Seòmar agus comataidhean

I will move on to questions on identifying Scottish taxpayers. Although it affects only a small percentage of cases, there are still employers who issue incorrect tax codes. The committee has been informed that this is usually the result of a software error. Could you tell us more about what the software error is and who the software belongs to? What, if anything, is being done at the moment to prevent it happening in the first place?

I was wondering more about the behavioural impact. The First Minister has said that he wants to go further with progressive tax measures, so, my question was about whether, if there was more divergence, more people would cross the border.

I have one last question. Who is responsible for notifying HMRC if somebody moves house or changes address?

Okay. Obviously, there is free education in Scotland. One of the big issues is the talk of fewer Scottish students being able to get on to courses because the universities have to take on students who pay fees. I do not know how true this is, but I heard that in one recent dentistry course only three of the people who completed the course were Scottish and the rest were international students. I cannot say that that is a fact, but it is what I was told.

I know that you do not have them now, but could you give us figures showing how many places Scottish students get on medicine, dentistry and pharmacy courses, and an update on completion rates so that we can see how many Scottish students are completing courses in our universities and can stay on?

You mentioned pay, but there are also a lot of issues to do with working conditions. I spoke recently to some doctors. Some of their comments were about there being no compensation or time off in lieu of having to stay late at work. Some were expected to come in early. Some spoke about there being no rest facilities for night shift or when on call. Sometimes, if they get a chance to take a break, they have to put two chairs together to try to sleep. Some have been told that they cannot attend otherwise mandatory teaching sessions as workload and staffing do not allow it. The list goes on. Those trainee doctors will not stay if those are the conditions that they experience during their training years. Are all health boards involved in looking at working conditions for doctors?

We have the figure of 800 GPs, but that is a head count. I have heard that many GPs are now going part time. If you have 800 GPs who work five days a week, that is one thing, but if you have 800 GPs who work only three days a week, that would take, I think, 300 GPs off your figures. Do you have equivalent figures, so that it is not misleading to say that we have 800 GPs? If we recruit GPs and they all work part time, we are not actually getting full-time equivalent GPs into the system.

Okay. Thanks.

How successful has the Scottish Government’s international recruitment strategy been to date? Will international recruitment form part of future workforce plans?

When the Scottish Government puts out an announcement—for example, the one saying that we will have 800 more general practitioners—are there conversations between the NHS, the Scottish Government and the universities on a workforce plan, in order that you can see how many places you will need on those courses?

Okay. Thank you.

Can you tell us more about what funding arrangements the Scottish Government is putting in place to ensure that Scottish students have access to places on medical courses that are offered by Scottish universities?

There is an extra premium when you take on international staff. Are you looking at or tracking retention rates of international staff compared with those of domestic staff?