Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no current intention to propose a debate in the Parliament on Public Petition PE1859: Retain falconers' rights to practise upland falconry in Scotland. We are aware this is being considered by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee who have been taking evidence, and are best placed to consider the issue. Should the Committee deem it appropriate they may submit a report to the Scottish Parliament with a recommendation for debate. Details of the Committee’s consideration so far can be found here: PE1859 Retain falconer's rights to practise upland falconry in Scotland | Scottish Parliament Website .

The Scottish Government greatly values the positive effects that twinning can offer to communities home and abroad and the opportunities it can provide to maintain close international relationships with partnering countries.

With the financial challenges we currently face, there are no current plans for the Scottish Government to provide financial support towards town twinning in the near future.

However, the Scottish Government and the international network will continue to work with partners at home and abroad to support and promote meaningful and valuable twinning arrangements.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of an efficient and effective planning system to enable quality development and infrastructure delivery. We are working in close collaboration with COSLA, Heads of Planning Scotland, the key agencies and industry stakeholders and, in our Budget, have committed to publish a consultation paper early this year setting out options to accelerate planning.

National Planning Framework 4, approved by the Scottish Parliament and adopted by Scottish Ministers in 2023, has given clear support to all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emissions technologies. We will also publish a consultation paper early this year on the statutory processes to be set out in regulations for making any future amendments to the National Planning Framework.

To support skills and capacity building within planning services in relation to energy development, the Scottish Government and the Improvement Service host knowledge and information sharing events. That has included a specific event for planning authority staff in relation to renewable and low carbon hydrogen production.

The Scottish Government is progressing with additional measures to support planning authorities and consultees as they plan for and consider applications for hydrogen projects. This includes the preparation of planning and consenting advice. The Scottish Government has also commissioned Edinburgh University to design and deliver bespoke training to be made available free of charge to all planning departments.

The Little Minch Infrastructure Programme includes works at three ports; Tarbert (Harris), Lochmaddy (North Uist) and Uig (Skye). The programme of works is essential in replacing life expired infrastructure and improving the capacity, reliability and resilience for the long term benefit of the route.

Tarbert (Harris) works were completed in January 2023. The Lochmaddy works were completed November 2023 and the works at Uig are expected to be completed by Winter 2024.

Below is a breakdown of posts that were advertised in Round 1 and Round 2 by region, speciality and level. These set of results were published in July 2023 by NHS England. The total number of posts advertised in Round 3 cannot be disclosed as end-year results have yet to be published. These results are expected to be made available by NHS England in the coming weeks. In addition to this, please note that Scottish Government does not have access to data broken down by NHS board.

Below are four tables which confirm the attrition rate for each NHS medical speciality, also broken down by NHS board, since 2021 .

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 5 posts were advertised in Medical Oncology at ST3 level and 1 (or 20%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; end-year data for all UK nations and specialties will be published by NHS England in the coming weeks. It should be noted that recent uplifts in Medical Oncology (3 posts in 2022 and 2023) led to a greater number of posts being advertised. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities. Examples in Medical Oncology include:

• We are funding uplifts in Internal Medicine Training (IMT) with 22 posts set to be created in 2024. IMT is a pre-requisite for Medical Oncology (among several other specialties) and increasing front-end supply should therefore improve the sustainability of services in the longer term.
• NHS Education for Scotland (NES) colleagues have been promoting Medical Oncology at undergraduate level and at various careers events across the country. The West of Scotland Oncology Team, for example, is hosting a careers event at the Beatson Cancer Centre in January 2024 for IMT trainees.
• A national oncology teaching programme has also been signposted to IMT trainees which is accessible via monthly MS Teams sessions.

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 18 posts were advertised in Clinical Oncology at ST3 level and 5 (or 27.78%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; end-year data for all UK nations and specialties will be published by NHS England in the coming weeks. It should be noted that recent uplifts in Clinical Oncology (4 posts in 2022 and 2023) led to a greater number of posts being advertised. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities. Examples in Clinical Oncology include:

• We are funding uplifts in Internal Medicine Training (IMT) with 22 posts set to be created in 2024. IMT is a pre-requisite for Clinical Oncology (among several other specialties) and increasing front-end supply should therefore improve the sustainability of services in the longer term.
• NHS Education for Scotland (NES) colleagues have been promoting Clinical Oncology at undergraduate level and at various careers events across the country. The West of Scotland Oncology Team, for example, is hosting a careers event at the Beatson Cancer Centre in January 2024 for IMT trainees.
• A national oncology teaching programme has also been signposted to IMT trainees which is accessible via monthly MS Teams sessions.

Scottish Government standard Terms and Conditions of Contract require contractors to comply with all applicable national legislation and any applicable requirements of regulatory bodies as well as Good Industry Practice.

In addition to this, the Scottish Government uses the power of procurement to influence practice relating to a range of economic, social and environmental risks and opportunities. To achieve this, practical support for public bodies is available through the https://sustainableprocurementtools.scot/guidance/ platform, which provides a range of guidance and e-learning, including a methodology for identifying specific risks and opportunities such as fair work and health and safety in individual procurement projects. Fair work and Health and safety guidance is already available on the platform and the health and safety content in our guidance will be strengthened when we publish updated Fair Work First in Procurement guidance over the next couple of months.

The Scottish Government collates data by job family rather than by position, and as such, does not hold the information on recruitment to positions. As the employer, Health Boards hold individual responsibility for recruitment to ensure appropriate staffing levels to deliver services.