Seòmar agus comataidhean

Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament.

RoS is predominantly funded by the fees which it charges for the services it provides. In FY 23-24 RoS’s income from fees was £94.6m.

Beyond that RoS are currently allocated a capital (CDEL) budget each year, a budget to cover non-cash costs such as depreciation (RDEL) and a budget to cover forecast movements in accounting provisions (AME).

During 23-24 these three budget lines totalled £11.2m, which is 10.7% of RoS’s total expenditure of £104.8m.

The Scottish Government promotes community engagement with local radio stations through a number of ways.

We recognise the importance of ensuring people across Scotland have access to important information and radio of course provides a vital service. That is why we continue to use local radio operators as part of our public health marketing campaigns across Scotland.

The Scottish Government speaks regularly with Ofcom, the regulator for communications services who allocate the Community Radio Fund throughout Scotland to promote Scottish interests in community radio.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33014 on 21 January 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

The theft of railway materials is an important issue. It is for the police to enforce criminal laws such as theft and the Scottish Government fully supports the police taking the necessary action to hold perpetrators to account.

In terms of the resale of stolen railway materials, attempts may be made to sell these to metal dealers.

There is a licensing scheme for metal dealers and itinerant metal dealers under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (“the 1982 Act”). The Scottish Government has taken action to raise standards within the industry, and make it more difficult for metal thieves to convert the proceeds of crime into cash. These changes were made via the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”), which amended the 1982 Act, strengthening and modernising the existing regime.

The 2015 Act provided new definitions for metal dealer and itinerant metal dealer, thereby extending the scope of the regime. It tightened record keeping arrangements and required proper identification of customers. It also increased penalties for licensing offences.

In more detail, the 2015 Act raised the penalties for failure to have an appropriate metal dealer or itinerant metal dealer licence, or failure to comply with licence conditions. The maximum penalty on summary conviction for operating without a licence without reasonable excuse, or for operating in breach of a condition of a licence, was increased to a fine not exceeding £20,000 and/or imprisonment of no longer than six months. The 2015 Act also amended the 1982 Act to provide for forms of payment that may be accepted by a metal dealer or itinerant metal dealer. This permits payment by bank transfer or cheque and means cash is not an acceptable method of payment.

Please see below for a breakdown of the collective advertising spend given to community radio stations over the past five financial years, as the 2024-25 financial year is not yet complete the information is not included. This breakdown includes a list of the stations that received advertising spend within each year. Information on individual spend per radio station is not available to us as this is deemed commercially sensitive.

Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament.

The work of the Registers of Scotland is demand led, depending on the volume of activity in the housing market. RoS is continuously working to improve its efficiency and thereby keep its running costs as low as possible. The costs of running RoS are largely covered by the fees charged for its services, and that is expected to remain the position.

Allocating spectrum and assessing appropriate levels of local content is the responsibility of Ofcom. While spectrum regulation is not a devolved matter, the Scottish Government maintains a close interest in stakeholder and audience views in relation to reception and spectrum allocation because of the wider implications for the economic, creative and cultural sectors in Scotland.

We continue to set out to Ofcom and the UK Government that maintaining and developing a radio network in Scotland that meets the specific needs for both urban and rural areas across the country, is key to ensuring audiences in Scotland are kept informed and entertained, and we will continue to do so. Our view remains that it is essential that local voices and coverage of local issues are protected and enhanced, and that the regulatory framework should allow for clear and effective regulation of the requirements.

Fundamentally, we believe that broadcasting should be devolved so that the decisions that impact audiences and the creative industries in Scotland can be determined by the Scottish public through the Scottish Parliament.

The proportion of Scottish Government marketing spend that has been allocated to community radio in each of the previous five years is as follows:

The distribution of doctors in training is managed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). This has traditionally worked within a distribution model of 50:25:15:10 for the West, South East, North and East respectively.

Aligning to Scottish Government commitments, which include the remote and rural and island initiatives, NES have been reviewing alignment to population health data, consultant and GP vacancies and an increased need for generalism. This review is leading to a redistribution of where doctors train recognising the changing locations and demographics of our population.

Advertising effectiveness is evaluated in a range of ways. Firstly, figures are provided to show the reach (how many people we reached) and frequency (how many times we reached them), both overall and by advertising channel. These figures are calculated by the Scottish Government’s independent media planning and buying agencies, using audited sector data where available.