Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02400 on 31 August 2021 . 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 .

The Mobilisation Recovery Group (MRG) was an advisory group established by the previous Cabinet Secretary under Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design: the Framework for NHS Scotland.

Membership, the dates on which meetings took place, and minutes of those meetings can be found on the MRG website, available at Mobilisation Recovery Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Minutes include a list of attendees at each meeting. The number of attendees varied depending on the meeting.

In 2021, the MRG met on 22 January, 15 February, 5 March, 26 March, and 16 April. All meetings scheduled to take place after Friday 16 April have been cancelled. Meetings were scheduled to take place on 5 June, 25 June, 16 July, 6 August, 27 August, 24 September, 15 October, 5 November, and 3 December.

The minute of the meeting held on 16 April will be published on the website shortly.

The NHS Scotland COVID Status app is being developed for release to the public by the end of September with vaccination information initially. We are developing our app to meet the EU requirements so we expect this to be compatible with the IATA Travel Pass. We are engaging with international stakeholders and UK Government to ensure the app is compatible with the other countries requirements of entry.

We are making PDF downloads of vaccination status and 2D barcodes (known as QR codes) available for international travel from early September to facilitate international travel.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

‘An initial ‘Expression of Interest’ stage was undertaken by SPS for the HMP Highland project with four expressions of interest received. Following evaluation and a high standard of response, all four contractors were invited to tender and four bids were received in June 2021.

Tender evaluation is underway and SPS anticipates the initial contract award will be made in September 2021.’

This information is available in the Scottish Health Service Costs (often referred to as the 'Costs Book'), published annually by Public Health Scotland (previously Information Services Division). Report R820 provides details of expenditure on dental services by NHS board. Independent Dental Contractor expenditure is found in the 'Family Health Services' section of the report.

Currently there is no plan for a public inquiry into the prescribing of diethylstilbestrol (DES). A public inquiry to investigate any current safety concerns regarding DES would be a matter for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as the UK independent medicines regulator.

The Scottish Government works closely with Scottish public sector bodies in improving their cyber resilience capabilities. As a consequence of this work, in December 2017, we introduced a reporting system for public sector bodies to notify the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre of serious cyber incidents with the purpose of providing as much support to those affected as quickly as possible. During the last 3 years we have been notified of 27 separate attacks, some of which have been in the public sector or educational institutions.

The published remit for the OECD’s Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence, sets out the approach taken to the review. This can be accessed at: Independent+Review+of+Curriculum+for+Excellence+-+Remit.pdf (www.gov.scot)

The OECD established a team of core OECD staff and international experts with experience in curriculum and assessment implementation. The process included:

• A comprehensive desk-based analysis of policy documents, evidence and research on CfE implementation, which included, amongst other documents, the initial evidence base provided by the Scottish Government in July 2020, papers published as part of the Education & Skills Committee’s Inquiry on Subject Choice and published academic articles and research.
• Compilation of information from key stakeholders’ websites and think tank publications.
• A series of interviews and virtual school visits plus focus groups to gather primary data. These included discussions with the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee, Scottish Government officials, national agencies, local government representatives, college and university bodies, employer groups, academics, teachers and head teachers, parents, young people, Gaelic and subject specific interest groups, and members of Scotland’s education governance groups.

This represented a significant and comprehensive amount of documentation, with many different perspectives informing the review.

The OECD were clear that it was not feasible for them to consider more information than they specifically requested, nor was the purpose of the Review to generate new written submissions or replace what would otherwise be a national consultation.

The OECD were made aware of any requests to submit written submissions and advised that should any additional information be required they would request this.

Not all of the information being requested is held at present by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Funding Council has however provided HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) data showing what percentage of all students studying medicine at Scottish medical schools, across all years of studies, were Scottish domiciled. This data is limited up to and including academic year 2019-20.

The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) has had a budget of £10 million per annum over the last five financial years - being a total of £50m.

The programme is managed so as to achieve an annual outturn figure that is as near as possible to budget in each financial year. Actual spend in any given financial year depends on the date that assets are acquired (as opposed to when funding is approved). The length of time from approval of award to completion of sale and drawdown of funds varies. This means that, at the time an award is made, it is not possible to know with certainty when drawdown will happen, making it very challenging to exactly match actual spend to the annual budget.

The Fund has a two-stage application process. It offers grants of between £2000 and £30,000 at Stage 1 to help with project development, and between £10,000 and £1 million for acquisition at Stage 2. It is demand-led.

To be successful, applicants need to be suitably constituted, geographically-based voluntary/community organisations who can demonstrate that their project will be well managed and financially sustainable. They must show that their proposals:

• are supported by the local community
• represent value for money and
• will achieve more sustainable economic, social and/or environmental development through the ownership of land and/or buildings

Applicants are supported throughout the application process by experienced Scottish Land Fund advisers. The Fund is managed by the National Lottery Community Fund. An independent Committee oversees the SLF and scrutinises applications for funding for acquisition.

Figures for funds unspent in the Scottish Land Fund at the end of each of the last five financial years are as follows:

2016-17 £4,813,355*

2017-18 £0*

2018-19 £1,127,500

2019-20 £12,189

2020-21 £254,336

*Awards made in 2016-17 included a grant of £4.4 million to the North West Mull Community Group for the acquisition of the island of Ulva. This grant was paid out when the transaction settled in June 2017, bringing the outturn for 2017-18 for the Scottish Land Fund to £11,701,431.