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The Scottish Government received representations regarding Reverse Vending Machine relief from the Scottish Retail Consortium and a supermarket retailer.

Funding of £18 billion is provided for the health portfolio in 2022-23. This builds on frontline health spending in Scotland that, per head, is 2.2% (£74) higher than in Wales and 10.6% (£323) higher than in England - equivalent to around 10, 000 nurses and 44, 000 nurses, respectively - and takes investment in our frontline NHS Boards to £12.4 billion. This investment supports both existing staff costs and ongoing recruitment, in line with local workforce and service planning.

In addition to this, in October this year funding of £7.98 million was announced to recruit up to 750 nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to offset the up-front recruitment costs of international recruitment by the end of March 2023. Last winter we announced funding to build infrastructure within boards and support international recruitment to recruit at least 200 registered nurses. By the end of August 2022 c.230 nurses have been recruited. Boards may also independently pursue overseas recruitment for specific roles or indeed as part of a campaign and routinely do so.

In Scotland the provision of education is the responsibility of local authorities who have a duty under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to provide adequate and efficient school education. Under the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000 the local authority is responsible for improving the quality of education within their schools with a view to raising standards.

In the case of Dargavel Primary School, Renfrewshire Council is responsible for ensuring the quality of education within the school and any concerns should be raised with them.

Renfrewshire Council has commissioned an independent review to determine what went wrong and why – the findings of which will be made public.

The Council is working on a long-term solution for the school, and has committed to engaging with parents and carers on proposals.

Scottish Government officials meet regularly with their Welsh Government counterparts sharing best practice, including discussing mobility programmes and ways to maximise participation opportunities for those who need it most. In this context, wider discussion around mobility and exchange, including Taith, take place regularly to ensure both sides collaborate, are up to date and improve efficiency in developing and delivering opportunities for learning and exchange.

We are taking the capacity issues at Dargavel Primary School very seriously, and we continue to be in close contact with Renfrewshire Council.

On 30 November, I met with Dargavel Primary Parent Council, Neil Bibby MSP and Natalie Don MSP, and had a constructive discussion about this important matter. Officials will remain in close contact with the Council on this matter going forward.

As set out in answer to S6T-00961, the Scottish Government will consider the recommendations made in the Asylum Inquiry Scotland’s inquiry report when preparing our response to it. That response will be published in due course. I have already written to the Home Secretary to seek a meeting about the issues raised in the Asylum Inquiry Scotland report and the wider asylum system.

All answers to Topical Questions are available on the Official Report, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-15-11-2022?meeting=13988&iob=126730

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12299 on‎ 1 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

Consultation was undertaken on the broad principles of land use change with Scottish Forestry (SF) and RPID, prior to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) submitting their offer. Officials from FLS would be happy to provide the responses received from SF / RPID.

The Scottish Government received a copy of the letter on the evening of 22 November 2022.

A Steering Group comprising staff from NatureScot and Scottish Government is undertaking the goose management policy review.

A six-week stakeholder consultation concluded on 17 October 2022 in which stakeholders were invited to comment on the effectiveness of current national goose policy and its delivery, to identify issues and make suggestions for future national goose policy.

Invitations were extended to individual members of the National Goose Forum and Local Goose Management Groups, and NatureScot’s web pages provided open access to the questionnaire to other interested parties.

257 stakeholders submitted questionnaire responses.

The results from the questionnaire have been summarised and the key themes include concerns around greylag geese, funding and how goose management might be supported in future.

The next steps are: for the Policy Steering Group to engage with Local Goose Management Groups and other stakeholders to share the summary responses with them, to confirm they accurately reflect their views, to ask them which issues are of greatest concern to them, and how they would like their concerns to be addressed through future goose policy. These discussions are ongoing, and will be completed before Christmas.

Production of the report by NatureScot has been delayed slightly due to pressures of the additional work being generated with regard to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This delay will allow NatureScot to ensure the impacts of HPAI are taken into consideration as part of the review.

Following the completion of the review, NatureScot will produce a report for Scottish Ministers in Spring 2023.

In the meantime, the Steering Group will share a draft report with stakeholders and engage in further stakeholder discussions in February 2023.