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On 6 October 2023 Student Awards Agency Scotland wrote to colleges and universities confirming the 2023-24 Higher Education (HE) Discretionary Funds allocations and guidance. The funds were issued to the sector during the week commencing 9 October 2023. Approximately £8m has been issued. Colleges and universities were notified on 17 th October that a further £4m will be issued in April 2024.

The Scottish Government supports the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) to offer a part-time PGDE Primary programme. UHI plan to extend this to their PGDE Secondary programmes. The Scottish Government has had discussions with universities about the need for flexibility in delivery of ITE programmes and will continue to engage with them on this issue.

The Scottish Government’s Teaching bursary scheme provides bursaries of £20,000 for career changers wishing to undertake a one year PGDE in hard to fill STEM subjects. These are Physics, Maths, Technical Education, Computing Science, Chemistry and Home Economics. The scheme has recently been extended to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.

Additionally, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.

Group membership has been identified through dialogue between Scottish Government officials and organisations representing carers, local carer centres and statutory organisations expected to be involved in implementing the proposed right to breaks from caring. Further members were invited following a discussion at the group’s first meeting, to help ensure a good spread of expertise to enable the group to fulfil its remit.

In October 2022, we announced that further Scottish Government funding of £8m was being made available to recruit allied health professionals and midwives from overseas for the first time alongside nurses whereas the £4.5m funding in 2021 for international recruitment was provided solely for registered nurses.

I am pleased to advise that between October 2022 and 30 September 2023, a total of 109 AHPs have been recruited from overseas and are in posts across NHS Scotland, with further arrivals expected as we continue to support international recruitment. The Scottish Government does not hold data centrally relating to the AHP professions recruited to, that information is held by employing health boards.

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

SPS does have accommodation within our estate which has an average of less than 8m² of living space and is occupied by more than one person in our care.

The following list indicates the establishments where the majority of cells that are currently being utilised for double (or more) occupancy have a cell average of under 8m² living space, as at 1 November 2023:

• HMP Barlinnie
• HMP Dumfries
• HMP Edinburgh
• HMP Glenochil
• HMP Grampian
• HMP Low Moss
• HMP Perth
• HMP&HMYOI Polmont

Whilst the Council of Prevention of Torture’s (CPT) minimum standard for personal living space in prison establishments for multiple occupancy cells is 4m² plus fully-partitioned sanitary facility, not complying with this standard does not constitute a breach of the law.

This year’s COVID-19 vaccine marketing and communication plan utilises a number of communication channels to reach those with a weakened immune system, under the “Don’t let your protection fade” campaign. The accompanying marketing toolkit includes a range of assets directed at those who are at higher risk of COVID-19. This toolkit has been shared with Health Boards and stakeholders for them to promote via their own communication channels. The national campaign has also promoted vaccination for those at clinical risk.

All those eligible for winter vaccination have been sent an invitation letter with either a scheduled appointment or instructions on how to book an appointment. Included with this is a leaflet which includes information around why those eligible are being offered a COVID-19 vaccine this winter.

Specific leaflets have been produced for the clinical at risk child and infant groups. These leaflets are designed to help parents/carers make an informed decision about getting their child vaccinated.

All programme patient leaflets can be viewed on NHS Inform.

Winter vaccines briefings for professionals working with people at higher risk are available on the Public Health Scotland website. These explain the importance of the winter vaccines and encourage healthcare professionals to speak to their patients about being vaccinated.

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

The following table shows the number of cells as on 1 November 2023 which accommodate two or more people in our care, and have an average living space of under 8m² (excluding sanitary facilities).

The Scottish Government will set out options for calculation of a devolved Building Safety Levy as part of the consultation on the policy design of the Levy. The consultation process will commence once an agreement has been reached with the UK Government on the transfer of legislative competence.

Exceptions to the Treatment Time Guarantee, as set out by The Patient Rights (Treatment Time Guarantee) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 are as follows:

• Assisted reproduction.

• Obstetrics services

• Organ, tissue, or cell transplantation, whether from living or deceased donor.

Over 2.8 million inpatients and day cases have benefited from the 12-weeks treatment target since it was introduced.

The appearance of synthetic opioids in the drug supply has been a concern for Scottish Government for some time and something which will likely be exacerbated by the reduction in opium production as reported by the UNODC. We are working alongside colleagues across the UK to identify areas for collaborative working on this issue with the various UK administrations, national police forces and the National Crime Agency.

Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, are often extremely potent opioid receptor agonists, however, naloxone is still effective in the treatment of any overdose. This is why we have invested over £3 million in widening access to naloxone, making it easier for people to access and supporting Police Scotland and our other emergency services to carry kits.

Having reliable data about substances of concern in the drug supply is key and is why we have supported Public Health Scotland to establish the RADAR (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response) system. We also continue to progress plans with local partners to establish drug checking facilities as this will also provide up-to-date information about the substances in the drug supply. We are aware that nitazenes have been present in the drug supply and Public Health Scotland issued an alert regarding nitazenes in January 2023 and the UK Government have since issued a similar alert. RADARs quarterly report published in October 2023 also reported that nitzenes have been detected in post-mortem and hospital toxicology samples.

Recognising the global challenge around the appearance of new synthetic opioids, the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy and members of the Scottish Governments National Mission Oversight Group on Drugs are meeting with international colleagues to hear about their experience of dealing with the appearance of fentanyl and synthetic opioids in the drug supply, and their response, in early November. A further meeting is being organised to discuss operational level issues with international colleagues and Scottish drug service delivery providers.