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NHS boards are provided with monthly reports on the activity levels of practices providing NHS activity. We have set out through NHS Boards action plans for those practices with lower levels of activity with the intention of seeing substantial increases from them in the immediate future.

I can confirm that the Scottish Government has spent £2.95m to date on essential design and preparation work on the proposed £24m grade separated junction at Laurencekirk. As confirmed in answer to question S5W-25043 on
‎ 20 September 2019, the scheme is part of a package of additional investment alongside, but separate to, the Aberdeen City Region Deal, as such it is being taken forward under the Scottish Government’s Motorways and Trunk Roads Capital Land and Works budget. The cost estimate will continue to be updated as the scheme design develops and progresses through the statutory procedures.

Further to the answer to question S6W-02821 on 23 September 2021, Transport Scotland continues to work with objectors, including Aberdeenshire Council, to resolve concerns where possible, however, should Transport Scotland be unsuccessful in removing all objections a public local inquiry may be required as part of the necessary statutory procedures. As with all trunk road projects this is the appropriate forum for considering objections received and not withdrawn.

Delivery of the scheme itself can only commence if it is approved under the relevant statutory procedures, at which point a timetable for its progress can be set.

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

Foster carers are classed as self-employed and, therefore, receive payments in the form of foster carer fees and allowances. Responsibility for paying and setting levels of both foster carer fees and foster care allowances - along with consideration of any adjustment in line with inflation - lies with the relevant local authority.

The Scottish Government is working with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for both foster and kinship carers across Scotland.

Responsibility for financial support to foster carers registered with Glasgow City Council is a matter for Glasgow City Council. Consideration of any uplift in their foster carer’s allowances to bring them in line with inflation is a matter for the local authority to consider.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of racism, including antisemitism. We adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in June 2017. This is the Scottish Government position and it applies to all Ministers.

Institutions are aware of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and many are actively consulting within their communities on it. I understand that five institutions have made the decision to adopt the definition following detailed consideration. However, as autonomous bodies, adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism remains a matter for each institution to consider individually, with its staff and student communities.

Importantly, Universities Scotland and all 19 higher education institutions have been clear that there is absolutely no place for antisemitism nor racial or religious intolerance of any kind, in higher education.

Universities Scotland is actively engaging with the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) and has welcomed the opportunity to discuss the IHRA definition of antisemitism and current issues faced by Jewish students. It has confirmed that it is working with SCoJeC on a programme of action to share good practice across institutions and to find ways of offering more support to Jewish students across the sector, particularly where communities are very small in number.

UJS offers training to students and most recently, following a successful pilot at an English institution, to university staff on antisemitism. Universities Scotland has advised that this is something that several Scottish HEIs are interested in exploring. You may also be aware that Universities UK produced a practical guide to tackling antisemitism in collaboration with UJS in 2021.

The Scottish Government is actively engaged in consultation with Jewish students, Jewish community organisations, and stakeholders in higher education as part of our wider approach to tackling antisemitism.

On 23 February 2022, I held a round table discussion on antisemitism in higher education with Jewish students, representatives from the Jewish community, and stakeholders from the higher education sector. The event was organised in response to a letter from UJS regarding universities and the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

It was an opportunity for students to share their experiences of antisemitism and also to hear from stakeholders about the work they are doing to confront this issue in practice. The discussion was very productive, with all parties agreeing to undertake positive actions to address antisemitism on campus going forward. A summary of the meeting will be published on the Scottish Government website, and made publicly accessible, in due course.

Funding under the Young Patients Family Fund is available to eligible visitors of all young inpatients. Requirement for in-patient care can vary by condition and type of treatment, and some patients may have multiple conditions or treatments over time. For these reasons we do not collect data on individual conditions.

The Master Policy is the compulsory professional indemnity insurance arrangement which covers all Scottish solicitors working in private practice, arranged by the Law Society of Scotland it exists to ensure that where someone establishes a valid claim for negligence against a solicitor, that claim will be paid - even if the solicitor is no longer in practice, no longer solvent or cannot be traced.

Prior to making a claim one must establish that a solicitor acted in a negligent way. Many claims are resolved by negotiation. Where negotiations fail, one may wish to raise court proceedings. In respect of a civil claim for negligence, an individual may choose to take this forward using a success fee agreement provided for by the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018. Success fee agreements provide clarity on the amount a client can be asked to pay their solicitor and place a cap on the level of the success fee that a solicitor can recover from a client’s damages, providing for greater consumer protection.

In addition, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has an oversight function, to monitor and make recommendations on the effectiveness, including improvement, of the Master Policy professional indemnity arrangements to the Law Society of Scotland. The Scottish Government liaised with the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to consult on amendments to the Master policy in December 2020, which would seek, as far as possible, to ensure that where awards of redress are made under the statutory complaints process, the complainer will receive redress in full.

Funding for devices was provided to local authorities by the Scottish Government. As such, local authorities undertook their own procurement exercises and devices purchased became assets of, and are managed by, individual local authorities. Decisions on their use are taken locally. We do not hold information on how devices are used and monitored.

The status of a landfill site can be described as either ‘Operational’, ‘Closure’, ‘Definite Closure’ or ‘Aftercare’.

Landfill sites are not considered formally closed until they reach ‘Definite Closure’ status. Sites in the Closure phase are those which are no longer accepting waste, but could potentially be made operational again in the future.

The Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 outline the formal legal process behind the closure of landfill sites to achieve Definite Closure.

As per these regulations, closing procedures to achieve Definite Closure begin when either the conditions specified in the landfill permit are satisfied; when SEPA initiate closing procedures following a request from the landfill operator; or following a reasoned decision of SEPA set out in a closure notice.

Closing procedures will not be completed until the reports from the operator, as required by SEPA, have been submitted to and assessed by SEPA; a final on-site inspection is carried out by SEPA; and SEPA have given the operator notice in writing that it approves the closure of the landfill site.

Once Definite Closure has been established the site is considered to be in its aftercare phase. The aftercare phase will continue until such time as an application to surrender the permit is approved. The site is regulated and monitored by SEPA throughout the operational, closure, definite closure and aftercare phases.

Further information can be found in SEPA guidance WST-G-56 ‘Guidance on Closed Landfill Regulated under Pollution Prevention and Control’.

South of Scotland Enterprise advertised for four new Board members in Autumn 2021. Applicants were asked to demonstrate evidence of their skills, knowledge and experience in one of three areas: land based industries; governance/strategic management; or digital transformation.

The Scottish Government received 47 completed applications for the advertised vacancies. Of these, over a third (16 applicants) set out evidence under the ‘land-based industry’ criterion. However, it is possible that other applicants, who chose to set out evidence against one of the other criteria instead, may also have experience in land based industries.