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a) The Scottish Deans Medical Education Group, now known as the Leads for Undergraduate Medicine Scotland (LUMES), reviewed the module and found the contents valuable.

b) We understand that rather than implementing stand-alone modules, medical schools in Scotland seek to integrate ME/CFS education throughout the existing medical curriculum.

Embedding relevant knowledge across the curriculum seeks to ensure that students encounter the condition in various contexts, including neurology and general practice.

We are advised that LUMES considers that incorporating the module’s key learning outcomes into institutions’ current teaching methods better aligns with existing educational strategies. This approach is in line with other conditions, to ensure graduates have a comprehensive and cohesive learning experience and develop a holistic perspective.

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

RoS charge a range of different fees for various types of application. The following table details the main application types. Further information on RoS fees and types of application is available on the RoS website, www.ros.gov.uk.

It is not possible for FLS to maintain and hold data on the final destination of venison that it sells beyond keeping records of sales to meat processing establishments. Final destinations for venison is a decision for downstream businesses in the supply chain.

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

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.

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.

UK data from the General Medical Council (GMC) shows that the reported trend of Foundation Year 2 doctors delaying NHS specialty training in Scotland is similar to the trend in the UK as a whole. There are a number of possible (and complex) explanations for this trend but progression data from the GMC shows that 90% of trainees have obtained a specialty training post in the UK within three years of completing the Foundation Programme.

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

RoS is predominantly funded by the fees which it charges for the services it provides. In FY 23-24 RoS’s income from fees was £94.6m.

Beyond that RoS are currently allocated a capital (CDEL) budget each year, a budget to cover non-cash costs such as depreciation (RDEL) and a budget to cover forecast movements in accounting provisions (AME).

During 23-24 these three budget lines totalled £11.2m, which is 10.7% of RoS’s total expenditure of £104.8m.

The Scottish Government has not made specific representations to the UK Government in relation to spectrum policy, however we continue to engage with Ofcom, who has responsibility for allocating spectrum and assessing appropriate levels of local content, to press for a network of radio stations that ensure that Scotland’s needs across rural and urban areas are met.

Ofcom is reviewing public service media and the Scottish Government will be closely engaging with this and making representations on the importance of a diversity of voices being maintained and strengthened across broadcasting services in Scotland, including community radio.

The Scottish Government responded to Ofcom’s last review of public service broadcasting setting out our expectation for enhancing representation of people and place in Scotland to strengthen the a sense of community and culture. Local voices and coverage of local issues, whether through news coverage, or programming about and told by the people in Scotland’s diverse communities, need to be protected in the regulatory framework.

Fundamentally, we believe that broadcasting should be devolved so that the decisions that impact audiences and the creative industries in Scotland can be determined by the Scottish public through the Scottish Parliament.