Chamber and committees

Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) working in General Practice are employed by either Health Boards or by GP practices.

Data on the whole-time equivalent (WTE) ANP workforce employed directly by Health Boards is published annually by the Scottish Government in the Primary care improvement plans: implementation progress summary. This data is set out in the following table.

We have confirmed that the replacement of the Belford Hospital is a strategic priority, and the 2025-26 Draft Budget has provided the necessary funding to allow the development of the business case to restart. NHS Highland is responsible for the delivery of the project and should therefore be able to provide information on the timeframe for the project in due course.

The Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour is reporting to Ministers, COSLA and Police Scotland by the end of 2024. Its remit was to: Consider the effectiveness of current approaches to understanding, preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour and if, and how, these could be improved to develop a holistic long term strategic approach which will help to improve the lives of communities across Scotland. This should include consideration of whether a preventative approach would be appropriate and how victims of antisocial behaviour are supported and whether this could be improved.

As part of its engagement work it met with a number of representatives from the transport sector who had also been invited to respond to a national data survey commissioned by the Working Group. This report will be published in the first quarter of 2025 and will be considered by Scottish Ministers, Police Scotland and Cosla prior to a formal response.

Transport Scotland is exploring legal means to suspend access to concessionary travel for perpetrators of persistent antisocial behaviour of anyone of any age. Whilst this is being progressed as a priority, the National Concessionary Travel Schemes in Scotland are provided on a universal statutory basis. Therefore, detailed and thorough consideration of any process and penalty must be undertaken to ensure consistency and fairness.

The Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour is reporting to Ministers, Cosla and Police Scotland by the end of 2024. Its remit was to: Consider the effectiveness of current approaches to understanding, preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour and if, and how, these could be improved to develop a holistic long term strategic approach which will help to improve the lives of communities across Scotland. This should include consideration of whether a preventative approach would be appropriate and how victims of antisocial behaviour are supported and whether this could be improved.

As part of its engagement work it met with a number of representatives from the transport sector who had also been invited to respond to a national data survey commissioned by the Working Group. This report will be published in the first quarter of 2025 and will be considered by Scottish Ministers, Police Scotland and Cosla prior to a formal response.

The Scottish Government officials are in regular discussions with the other UK administrations on bovine EID. Furthermore, The Scottish Government supported a meeting with NFUS and DG Sante on this matter held earlier this year. No concerns were raised by EU officials on the use of UHF in Scotland.

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 requires that regional marine plans (RMPs) state policies for and in connection with the sustainable development of the area. RMPs must also set economic, social and marine ecosystem objectives and objectives relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. RMPs must be developed in accordance with any adopted National Marine Plan (NMP) and are subject to the agreement of Scottish Ministers.

Responsibility for regional marine planning is devolved to marine planning partnerships (MPPs). The current NMP provides guidance to support the development of regional marine plans but specifies that the precise approach and coverage of the regional plan, including the level to which certain activities are spatially represented, will be for MPPs to determine based on local priorities and alignment with other local plans.

The funding for Drugs and Alcohol in the 2025-26 draft budget is £80.9m. This includes £60m as part of our commitment to provide £250m in additional funding over 5 years to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of people who use drugs and alcohol.

£19.1m of funding has moved to baselined funding which ADPs have highlighted as important for sustainability and recruitment.

Overall funding for Alcohol and Drugs, including Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) has been maintained at the record levels set in 2023-24.

No rehabilitation services will be directly impacted as a result of this budget.

As regulation for offshore oil and gas operations are a reserved matter for UK Government, Scottish Government does not record gas leaks from offshore oil and gas installations.

All primary teachers are generalists; therefore, they deliver the totality of the curriculum including PE.

Special schools may cater to primary and/or secondary and some special schools will therefore have primary qualified teachers that are able to offer PE.

Specialist PE teachers are predominantly based in secondary schools. The 2023 school staff census shows that, excluding virtual schools, one secondary school (0.3%) does not have a teacher whose main or other subject is PE.

In some local authorities physical education teachers that serve more than one school are recorded as centrally employed rather than allocated to individual schools. There are 25 FTE centrally employed teachers with PE as their main subject. Teachers recorded in this way are not included here, therefore the schools without a specialist P.E teacher may have access to centrally employed PE teachers.

The Scottish Government is launching a public consultation on Community Benefits from Net Zero Energy Developments on 19 December 2024, which will be open until 11 April 2025. This consultation is part of our review of the ‘Good Practice Principles’ for community benefits from onshore and offshore renewable energy developments. Through the consultation and stakeholder engagement, we want to gather a wide range of views from across communities, industry and public and third sector stakeholders to ensure that our guidance supports sustainable and meaningful outcomes.