Chamber and committees

The workforce review in oncology was an NHS internal review with no plans to publish. The Scottish Government is using its findings to inform the new Oncology Transformation Programme. This is an action of the Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-26.

A final report of the first two years of Scotland’s early adopter Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services, was published by the University of Strathclyde on Thursday 29 February highlighting its success, and can be found at: Final Report of the Evaluation of Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services - Strathprints

The co-production process through which stakeholders are designing the Centre for Teaching Excellence will conclude in the first half of 2024, followed by a process to identify a suitable host institution(s). We expect the Centre for Teaching Excellence to launch shortly thereafter.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Cancer Network in August 2022 to review oncology capacity and demand and consider development of a national plan. This work was completed in January 2023.

The Gender Equality Taskforce in Education & Learning developed a set of ambitions in order to help inform its work, including consideration of the optimum way in which to deliver these ambitions, including through the establishment of working groups. Since then, discussion and work has been ongoing to refine the workplan, to ensure that it is able to enact the type of long term, complex, systemic change that is needed. I am committed to continuing and accelerating such work to ensure that girls and young women have a gender equal experience of education and learning.

The Scottish Government recognise the importance of gender-competent school estate planning.

The guiding principles within our Learning Estate Strategy, which was produced in collaboration with COSLA and sets out our strategic approach for managing the learning estate, makes clear that learning environments should support the wellbeing of all learners. Furthermore, it states that good consultation about learning environments, direct engagement with learners about their needs and experiences, and an involvement in decision making processes should lead to better outcomes for all.

It is the statutory responsibility of all Local Authorities to manage their school estate and the Scottish Government expects them to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all school users.

The natural regeneration of trees, scrub and associated ground vegetation across most parts of Scotland will be potentially vulnerable to deer (and other herbivore) impacts, such as browsing, fraying and trampling (as will young, planted trees and shrubs). When considering the impact of deer on our natural environment we look at a variety of evidence as well as advice from NatureScot. The data available for the impacts of deer numbers on natural regeneration is limited and may be combined with data for planted trees.

On Scotland’s National Forests and Land alone, which makes up almost 10% of Scotland, around 150 million young trees, naturally regenerated and planted, can be vulnerable to deer damage impacts at any one time. This includes native woodland, productive woodland (broadleaved and soft conifer tree species), and the expansion of natural regeneration onto open ground. The number and area of young trees and scrub vulnerable to deer damage impacts across the whole of Scotland will be significantly higher.

In terms of national data and evidence, recent statistics on Woodland Ecological condition produced by Forest Research shows that herbivore damage, which includes wild deer, is widespread with almost 50% of woodland area in unfavourable condition as a result of grazing.

Alongside that report, a 2013 a study on the National Forest Estate found that 15-20% of young trees had been damaged by deer. Then in 2014 the first Native Woodland Survey of Scotland assessed around 311,000 hectares of Scottish woodland, found that deer were present in over 70%, and that over 30% of that area had high or very high browsing impacts which were considered too high for the woodlands to survive by natural regeneration.

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to deer densities and our focus is on evidence of impacts when considering the best approach, the Deer Working Group recommended a target of 10 red deer per square kilometre in open hill, red deer range. We accepted that recommendation, and recognise that there are some areas of Scotland where that target is already being met. However, there are also areas of Scotland where deer populations, all four species, may be in excess of 20 deer per square kilometre and will be causing significant damage. We also recognise that in areas where there is to be natural regeneration, a density of 10 deer per square kilometre is still too high. The successful establishment and sustained management of natural regeneration can require low to very low deer densities of 1-5 deer per square kilometre, and for many woodland and open ground habitats may need to be sustained at densities as low as 2-3 deer per square kilometre.

The percentage of the estimated cohort who did not complete the SNSA assessments in each year since 2017 is detailed in the following table.

Implementation plans for each priority theme of the IES are currently being developed. These plans will set out specific and measurable actions that we will prioritise to drive forward our shared ambitions. We will also establish an IES Implementation Group, to provide strategic oversight and to ensure that these actions are delivering the Strategy’s overarching aims.

The Gender Equality Taskforce in Education & Learning developed a set of ambitions in order to help inform its work, including focusing on data collection and analysis mechanisms. Since then, discussion and work has been ongoing to refine the workplan, to ensure that it is able to enact the type of long term, complex, systemic change that is needed. I am committed to continuing and accelerating such work to ensure that girls and young women have a gender equal experience of education and learning.