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The Scottish Government remains committed to the Scotland-Malawi relationship, with funding continuing to support programmes focused on health, inclusive education, equalities, renewable energy and climate justice, as well as financial support for civil society links between Scotland and Malawi. However, there are no plans to open any further Scottish Government international offices during this parliamentary term.

The following tables present the estimated number of self-catering properties receiving Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief as at 1 June 2024, broken down in Table 1 by assessor, and in Table 2 by local authority, for properties receiving 100% SBBS, 25% SBBS, other proportions of SBBS, and no SBBS relief. These tables include all self-catering properties on the valuation roll.

The occupier of a non-domestic property is statutorily liable for non-domestic rates (though in prescribed circumstances the council can transfer the liability to the owner of the property where the occupier and the owner are different). It is not possible from information held to determine whether the occupier is also the owner of a property and therefore who the beneficiary of any relief would be.

It is also not possible to provide the number of self-catering properties receiving SBBS relief for the financial year 2023-2024. This is due to data issues within the 2023 Billing System snapshot. Equivalent figures for 2022-2023 can be found in the response to question S6W-12631 on 12 December 2022. 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 cannot reliably estimate the cumulative rateable value of each ratepayer’s non-domestic properties and can therefore not state the number of self-catering units not in receipt of SBBS relief due to having a combined rateable value in excess of £35,000. From 1 April 2023, SBBS relief includes a taper from 100% for properties with a rateable value up to and including £12,000, to 25% where the rateable value is £15,000, and to 0% where the rateable value is £20,000 or higher. Eligibility for non-domestic rates reliefs, including SBBS, is set out in legislation and it is for local authorities to administer reliefs to eligible properties in accordance with that legislation.

Figures are rounded to the nearest ten, and those relating to more than zero but fewer than five units have been marked [low] to distinguish from actual zero values. The data sources for both tables are the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 June 2024, and local authority reliefs information as at 1 June 2024. Final outturn data for 2024-2025 may vary.

Table 1: Number of self-catering properties receiving SBBS relief as at 1 June 2024, by assessor and SBBS percentage

With regard to a), Scottish Government does not have precise information but we understand that an estimated 110,000 animals were processed by the three largest venison processors in Scotland in 2022-23. However, this figure includes around 20,000 carcasses originating from England and New Zealand. Some wild deer will also have been processed for commercial meat sales by smaller establishments and some will have been sold direct to the public at the farm gate.

With regard to b), we do not collect information on carcasses integrated back into the local ecosystems. Industry advise that deer are left on the hill very rarely and only by exception, where the animal has been checked to ensure there is no disease but is otherwise unfit for human consumption or because extraction of the carcase poses a risk to the safety of the stalker, for example because of steep and rocky ground.

With regard to c), this information is not available.

No formal assessment has been made of the potential economic impact of increasing the number of culled deer entering the food supply chain. There is a great opportunity, however, for the industry including venison processors and retailers to promote this local, healthy and sustainable protein and increase venison consumption.

The number of established training places in each specialty is determined by anticipated future demand and workforce need for consultants and General Practitioners rather than foundation programme numbers.

While resident doctors are eligible to apply to specialty training after completing foundation training, other career routes are available and many choose deferred application or alternative routes including periods in locally employed doctor roles or periods of travel alongside options to develop their skills and experience through SAS grade roles. Data shows a trend of increasing proportions of Foundation Year 2 doctors delaying NHS specialty training in the whole of the UK and in Scotland. However, of all the cohorts from 2017 to 2021, only 8% of Foundation Year 2 doctors did not receive any offer of a training post after applying in the same year they completed foundation training.

There is no evidence to show that the reduction in Foundation Year 2 doctors entering specialty training has had an impact on the availability of medical professionals. Progression data from the General Medical Council shows that 90% of trainees have obtained a specialty training post in the UK within three years of completing the Foundation Programme.

The overall cost of training Foundation Year 2 doctors from August 2023 to July 2024 was £56,590,177.

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

RoS formally surveys its customers (professionals and citizens) twice a year through the Customer Services Institute to benchmark customer satisfaction and customer effort. RoS uses the information provided to make improvements to RoS’s services. RoS consistently achieves customer satisfaction scores and customer effort scores that are significantly better than the public sector benchmark.

In addition, RoS adheres to the Scottish Approach to Service Design (https://www.gov.scot/publications/the-scottish-approach-to-service-design/) with activity including research sessions. Around 250 such sessions were held during the last year along with 20 live webinars for customers spanning 14 topics of customer/user interest.

RoS have a monthly accessibility clinic working alongside colleagues from the Scottish Government and regularly research with customers to ensure their services follow the web content accessibility guidelines, (wcag 2.2 www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/ ).

RoS also maintains an effective network meeting regularly with key stakeholders including lenders, UK Finance, and The Law Society of Scotland’s Property Law Committee ensuring visibility and opportunity for lenders, solicitors and conveyancing professional bodies and individuals to contact them with questions, improvement suggestions or service delivery concerns.

Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament and Digital transformation and modernisation of the Registers of Scotland systems are the responsibility of the Keeper.

RoS is delivering a significant programme of digital transformation and modernisation. This has moved RoS’s registers to the cloud; enabled applications to be submitted digitally; and enabled customers to self-serve digital information from the registers; as well as significantly modernising the internal digital tools used by RoS to process applications.

The Scottish Government sets out the Digital Scotland Service Standards which RoS adheres to and RoS staff have taken part in training and development from the Scottish Government’s Digital Academy.

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

The following operating costs figures are provided from RoS annual report and accounts (which can be accessed via the RoS website www.ros.gov.uk)