Chamber and committees

There have been two pieces of work carried out in relation to training and education for the wider Healthcare Science professional group of which cardiac physiology is one specialty. The baseline exercise Healthcare science - education and training provision: baseline review - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) has provided an overview of the education and training landscape for Healthcare Science.

The outcomes of this work has informed the context of the scoping review committed to within the National Workforce strategy 2022. Recommendations have been made as to the next steps and once confirmed these will be shared with the wider stakeholder groups.

Under the Heart Disease Task Force oversight, a Short Life Working Group has been supporting the development of a layer of cardiac specific competencies intended to complement the wider Transforming Nursing Roles competencies for Clinical Nurse Specialists.

The Scottish Government is currently working with NHS Education for Scotland to identify a workplan for the next phase of the Transforming Roles Programme. This involves agreeing priority actions and implementing outstanding recommendations from the ‘Transforming Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professions’ Roles: Review of Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner Roles within Scotland’ publication.

At a time of significant system pressure, this priority setting is to be undertaken as part of wider considerations in collaboration with the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors Group in Spring 2023.

In addition, the Allied Health Professional Education and Workforce Policy Review that considered the actions necessary to deliver a national education and workforce plan for AHPs has now been completed. The recommendations will be published early 2023 and an implementation plan will be developed thereafter.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) are invited as a member of the delivery group for the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021 – 2026, as are Scottish Government. This work is overseen by Save a Life for Scotland and is focused on delivery of the aims included within the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021 – 2026.

In line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, Scotland’s DRS is being delivered and funded by industry, led by the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland (CSL). It is for CSL and Biffa to determine how best to communicate with affected businesses and whether or not there is a need to publish a transition plan.

If businesses have any concerns or questions regarding any aspect of Scotland’s DRS, they should contact CSL in the first instance.

Social Security Scotland does not routinely produce information on households claiming social security benefits.

Information on the characteristics of applicants, including gender, is published as part of Official Statistics publications on Social Security Scotland client diversity and equalities analysis.

These statistics were most recently published in September 2021 and are available at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/social-security-scotland-client-diversity-and-equalities-analysis-to-may-2021 .

There is currently work being undertaken to produce an update to this publication, which will be published by the end of summer 2023. This will cover the period from June 2021 to October 2022.

A follow up report detailing progress on implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody was published in December 2022. This is available at: Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody: progress report - follow up .

Gillian Imery was appointed as an external chair to provide strategic leadership and oversight of the implementation in April last year and reported on progress.

The progress report outlined that three recommendations have been implemented and introduced into the system and another recommendation has been partially implemented and introduced into the system. Broken down by theme these are:

• Theme 1: Family contact with the prison and involvement in care

(a) and (b) 1 (recommendation 1.4)

• Theme 2: Policies and processes after a death

(a) and (b) 1, partially implemented (recommendation 2.2)

• Theme 3: Family contact and support following a death

(a) and (b) 1 (recommendation 3.1)

• Theme 4: Support for staff and other people held in prison after a death

(a) and (b) 0

• Theme 5: SPS and NHS documentation concerning a death

(a) and (b) 1 (recommendation 5.4)

The progress report recognises that some of the issues are complex and will take some time to resolve and implement. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the other agencies responsible for delivery including the Scottish Prison Service and NHS to continue to develop compassionate and robust processes that meet the needs of those in custody and their families.

A further report on progress will be prepared by Gillian Imery which is expected to be published later this year.

Social Security Scotland does not routinely produce information on couples claiming social security benefits.

Information on the characteristics of applicants, including gender, is published as part of Official Statistics publications on Social Security Scotland client diversity and equalities analysis.

These statistics were most recently published in September 2021 and are available at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/social-security-scotland-client-diversity-and-equalities-analysis-to-may-2021.

There is currently work being undertaken to produce an update to this publication, which will be published by the end of summer 2023. This will cover the period from June 2021 to October 2022.

A detailed analysis of public transport accessibility for the residents of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders was undertaken as part of the South West Transport Study ( swsts-inital-appraisal-case-for-change-including-appendices.pdf (transport.gov.scot) and Borders Transport Corridors Study ( borders-transport-corridors-pre-appraisal-report.pdf ).

The assessment included consideration of public transport accessibility, both by bus and rail, to a range of key employment, health and education destinations within the region and also to major towns and cities in Scotland and the north of England. In both cases, the assessment used a number of metrics, including the outputs from a bespoke analysis tool using Geographic Information System software to assist with the task.

Further details of both these assessments can be found respectively in Sections 5.5 of the South West Scotland Transport Study report and Section 3.5.10 of the Borders Transport Corridors Study report.

The outcomes of this work were then taken forward in to the Second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), which was published on 8 December 2022. The above projects were designed as advanced studies for each of these STPR2 regions and were, in fact, two of only three regions in Scotland to benefit from this advanced work. The outcomes were subsequently refined and updated to comprise the STPR2 Case for Change reports for each region, potential interventions were then subjected to more detailed assessment during the STPR2 appraisal process.

The Scottish Government does not fund culture coordinator posts in schools. However, some Local Authorities choose to employ culture coordinators to support the delivery of the Youth Music Initiative programme, administered on behalf of the Scottish Government by Creative Scotland.

Creative Scotland do not require Local Authorities to have a specific coordinator role in place to deliver the fund. Scottish Government give Local Authorities the financial freedom to operate independently and allocate the resources available to them in response to local need.

The National Rail Conversation will be formally launched in April to mark the one year anniversary of ScotRail coming in to public ownership. Through the National Rail Conversation, we will listen to feedback from passengers, staff and stakeholders to shape a vision for ScotRail which best meets the needs of the people of Scotland. I will announce the timetable for the conversation at the launch.