Chamber and committees

The findings of the UK Parliament Education Committee are noted. It is recognised that the Committee's considerations and recommendations are rightly focussed on the interests of the UK Government and that the legalities around ‘banning’ mobile phones elsewhere in the UK differ from those in Scotland. This is because in Scotland our Local Authorities have statutory responsibility for the delivery of Education and it is consequently a decision for our Headteachers currently, whether or not they would wish to enforce a ban in their school estate.

Nonetheless, the Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward national guidance on mobile phones in schools in Scotland. The guidance has been informed by a range of research and evidence and will make clear that should Headteachers wish to do so, they are empowered to ban mobile phones within their school estate.

The British Medical Association has used data from the latest General Practice Workforce Survey , published by NHS Education Scotland in December 2023, which collects data on vacancies throughout the year. This report notes data quality concerns over vacancy status and advises caution when referring to vacancy rates published from the survey, which are likely an overestimation. It further suggests that the particularly high vacancy rates for island boards are unlikely to be an accurate reflection of the current staffing situation.

Improving recruitment and retention of GPs and other doctors is vital in all localities, including rural and island areas. The Scottish Government provides a range of supports to the GP workforce, including a rural specific graduate entry medical degree (ScotGEM), Golden Hello payments for harder to fill posts mostly in remote and rural areas, as well as bursaries for GP Speciality Training aimed at attracting GPs to work in rural Scotland. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) also provide a Rural GP Fellowship for those interested in working in general practice in rural and island Boards.

The Scottish Government funds the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care which focuses on recruitment and retention, education and training, research and evaluation, leadership and good practice.

We will publish a Remote and Rural Workforce Recruitment Strategy by the end of 2024.

The first £5m of the £15m Enterprise Package was announced on 20 May. Exact details and criteria for the interventions are still being developed and are yet to be confirmed. Further details about the allocation of this initial £5m will be provided in due course.

While local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teachers, the Scottish Government is committed to maximising the number of jobs available in a range of subjects, including computing science.

The Teaching Bursary Scheme offers a £20,000 payment to career changers who are looking to undertake graduate teacher training in hard-to-fill STEM subjects, including computing science.

In addition, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

We are also offering local authorities £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers more widely.

The Scottish Government is committed to fully harnessing the potential of research-proven technological and scientific innovations through their rapid national adoption. The Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway, led by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery and drawing on the expertise of NHS National Services Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Public Health Scotland, and NHS Education for Scotland, has been established to provide a once for Scotland approach to:

• identifying innovations the Scottish Government should consider for national adoption within the NHS through a quarterly horizon scan report

• producing robust value cases around clinical and financial impact

• their national adoption at pace, if approved

The ANIA pathway is governed by an Innovation Design Authority (IDA). This brings together senior Scottish Government and NHS leadership to support improved partnership working, provide system leadership and take joint decisions on the progression of innovations through ANIA stage gates.

Combined cataract and glaucoma procedures will be considered through the ANIA pathway. Scottish Ministers would then consider investment in this programme following any recommendation by the IDA.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14642 on 6 March 2023 , funding for local authorities is provided through the annual block grant settlement from the Scottish Government. Local authorities should use funding resources allocated to them in the manner which they believe will best meet local needs and circumstances within their respective areas. 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 .

Therefore, decisions on the installation and maintenance of defibrillators in schools is a matter for local authorities to consider at the local level.

A number of organisations provide advice and support for the purchasing and maintenance of defibrillators. This includes:

The British Heart Foundation: Defibrillators - BHF

St Johns Scotland Public Access Community Defibrillators | St John Scotland

The Scottish Government is committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children.

Breakfasts are being provided across Scotland by a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We are working with Local Authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map existing provision. This work is ongoing and alongside learning from other approaches across the UK, will inform the development of a delivery strategy for breakfast provision, including how a future offer can support the Government's mission to eradicate child poverty.

The Scottish Government is investing £250,000 including VAT, in a Small Business Research Initiative focused on Home Glaucoma Monitoring. The innovation challenge is to develop and validate the tools needed for home (or near-patient) glaucoma assessment, including home tonometry and home assessment of visual function, and potentially even optic disc imaging.

Priority areas:

? Development and validation of an affordable tool for home perimetry for monitoring glaucoma.

? Development and validation of an affordable tool for home perimetry for detecting glaucoma.

? Development of method of secure data storage, analysis, and transfer (or integration) with NHS electronic patient records.

? Development of tools for home tonometry and /or home optic disc / retinal imaging, in addition to methods for integrating results from these tests with NHS electronic patient records.

The challenge was launched in 2022 and attracted a high number of applications. Three companies successfully completed 4-month Phase One feasibility projects in June 2023. Following a competitive application, two companies have embarked on their Phase 2 prototyping and validation projects.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-28075 on 18 June 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 Scottish Government is committed to strengthening compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention. We also remain committed to retaining a demand-led and sustainable system of legal aid, with legal aid funding to remain available to support individuals with the most need. Legal aid can be made available, at present, to individuals whose litigation engages matters of wider public interest, provided it can be demonstrated to the Scottish Legal Aid Board that the outcome of the case will have a direct tangible benefit to them. Our “Vision for Justice in Scotland: three year delivery plan” contains an action to engage with key stakeholders to inform and shape future legislative proposals in relation to the reform of legal aid. Discussions on legal aid reform will take place this year and will include environmental stakeholders.