Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23817 on 8 January 2024. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23817 on‎ 8 January 2024. 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 held a public consultation on its proposals to prohibit the use of snares and other cable restraints which concluded in October 2023.

The consultation highlighted that some individuals and businesses may see cost changes associated with changes to the way that they undertake control of foxes, brown hares and/or rabbits. Snares are a relatively resource un-intensive method of wildlife control compared to other methods such as shooting. The majority of land managers use shooting as their only or main method of control and this will remain a viable alternative.

The Scottish Government will work together with relevant stakeholders to minimise any impacts when a ban on snaring comes into force.

We also invited the Rural and Environment Land Management Group to submit a report on the use of snares by Scottish land management businesses. We considered this report alongside a report from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission. We concluded that other, more humane, methods of wildlife control are available to land managers in most circumstances and that a ban on the use of snares would have a significant benefit for wildlife welfare with only a minor impact on some rural businesses.

Scotland is committed to a just transition to net-zero and decarbonisation of industry is ‘mission critical’. Scottish Government is continuing to deliver the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which leverages private sector investment from energy intensive industries to deliver energy efficiency improvements to decarbonise industrial processes.

Scottish Government is also strengthening engagement with research networks and energy intensive industries to build evidence-based policy to support industrial decarbonisation. Scottish Government continues to liaise with UK Government on the many reserved policy, fiscal or regulatory levers that influence current incentives for industry to invest in decarbonisation.

In line with international reporting practice and independent advice from the UK Climate Change Committee, Scotland’s statutory climate change targets are set on the basis of long-term reductions in total net territorial emissions, and also include a share of emissions from international aviation and shipping. As set out in the answer to S6W-23278 on 11 December 2023 the Scottish Government has no plans to set per capita carbon budgets. There have not been any discussions or review of what a 'vehicle kms travelled' budget may look like for Scotland. 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/questions-and-answers

A breakdown of lead Directorates is available in the most recent Climate Change Committee progress report on adaptation (CCC, November 2023).The Committee’s recommendations for the highest priority climate risks to be addressed in the next Scottish National Adaptation Plan are broken down by Directorate on pages 18 and 19. Furthermore, each chapter ends with lead Directorates identified against specific policy recommendations relevant to the chapter.

Scottish Government values the NHS workforce and is committed to investing in Scotland’s NHS workforce. Official NHS Scotland workforce statistics show record high staffing levels across all professional groups as at September 2023, including Medical and Dental and Nursing and Midwifery staff.

On 23 November 2023 we announced an additional 153 training posts for junior doctors to be created across a wide range of medical specialties: the largest annual expansion on record. This brings the total number of extra training places created since 2014 to 880. These additional posts are supported by £42m of Scottish Government funding over the next four years and will be recruited to from 2024, with successful applicants taking up post in August 2024. We have also increased nursing student numbers every year for the last decade. In addition to this we are working closely with the RCN and the RCM as part of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce to develop alternative career pathways and working to widen access to nursing programmes.

Since autumn 2021 Scottish Government have invested £18m since autumn of 2021 to recruit 1,250 new registered nurses, midwives and allied health professionals from overseas by the end of this financial year. Over 1,000 staff have been successfully recruited to such posts so far. Scottish Government continues to encourage and support employers to prioritise wellbeing for their workforce and has launched a number of wellbeing resources. This includes the National Wellbeing Hub, the National Wellbeing Helpline and confidential mental health treatment through Workforce Specialist Service. We will continue to work with leaders across health, social care and social work as well as hearing directly from staff, to understand where the current pressures are, and what further actions can be taken to mitigate their impact on staff.

Scottish Government remains committed to reducing long waits, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, to ensure all people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible. We’ve opened two National Treatment Centres this year, with two further centres opening in the near future. These Centres provide additional capacity for patients across Scotland and are an integral part of the wider waiting times improvement programme.

The Scottish Government microplastics monitoring programme began in the winter of 2013, and has undertaken annual surveys since that time. 479 locations have been sampled between 2013 and 2022. These sample sites are distributed throughout the 11 Scottish Marine Regions and the Offshore Marine Regions. Not all Regions were sampled in every year and the number of sampling sites visited also varied between years.

The microplastics in surface water assessment in Scotland’s Marine Assessment 2020 gives the number of sample sites visited in each year from 2013-14 to 2019-20. This can be viewed at https://marine.gov.scot/sma/assessment/microplastics-surface-water In addition, the sites sampled each year up to and including 2021-22 can be viewed in the dataset published at https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/dataset-sources-sinks-and-hazards-micro-plastics-scotland%E2%80%99s-seas-2013-present/resource#{query:{from:400},view-grid:{columnsWidth:[{column:!season,width:157},{column:!date_deploy,width:149}]}} Data for 2022-23, and the current sampling year of 2023-24 have not yet been published.

It is primarily for the respective NHS Boards, including NHS Western Isles and NHS Highland who have a rolling arrangement based on associated financial projections, to negotiate and agree Service Level Agreements in the best interests of local people. Health Boards also regularly discuss and manage any associated issues in relation to service provision in visiting specialties, such as workforce and transport challenges.

Table 1 provides the number of attended outpatient appointments in consultant-led clinics at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion by financial year from 2004/05. It is not possible to provide figures for 1999-2003, as prior to 2004 activity at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion was recorded under the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh along with activity from other facilities on the Lauriston Place site.

Table 1: Outpatient attendances at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, 2004-05 to 2022-23