Chamber and committees

The 2020 review of deer management by the Deer Working Group estimated that Scotland’s wild deer population was around one million deer. Deer, like other herbivores, can have a devastating impact on the environment through overgrazing, trampling vulnerable habitats and preventing young trees from growing.

The 2023 State of Nature report found that Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Our Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 sets out to tackle the nature emergency and address the twin climate and biodiversity crises.

The evidence is clear that effective deer management is absolutely vital to our ability to address biodiversity loss. Our consultation, ‘Managing deer for climate and nature’ published on 5 January sets out our proposals for deer legislation which aims to support nature recovery.

The proposed membership for the Medical Associate Professions (MAPs) Programme Board is indicated below.

As arrangements are still being finalised ahead of the first meeting at the end of April, membership may be subject to change.

• Head of Recruitment and Capacity Building, Health Workforce Directorate, Scottish Government (Co-Chair)
• Medical Director, NES Education for Scotland (Co-chair)
• Deputy Chief Executive and Director of NMAHP, NHS Education for Scotland
• Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Scottish Government
• Chief Nursing Officer Directorate, Scottish Government
• Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Scottish Government
• Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, Scottish Government
• Scottish Association of Medical Directors (SAMD)
• Scottish Executive Nurse Directors Group (SEND)
• Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland
• Faculty of Physician Associates
• Association of Anaesthesia Associates
• General Medical Council
• Workforce Planning Lead, West of Scotland Regional Planning
• Head of Workforce and Development, North of Scotland Regional Planning
• Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD)
• Health Improvement Scotland
• Directors of Human Resources, NHS Scotland
• British Medical Association

In February 2021 Brookfield Multiplex advised NHSGGC that they had concerns regarding the suitability of the wall linings installed in the atrium of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Intrusive surveys were immediately commissioned by NHSGGC that confirmed the installation of ACM polyethylene products which do not comply with current Building Control standards. It is the boards position that the wall linings installed did not meet the contract requirements and this is the subject of an ongoing legal action.

NHSGGC followed a Fire Risk Assessment process immediately after being notified of the concerns with the wall linings in the atrium. This process identified mitigation measures that were implemented from February 2021 to manage any potential fire risk generated by the presence of unsuitable wall linings.

A Full Business Case for replacement of the internal wall linings was approved in November 2022 with the works commencing in the same month and will be fully complete in 2027.

The information requested on how many registered pathologists there have been in each of the last 10 years is not centrally available.

Information on Chemical pathologists and Histopathology, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at:

NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence .

The overall cost of the project, as stated in the Full Business Case, to replace the internal wall linings is £32.7m in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. This project is currently on site and is expected to run until 2027.

The Medical Associate Professions (MAPs) Programme Board will meet for the first time in April 2024. Minutes of meetings will be published online on the NES Medical Associate Professions (MAPs) | Turas | Learn (nhs.scot)

Funding was allocated to Local Authorities on behalf of 304 secondary schools for computing science hardware on a demand-led basis. Local Authorities distributed funding on behalf of the Scottish Government, with the total claimed at approximately £730,000.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-25404 and‎ S6W-25405 on 27 February 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 .

Table 1 presents the estimated additional gross income from setting the Intermediate Property Rate (IPR) at 54.5p, compared to keeping the IPR the same as in 2023-24, at 51.1p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross additional revenue from the intermediate property rate (£), after General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24444 on‎ 22 January 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 .