiveness is evaluated in a range of ways. Firstly, figures are provided to show the reach (how many people we reached) and frequency (how many times we reached them), both overall and by advertising channel. These figures are calculated by the Scottish Government’s independent media planning and buying agencies, using audited sector data where available.

In Scotland, there is no funding out with the advertising spend that is allocated for community radio stations. The selection of the stations for campaigns is determined by the target audience and reach. Information on individual advertising spend per radio station is not available to us as this is deemed commercially sensitive.

I have asked Alison Byrne OBE, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland (NRS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

NRS has differing processing times depending on the nature of the request. NRS monitors these timescales through robust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are regularly reviewed and refined, taking into account customer feedback through all of our channels.

Currently, all the timescales are being met at 98% and above. Details of KPIs and the latest associated performance measures can be found on page 13 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.

Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament and is subject to regular scrutiny from the Economy and Fair Work Committee, including on the work it is delivering to improve operational efficiency.

The Scottish Government has visibility of the strategic objectives set out in the RoS Corporate Plan 2022-2027, including the work outlined therein to improve operational efficiency and reduce headcount. The Scottish Government receives regular reporting on the progress with these aspects through the various Public Service Reform commissions.

The Scottish Government publish their annual marketing spend on https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ which is broken down by portfolio, specific campaign and campaign media and available for public to view.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the domestic housing stock in each survey year, including the construction age, built form and primary and secondary heating system and fuel.

The SHCS currently records the following heat systems: Boiler, Community Heating, Storage Heaters, Room heaters, Warm Air Systems, Heat Pumps (with and without and MCS certificate), and Room Heater Back Boiler: no Radiators (these are systems which have a solid fuel fire with a back boiler where the back boiler is used only for heating water, and is not connected to radiators for heating the house). As these are the most common types of heating systems in Scotland.

The SHCS does not currently record heating systems, such as fuel cells, hybrid heat pumps and hydrogen ready boilers. However, we review the survey questions annually and these forms of heating will be considered for inclusion in future surveys when they become more prevalent in the Scottish dwelling stock.

Eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and the top priority for this Government.

The Scottish Government recognises the pressure on household budgets which is why the 2025-26 draft budget continues to allocate over £3 billion a year to policies which tackle both poverty and the cost of living, ensuring that families are supported with the costs of raising a child.

This includes providing a range of support such as 1,140 hours of high-quality funded early learning and childcare to all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds. If families paid for this offer themselves it would cost them more than £5,500 per eligible child per year.

We also offer free school meals to all 277,632 pupils in P1 to 5 and in special schools, saving families taking those meals around £400 per year per child, as well as providing free bus travel for 2.3 million people, including all children and young people under 22, disabled people and everyone age 60 and over – which Child Poverty Action Group estimate saves families on the median wage £2,836 by the time a child turns 18.

Further, the draft Scottish Budget for 2025-26 preserves the social contract at the heart of the Scottish Government’s approach. This includes continuing free prescriptions, compared to £9.90 per item in England from 1 May 2024, and ensuring that no Scottish student pays tuition fees which means that, unlike elsewhere in the UK, a Scottish student studying in Scotland will not incur additional debt of up to £28,605.

In total, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Scottish Budget for 2025-26 will deliver almost £64 billion of funding, focusing resource across the four priorities set out in the Programme for Government: eradicating child poverty; growing the economy; tackling the climate emergency; and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services.

My December 2025-25 Budget announcement included the commitment to conduct our first five-year review of LBTT by the end of this Parliament, to support an evaluation of key aspects of the tax legislation, including the application of the ADS where exceptional circumstances and events occur.

As part of this review, officials will engage a range stakeholders and members of the public on a range of general and specific relating to the LBTT and Additional Dwelling Supplement legislation.

The upcoming review will in part look to build further understanding on the impact of the ADS where difficult or exceptional circumstances apply, as well as understanding any complexities and uncertainties for the tax system for accommodating any subsequent changes.

The review, which will commence this coming spring, will support decisions in the next Parliament on the case for any legislative changes.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work collaboratively to provide information on ash dieback and guidance on the management of trees affected by this disease. Scottish Forestry chairs the Ash Dieback Risk Group Scotland, bringing together practitioners from local authorities and the forestry, arboriculture, transport, utilities, research and nature conservation sectors to share knowledge, experience and examples of best practice in managing ash dieback. Scottish Forestry engaged The Tree Council to work alongside the Ash Dieback Risk Group, producing a toolkit for the preparation of ash dieback action plans by local authorities and other large-scale landowners and asset managers. The toolkit provides a framework for preparing action plans, and contains recent case studies and resources created by a number of Scottish local authorities and other organisations. A suite of guidance tailored for Scotland has been published and further information on safety when working on ash trees affected by ash dieback has been developed with input from stakeholders and is due to be published shortly.