Seòmar agus comataidhean

Telecommunications is reserved to the UK Government. Security and resilience of sub sea telecommunication cables, as well as the whole network, is therefore UKG responsibility. UKG are aware of the incident and the cause. As noted in the responses to your previous questions S6W-12519 and S6W-12628, The Scottish Government received confirmation from the UK Government’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency that a UK registered fishing vessel was the cause of damage to the subsea cable affecting telecommunications on Shetland.

The following table shows the number of entries to the Rural Skills National Progression Award at SCQF Level 5 for the 2022-23 academic year broken down by centre.

Entries to Rural Skills NPA at SCQF 5, 2022-23

The following table provides how many unclaimed deposits are currently in each of Scotland’s rental deposit schemes, and what their financial value is at end February 2023.

SafeDeposits Scotland annually check the scheme rules and some wording changes were made for clarity. There have been no significant changes to the revised scheme or original proposal referred to the Scottish Government for approval. Any considered changes would be discussed as part of routine monitoring discussions.

SafeDeposits Scotland have confirmed that there is only one version of the Scheme Rules available on the website.

The Scottish Government and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) remain committed to using the latest scientific consensus of established evidence to inform our view on ultra-processed foods.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) considered ultra-processed foods at a meeting in June 2022. SACN is now carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health. I understand SACN aims to publish a position paper on processed foods and health this summer.

Scottish Government and FSS await the outcome of this evidence review.

We are working closely with the Board and a Task Force has been set up to help the Board address local access issues. Unregistered patients will continue to be able to access emergency and urgent care via the Public Dental Service.

Scottish Government has also put in place a set of recruitment and retention incentives which pay £25,000 over a two year period to newly qualified dentists and those returning to the workforce after a five-year period, who wish to provide NHS dental care in Dumfries and Galloway. Grant funding of up to £100,000 is available to dentists that wish to establish a new, or expand or purchase an existing, NHS dental practice within the Board area.

We are also working apace on payments reform which will comprise a new, modernised system that will provide NHS dental teams with greater clinical discretion, and transparency for NHS patients. We are confident that this will help to sustain and increase NHS dental access as we move forward.

The Scottish Government continues to implement the 2018 GP Contract.

Five years on from the joint agreement between Scottish Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) on the 2018 GP contract, Health and Social Care Partnerships have made significant progress in the implementation of Primary Care Improvement Plans (PCIPs).

As of March 2022, 3,220 WTE multi-disciplinary team (MDT) members had been recruited to work in and with GP practices and the community, reducing practice workload and ensuring more patients see the right healthcare professional at the right time. An update on progress on MDT recruitment throughout 2022-23 will be published on 28 June 2023.

The Scottish Government and delivery partners such as Circularity Scotland, SEPA, and Zero Waste Scotland have regularly engaged with businesses on the Deposit Return Scheme. There are a number issues which businesses are working with partners on to ensure all involved are ready for launch on 1 March.

We have taken action to address a number of matters which are within our control and which businesses had raised concerns about. These include, but are not limited to:

• needing more preparation time to ready their business for the launch - we have given businesses an additional six and a half months to prepare for the scheme launch.

• impact on the hospitality industry - we exempted all premises that sell 90% or over of their drinks products for consumption on the premises from acting as a return point.
• impact on small producers – we completely excluded from the scheme products that sells fewer than 5,000 items a year.
• miniatures and other smaller containers may cause problems at return points – we completely excluded from the scheme all drinks containers under 100ml.
• administrative burden for retailers applying for exemptions – we have simplified the online process for retailers to apply for an exemption from operating a return point.

As we continue to prepare for a successful launch of the scheme we continue to wait on the UK Government to take any action to agree an exclusion from the Internal Market Act.

The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) comprises £65 million for the current Parliamentary term. In 2022-23, the Nature Restoration Fund made its annual allocation of £13.5 million available through two main strands, each of which is further sub-divided, as follows:

• The competitive strand, which is subdivided into;

- ‘ Helping Nature ’ projects less than £250,000 lasting 1-2 years

- ‘ Transforming Nature ’ projects greater than £250,000 lasting 2-4 years

• The Edinburgh Process strand, which is subdivided into;

- Direct allocations to Local Authorities and the National Parks

- A competitive top-up fund open to Local Authorities only

In 2022-23, the competitive strand comprised approximately £7 million (details of which can be found on NatureScot’s website at https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/scottish-government-nature-restoration-fund-nrf ); and a further £6.5 million was distributed through the ‘Edinburgh Process’ strand. I also refer to my answers in response to S6W-17674, S6W-17675, S6W-17677, S6W-17678 and S6W-17679 on 18 May 2023.

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 Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, which Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. Funding is not ring-fenced for cancer services. It is not therefore possible to provide this proportion of the budget since 2007-08.