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The Scottish Government is collaborating with four nations partners on the adoption of data standards and has representation on various UK-level groups. Through our Data Strategy for Health and Social Care we have committed to setting out the preferred standards for use across the sector to facilitate interoperability and the sharing of patient records. In progressing this aim we have recently engaged with English and Welsh colleagues on their approach to adopting and publishing standards.

The Scottish Government has no plans to reinstate the Carers Register in GP practices.

The Carers Register was previously undertaken by practices as part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). The requirement for practices to complete the QOF was removed in 2016 and quality planning, improvement and assurance within general practice is now carried out through GP Clusters.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role played by carers and practices can continue to use markers on their patient registrations to recognise those with caring duties.

I shall lead a debate in Parliament on the recommendations of the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment on 28 February 2024.

The Scottish Government fully supports rail freight and modal shift, thus this is outlined in the 2016 rail freight strategy https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/5362/ts-rail-freight-strategy-a4-aw3.pdf

In 2019 Network Rail, and the industry, developed a comprehensive Industry Growth Plan for Rail Freight and an updated Plan for longer-term growth is being developed.

Our priority for supporting Rail freight remains in facilitating more efficient operation - through investment in capacity, adjustment of passenger services and encouraging and requiring Network Rail to support rail freight. We want rail freight to be competitive without the need for subsidy.

The existing "Scottish Government Records Management Health and Social Care Code of Practice (Scotland) 2020 has short section on dealing with health records of those who identify as transgender. This links to guidance from the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, the General Medical Council and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). It was recognised in 2020 that it was an area under development, and subsequently the Scottish Government's Chief Statistician issued guidance for public bodies on the collection of data on sex and gender (2021). The draft Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care, due out in the spring of 2024 aims to incorporate the Chief Statistician's guidance along with feedback from stakeholders and provide further guidance to NHS Boards.

We recognise the scale and impact of heart disease across Scotland and have set out our strategic direction to address this in our 2021 Heart Disease Action Plan. This includes actions to ensure that people with suspected heart disease have timely and equitable access to diagnosis, treatment and care.

We are making progress in the delivery of these actions including the development of nationally agreed pathways and ensuring the effective use of data to drive improvements.

We expect Health Boards’ 2024-25 annual delivery plans (due March) to clearly set out how they will increase productivity and reduce waiting times across all inpatient, day-case, outpatient specialities.

The Scottish Government continues to improve provision of maternity and neonatal services through implementation of The Best Start: A Five Year forward plan for Maternity and Neonatal care in Scotland.

We receive regular reporting from Health Boards stating they have accommodation provisions in place to support and meet the needs of the parents.

With the announcement of the new model of neonatal care the Scottish Government have commissioned RSM UK to provide detailed analysis of the capacity requirements associated with the new model.

Seven of the Scottish Government’s international offices held Burns Night celebrations; three events were held in co-ordination with the respective UK Government offices and representatives.

Below is a list of the seven offices and where they were held in collaboration with UK Government representatives.

Beijing

Berlin (co-hosted with the British Ambassador with both UK and SG representatives attending)

Brussels

Copenhagen (co-produced, co-hosted, and co-funded with the British Ambassador with both UK and SG representatives attending)

Dublin

London

Washington DC (coordinated in collaboration with UK representatives)

The Scottish Government does not hold information about meetings between College Employers Scotland and trade unions.

However, it is my intention, in the coming weeks, to convene a roundtable discussion, with all partners, to discuss the next steps.

A note of the Head Teacher Taskforce meeting held on 27 June 2023 can be accessed here: Head Teacher Taskforce on Exclusion minutes: June 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .