Chamber and committees

The target intake for funded places on nursing and midwifery undergraduate programmes has increased for 10 consecutive years. Recognising that undergraduate programmes are not the single solution to developing and increasing the workforce, the Scottish Government has agreed with Higher Education Institutions, NHS Boards and other key partners, to maintain the target intake of 4,837 (4536 nursing and 301 midwifery) for 3 years. Funded places will continue to be monitored annually whilst we work collaboratively with those partners to maximise the places that are filled and explore alternative pipelines into these critical professions such as earn as you learn routes and apprenticeships.

There are no regulations to specifically prevent the export of waste collected through DRS. Waste will be channelled to appropriate recycling facilities. Decisions on appropriate recycling facilities are made by Circularity Scotland in delivering the scheme As stated in our response to the second report, the Scottish Government accepts recommendation 18. We want to be able to manage more of our own waste within Scotland and strengthen public confidence in where their recycling goes.

The DRS is expected to improve the quality of collected materials, resulting in high value recyclate that will incentive investment in reprocessing infrastructure in Scotland to handle material, and for drinks producers to return it to food-grade plastics rather than export for other purposes.

RIF funding awards are predominantly still at planning or early implementation stages and there has therefore not yet been an evaluation of the impact of the projects in terms of waste reprocessing capacity (or increased collection for recycling). Information is currently available relating to two projects.

In June 2022 the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousef published a timetable for the implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 on both the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website and Care Inspectorate website .

This timetable is still valid although it is noted the guidance consultation period is now due to start in June 2023, rather than May 2023.

The Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape will be published before Parliament goes into recess at the end of June.

The Scottish Government has no role in setting the levels or assessing the impact on individuals of registration fees for the regulated health professions. These functions are within the statutory authority of the Councils of the independent UK regulators, including the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). In common with the other regulatory bodies, the HCPC’s establishing legislation requires it to publicly consult as part of the process for assessing the level of fees which will enable it to carry out its statutory public protection duty.

The Scottish Government recognises the unwelcome additional burden that higher fees will place on registrants, especially during the current financial climate. However, we acknowledge that the HCPC - as a registrant-funded independent regulator – is facing the same cost pressures as other organisations.

In June 2022 the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousef published a timetable for the implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 on both the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website and Care Inspectorate website .

This timetable is still valid although it is noted the guidance consultation period is now due to start in June 2023, rather than May 2023.

If there is a particular element of implementation you would like further information on, please do not hesitate to contact the Act Implementation Team using [email protected] .

The Scottish Government has taken into account the findings of the gateway review commenced in March 2023 and has taken action to address the issues raised. A letter and plan of action which outline how the Scottish Government has addressed or plans to address the recommendations will be sent to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee imminently.

Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all professional partners, including Royal College of Occupational Therapists, to discuss matters of importance to the professions of which they represent.

In 2021, Scottish Government published the Strategy for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Research, which has formed the basis for the Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027 and includes consideration of biogenic carbon. Scottish Government has not undertaken specific consideration of how to include biogenic carbon in future research publications and has no plans to publish on the matter, given its consideration within the Strategic Research Programme.