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Announcements of ministerial appointments to all public bodies, including NHS boards, since 2020 can be found on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/collections/public-appointments-announcements/. Each announcement includes a declaration of any political activity within the five years preceding appointment.

This information is not available for appointments prior to 2020 and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Funding provided by the Scottish Government (Chief Scientist Office) for research falls into three broad areas of activity, i.e. research studies, capacity building and supporting infrastructure.

The specific amounts provided by condition are set out below although it should be noted that research studies (funded by non-commercial and third sector organisations) would also have benefited from the provision of service support costs and other generic resources which are not routinely recorded by condition.

Research Grants

The Chief Scientist Office supports response mode grant committees and a small catalytic grants scheme (2016-19). The committees which comprise independent experts as well as public representatives consider applications across broad research remits to address health and care challenges in Scotland. Applications are subject to independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by the committees. It should be noted that (1) funding rounds were significantly impacted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which saw a significant research response and (2) for 2024 to date only one of the two funding rounds has been completed.

Jayam Dalal is a Public Appointments Adviser appointed by the Ethical Standards Commissioner for Scotland (ESC) at the commencement of regulated Ministerial appointment rounds. The Scottish Government does not retain the information requested, however, we have asked the ESC for the information who has confirmed that in the last ten years Ms Dalal has participated in 30 appointment rounds. Of those, she was a full selection panel member for sixteen rounds. For the remaining fourteen rounds, Ms Dalal provided oversight and advice at the planning phase but was not part of the selection panel.

The economic and social benefits of salmon farming are clear. The sector produces the UK’s number 1 food export and supports around 12,000 jobs in Scotland across its supply chain, providing a steady stream of revenue to Scotland’s coastal communities.

National Planning Framework 4’s policy on aquaculture seeks to ensure that new aquaculture development is in locations that reflect industry needs and considers the impacts of proposed developments and how producers contribute to communities and local economies. The new National Marine Plan 2 will set out a coherent vision for the future development of Scotland’s land and seas and will guide all marine licensing and consenting decisions.

The planning system ultimately delivers a cost benefit analysis of every development proposal. The planning system carefully considers the economic, social and environmental impacts of fish farms and experienced local authority planners are charged with making decisions in the best interest of their communities and in line with the statutory development plan.

We continue to believe it is for local authorities to analyse the impacts of development proposals through the planning system.

The maintenance costs for MV Caledonian Isles for the past three years are included within the following table:

The number of treatments (including enhanced examinations) is compiled on the basis of claims made to Practitioner Services for payment within agreed working schedules and monthly activity is therefore not always presented on a directly comparable basis. For example, the September payment schedule period contained 20 working days which is lower than the average schedule period (c.24 working days), resulting in a small reduction to prior months’ claims.

Practitioners Services will periodically close the schedules to allow other payments to be made to dentists, such as quarterly allowance payments.

The Scottish Government has maintained its commitment to No Compulsory Redundancy since 2007 and there is no change to the commitment set out in the multi-year 2024-25 Public Sector pay Policy published on 30 May 2024.

The 2025-26 Draft Budget has also set out a 10-year programme of Public Service Reform to Parliament, with a strong focus on the data, levers and workforce that will drive efficiency. To enable this work, we will deliver an Invest to Save fund in 2025-26, backed by up to £30 million of funding recognising the need to catalyse efficiency, effectiveness and productivity projects as part of the PSR programme.

The Scottish Government does not record the historic average percentage pay increase for public sector staff due to the complexities associated with calculating the impact of in year promotions, progression increments within pay scales and the large volume of new starts and leavers.

The MV Caledonian Isles entered dry dock for her annual overhaul at Dales, Greenock on 4 January 2024. The vessel moved to Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead on 11 February 2024 for additional steel works to be undertaken. She departed there on 14 September 2024 and was due to return to service on the on 23 September 2024. However, engineers identified metallic debris in the oil filter for the Port propulsion gearbox and she has remained off service. The vessel is currently at James Watt Dock Greenock undergoing further investigative works. As a precaution and to allow contingency measures to be put in place on affected routes CalMac have planned for the vessel being unavailable for the duration for the winter timetable period which ends on 27 March 2025.

CalMac anticipate having a more detailed estimate of the timing of the required work in the coming weeks.

There have been no discussions between Transport Scotland, CalMac and CMAL on removing the MV Caledonian Isles from service. CalMac is currently working through a data gathering assessment to quantify the requirement for further repairs on the vessel. Once this phase is complete, the outcome and options for progression will be discussed between CalMac, CMAL and Transport Scotland.