Chamber and committees

NHS Grampian has been experiencing significant financial and operational pressures for several months. This led to the Health Board’s escalation to Stage 3 of the NHS Scotland Support & Intervention Framework for financial management in January 2025. Whilst Stage 3 is the first formal stage of escalation and, as such, NHS Grampian has been receiving tailored support, there remain concerns about the Board’s financial position, plans, leadership and governance; and any associated impact this may have on the delivery of local services.

Following careful consideration, the Government has decided that NHS Grampian’s escalation status be raised to Stage 4 for finance, leadership and governance. Further, formal escalation is felt necessary (along with the additional support and scrutiny this provides) to help mitigate the significant risks to both the local Board and wider, overall NHS Scotland financial positions.

The key focus of this further escalation will be to arrest the rate of expenditure in NHS Grampian and help mitigate immediate concerns about financial and associated operational pressures, and to stabilise the system. One of the key, initial elements of this package of enhanced support and scrutiny will be a whole system diagnostic, to be carried out by an external consultancy and is expected to conclude in June. That will help to inform the tailored support package that follows and will provide a robust basis for the wider, transformation work required over the longer term in NHS Grampian; in support of the local leadership under the new Chief Executive, with the interviews for that post taking place in early June.

With the agreement of Parliament, a ministerial statement will be provided at the appropriate point to keep members updated on this matter.

The Scottish Government has no plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable.

The Scottish Kept Bird Register is a mandatory register for bird keepers in Scotland under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024. It was established to allow Scottish Government and its deliver body, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to send vital biosecurity information to bird keepers to minimise the risk of the spread of notifiable avian diseases, particularly highly pathogenic avian influenza. The register also supports mandatory surveillance activities during disease outbreaks. The information has also been used to help support public health response in the offer of vaccinations to poultry keepers.

In accordance with Data Protection Act 2018 a commitment was made to those registering, in the Scottish Kept Bird Register Privacy Notice, as to how the data collected would be used. This can be summarised as to determine the size and location of the kept bird population in Scotland, for communication and disease control activities during notifiable avian disease outbreaks, and for promoting bird welfare and public health.

To make this data public would be in breach of the Data Protection Act of 2018, as the Scottish Government would be unable to control the uses to which the data was being put. The Scottish Government is legally required to make arrangements to ensure that the data collected is retained securely and protected from data breach. This is in common with registers for other animals and livestock across Scotland held by Scottish Government.

As of 8 May 2025, there are 10,786 bird keepers registered on the Scottish Kept Bird Register. In total, they have registered 15,539,346 birds. 15,393,511 of these birds are classified as poultry (which are defined as birds kept for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, or other products, or for restocking and breeding programmes). This category includes chickens, turkeys, ducks, gamebirds and geese. 3,383 of the registered birds are birds of prey and 142, 450 are captive birds of other species.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the Scottish Funding Council, or individual universities, regarding the Office for Students’ ruling concerning the University of Sussex in March 2025.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34490 on 18 February 2025:

Based on the latest published Criminal Proceedings data (available to 2022-23), since January 2014, there have been no prosecutions under section 40(1) of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (where this was the main crime).

The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland bulletin (2023-24) is scheduled for publication in autumn 2025.

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

We are unable to provide the information requested on advertising expenditure broken down by newspaper title because an exemption under section 33 of FOISA applies. This is because disclosure of the information would (or would be likely to) substantially prejudice the commercial interests of the organisation (section 33(1)(b)).

All Scottish Government media buying and planning is undertaken via agencies appointed through the Media Planning, Buying and Associated Services Framework Agreement – Ref. SP-18-007, and never directly with media owners or channels. Using standard media buying software, common to the sector, media buying agencies can access data showing the volume of media purchased by their competitors. Providing the costs alongside this available data would therefore enable competitors to determine the buying rates (price) for individual media companies. This information is highly commercially sensitive within the sector and disclosure would materially disadvantage the Scottish Government contractor. Providing the specific expenditure for a newspaper or outlet would potentially allow competitors of the media buying agency to calculate the rates negotiated by the appointed media buying agency who work on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Scottish Government marketing and advertising spend is published each year and can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ including a breakdown by media type and includes press expenditure.

The Planning and Environmental Appeals Division has to date received 220 appeals against SEPA's sea lice control variation notices; more are anticipated. All 220 appeals are currently being checked and SEPA’s response to the grounds of appeal has been requested.

In Scotland the Lord Advocate is constitutionally responsible for the decision on whether or not to undertake a Fatal Accident Inquiry. As set out in the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016, the Lord Advocate may hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry if they consider that a death was sudden, suspicious, or unexplained; and that it occurred in circumstances giving rise to serious concern; or that it is in the public interest. That decision is for the Lord Advocate alone, acting independently of government, and it would be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to comment.

The final report of the Commission on Widening Access was published in 2016. A lot has changed since 2016 and we are now considering what has worked well and what we could do better.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to simplify the support landscape for students as it can be difficult for young people and their parents and carers to identify what support is available particularly in non-linear learning pathways.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) currently provides living cost support to higher education students whilst the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) provides bursary support to further education students via individual colleges. The Scottish Government is pressing ahead with the proposal to consolidate all student support funding within SAAS. Bringing student support responsibilities together unlocks opportunities and enables new ways of administering student support, collecting data and providing coherent information and guidance to learners and institutions.

Through the Student Mental Health Action Plan Scottish Government has committed to working with institutions, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), CoSLA, and prospective students to explore what information institutions require to inform continuity of support for newly-enrolled students, and how students and their families can be supported to request and share this information with colleges and universities. This action is being driven forward by the Plan’s Delivery Group, which met recently, and includes consideration of the use of the Getting it Right for Everybody (GIRFE) practice model to support a more person centred offer of support.

There are a range of resources available to support teachers to teach about the Holocaust. For example, the Holocaust Educational Trust, which receives funding from Scottish Government, have a range of age-appropriate resources, a link can be found at https://www.het.org.uk/teaching-resources. In addition, Vision Schools Scotland, also funded by Scottish Government aims to promote excellence in Holocaust teaching with the key education resources available here. As part of this aim, Vision Schools Scotland provides in person and online Continued Professional Learning in Holocaust education to teachers, helping them develop confidence and proficiency in Holocaust teaching. In addition, Education Scotland has published a specific resource in relation to the Kindertransport. Educators can use across the broad general education and into senior phase and it can also be used in History National 4 Added Value Units.