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We are committed to exploring opportunities to target long-term vacant and derelict land to deliver sustainable inclusive growth and mitigate climate change as part of the Green Recovery.

In October 2020 we welcomed the Vacant and Derelict Land Taskforce’s report and recommendations. Since then, we have been working with the Scottish Land Commission and key stakeholders to develop detailed proposals to help deliver a culture change in Scotland’s approach to vacant and derelict land. In addition much of our current work already aligns with the recommendations.

A key recommendation was the establishment of a national programme of investment to bring our legacy of vacant and derelict land back into use in ways that will contribute to a fair and green recovery, support job creation and skills development and help rebuild community resilience.

In response to that recommendation, in March 2021, we opened our new £50m low carbon Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme, which is being delivered over an initial five year period. It will help to open up for new use persistent vacant and derelict sites, which are especially prevalent in disadvantaged areas. This will create opportunities for new green infrastructure, and support place-based approaches to regeneration and a just transition to net zero.

On 31 May, Zero Waste Scotland in partnership with Scottish Government and Keep Scotland Beautiful launched the second phase of the anti-littering campaign, Scotland is Stunning, which targeted families and young people enjoying the outdoors.

Zero Waste Scotland has also developed a number of behaviour change initiatives and education resources aimed at school children, including the #GetLitterLiterate campaign which aims to teach students about the harmful effects of littering and mobilise them to influence their local and online communities.

Work has begun to refresh the National Litter Strategy, which has come to the end of its five year lifespan, as a National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. This refreshed strategy will be published in early 2022. Recognising the important role of education in litter prevention, communications and behaviour change has been identified as one of the four key themes which will be the focus of this refreshed strategy.

This government has seen a 54.2% increase in the consultant radiologist workforce (from 223.5 WTE in September 2006 to 344.6 WTE in March 2021). While information on numbers of radiologists according to specialist cancer fields is not centrally held, the numbers of Clinical Radiology Consultants currently employed in each NHS Board, including Doctors in Training, are as set out in the following table:

NHSScotland Clinical Radiology Consultants, staff in post by NHS Board in Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) including Doctors in Training.

Please find the requested information set out in the following table.

Medical students who are studying medicine full-time as a first degree are entitled to the standard undergraduate student support package for their full period of study. This means their tuition fees are paid by the Scottish Government through Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) – plus they can apply to SAAS for loans and bursaries to help with living costs dependent on their individual circumstances.

The only bursary specifically for Medical Students is a £4,000 per annum optional ‘return of service’ bursary offered to those who secure a place on ScotGEM – which is a graduate-entry undergraduate medical programme. If the bursary is accepted in all 4 years of study, amounting to £16,000 overall, the student would be expected to remain and work within NHS Scotland for 4 years following graduation.

ACER UK Limited was one of three companies to submit a tender for the contract for phase two delivery of the national standardised assessments in Scotland – incorporating both the Scottish National Standardised Assessments and their Gaelic equivalent, the Measaidhean Coitcheann Niseanta airson Foghlam tron Ghidhlig.

ACER’s tender did not progress to the Price Analysis stage of the evaluation as it did not achieve the minimum requirements for the Quality Analysis stage. Cost comparisons with the successful tender cannot therefore be drawn.

The Scottish Government recognises how important healthy meals are for boosting children’s energy, concentration and behaviour which, in turn, leads to improvements in academic attainment.

All children in primaries 1 to 3 have benefitted from access to free school lunches since January 2015, and from this month all children in funded early learning and childcare are receiving a free meal in every session. Ministers are now committed to going further by expanding free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools during the course of this parliamentary session, as well as introducing free year-round breakfast and lunch provision to support children outside of the school term. We are also committed to piloting approaches to universal meal provision in secondary schools.

To start delivering on this commitment, we have provided local authorities with funding of £49.75 million to enable them to provide support to families who are eligible for free school meals during the school summer holidays, and to expand the provision of free school lunches during school term-time to all children in primaries 4 and 5, throughout the course of this school year. Further expansion of universal free school lunches will be delivered for children in primaries 6 and 7 by August 2022.

In addition to the free meal commitments, the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme launched on 1 August 2021 replacing the existing UK Nursery Milk Scheme in Scotland. All pre-schoolers who spend two hours or more a day in eligible childcare settings registered with the scheme will be entitled to a serving of fresh milk. Unlike the UK scheme, a piece of fruit or portion of vegetables will also be offered and children who cannot drink cow’s milk for medical, ethical or religious reasons will be offered a specified non-dairy alternative.

This is a major programme of change during this Parliament that will deliver benefits for hundreds of thousands of children.

The new contract will see the continued provision of online assessments for children and young people in P1, P4, P7 and S3. The Specification of Requirements published as part of the Invitation to Tender identified the areas in which continuity of provision is required (general assessment principles, presentation policy and coverage; reports coverage; training coverage; branding), and highlighted some areas around which enhancements were sought. The primary difference between the phase 1 contracts and the phase 2 contract is that rather than continuing to deliver two online systems through two separate contracts, phase two will see the establishment of a single assessment platform, which will provide access to both the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) and their Gaelic Medium Education equivalents, the Measaidhean Coitcheann Niseanta airson Foghlam tron Ghidhlig (MCNG).

How to treat ear wax is a clinical decision: ear syringing is not the current preferred procedure and is no longer routinely provided by clinicians.

NHS Lanarkshire has continued to provide services to patients throughout the pandemic. However, due to the pressures of the pandemic some routine condition management needed to be paused but only in those instances where it is safe to do so.

Patients who have sought private treatment will not be reimbursed.