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The Scottish Government published the National Marine Plan in 2015, which sets out the marine planning and policy framework for Scottish inshore waters (out to 12 nautical miles) and offshore waters (12 to 200 nautical miles). This plan was delivered in accordance with the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, an Act of the Scottish Parliament, and by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, an Act of the UK Parliament, respectively.

The Scottish Government undertakes regular reviews of the National Marine Plan. The most recent review was published in March 2021. Additionally, the Scottish Government carries out sectoral marine planning and supports Marine Planning Partnerships to undertake marine planning at a regional level, allowing more local ownership and decision making about specific issues within their area. All of these planning processes are subject to plan-level strategic assessments to ensure impacts are fairly measured and assessed.

In designing the new service yard and garage, both the safety of the overall operating system and the safety of those using and accessing the garage were fully considered and assessed.   

Design assessments were made in relation to users’ safety and these assessments included: 

·        A design specification, setting out the safety requirements of the new system.  

·        An access report, covering the proposed flow of vehicle travel in the system.  

·        A design risk assessment.  This was carried out by the gate manufacturer to reduce or eliminate risks from gates and barriers with appropriate safety measures.   

·        Safety features including automated traffic controls and safety sensors on all moving parts, including all barriers and gates. 

·        A health and safety review which resulted in updated health and safety arrangements in the service yard area. 

The design process set out the safety standards the component parts of the new vehicle entry system was required to comply with.  These included the European Standards relating to the safety of security gates and barriers.  These were therefore installed and commissioned to appropriate European Directives.  This process was carried out in conjunction with the Parliament’s Health and Safety Adviser. 

In addition, a review of existing health and safety arrangements in the service yard area was carried out as part of the new system design.  Existing arrangements include a 5mph speed limit in the service yard, annual training including vehicle movement toolbox sessions, marked pedestrian walkways and the requirement for pedestrians to wear hi-vis clothing at all times in this area. These existing assessments are considered appropriate in addressing any safety risks in the area. 

The Scottish Government does not agree that Scotland’s performance in relation to training pharmacists is declining. In fact, since 2020-21 there has been an increase in the overall numbers of students studying pharmacy.

There are approximately 240 students each year who graduate from the two Schools of Pharmacy in Scotland. In 2018 to support the pipeline of new pharmacists we extended the number of NHS pre-registration pharmacists places we funded nationally from 170 to 200. In 2019 we committed to increasing pharmacy pre-registration places again in the Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan. Therefore, by 2024/25 there will be a further 120 pharmacist trainees over 5 years staying in Scotland to complete their pre-registration training.

The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS National Education for Scotland (NES) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in developing a joint programme to encourage more students, and not just school leavers, to consider careers in pharmacy, including ensuring the output reaches deprived and remote and rural communities.

In addition, both Schools of Pharmacy work towards the widening access targets set by the Commission on Widening Access for universities to drive forward the delivery of equal access in Scotland.

There are also wider initiatives such as The Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP). The partnership develops access programmes for adults returning to education, and targets adults who reside in the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland and particularly those who have no, few or out of date qualifications. This can help support people with few suitable qualifications to progress to degree level Pharmacy studies.

During the Scottish Government Debate on ‘Justice and the 16 Days of Action’, I confirmed that after careful consideration we will now move forward with the immediate establishment of a Scottish Government led Governance Group, comprising key stakeholder interests, to enable progress and detailed consideration of the individual and collective recommendations within Lord Justice Clerk’s Review Group report on improving the management of sexual offence cases. That will include the specific issue of a time-limited pilot of single judge trials.

Preparation of detailed timetables is an operational matter for ScotRail, which is responsible for developing operational timetables to meet the overall strategic requirements of the Scottish Government. Ministers, advised by Transport Scotland, will need to be assured that the overall strategic requirements have been met.

This government has seen a 87.7% increase in the consultant oncologist workforce (from 69.5 WTE in September 2006 to 130.6 WTE in June 2021).

While information on numbers of oncologists according to specialist cancer fields is not centrally held, the numbers of Clinical and Medical Oncology Consultants currently employed in each NHS Board, by Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) and headcount can be found in the medical and Dental dashboard on the NES website available here:

The Scottish Government has announced £580 million investment in vessels and harbours over the next five years, in addition to the completion of vessels 801 and 802. These plans are set out in the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan published 4 February 2021 (link for convenience- ) which includes replacement vessel projects for:

• Islay, 2 vessel procurement announced 14 June 2021
• Gourock-Dunoon-Kilcreggan passenger services
• Up to 7 small vessels for the Clyde & Hebrides network
• Craignure-Oban
• Mallaig-Lochboisdale
• Northern Isles freight services

In addition to these projects the Scottish Government has recently funded the purchase by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd of the MV Utne to bring additional resilience and capacity to the fleet and provide a year round island-based service to the Isle of Mull from Oban.

Details of the vessels in fleet operated by CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL), including age, can be found on both the CFL website and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) website

The Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) published in December 2020 sets the Scottish Government’s approach to ensuring our workforce has the skills to support Scotland’s transition to net zero. This approach includes raising awareness amongst employers of all sizes of the need to change behaviours and workplace practices to contribute to the transition to net zero and of the options available for upskilling and retraining.

The implementation of the CESAP requires a collaborative approach to action and investment across employers, local and national government, and its skills agencies.

The Scottish Government does not however hold information on the number of businesses that have undertaken training developed by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

The Scottish Government do not provide any directly means tested benefits and therefore have not taken any decisions as to whether military compensation would be categorised as income or not.

Determination of what is considered income when assessing reserved qualifying benefit entitlements is a responsibility of the UK Government.