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The Enhanced Psychology Practice (EPP) training course was established by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in 2021, with the first round of training commencing in October of that year. Training numbers so far as follows;

• 14 learners from the Adult EPP Cohort 1 have completed training. 5 learners from Cohort 1 are still to complete due to extensions. Cohort 2 commenced in April 2022, with 22 learners currently in training.
• The Children and Young People (CYP) EPP pilot cohort commenced in April 2022 with 10 learners currently in training.
• Interviews concluded for the November 2022 cohorts of EPP-A and EPP-CYP learners in August. NES HAS issued offers for 32 places across both programmes.
• When at full capacity, an annual intake of approximately 100 learners will be possible. This will form a rolling programme of recruitment over several intake cycles.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) estimates that capacity for up to 100 newly created posts can be created each year when the programme reaches full capacity, with scope to employ up to 300 by 2026.

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for the Care Inspectorate.

The programme of travelling Cabinets was paused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government is now exploring options for restarting the programme in 2023 and will consider the South Scotland region as part of this work.

Local authorities have responsibility for delivering local economic development and local regeneration and are best placed to develop the right partnerships and identify suitable funding to support town centres and high streets including in the South of Scotland.

The Scottish Government is aware of how challenging the current economic climate is for businesses and communities in town centres and the issues around out-of-town shopping. We are committed to continue to working in partnership with local government, business, third sector and community partners to repurpose and revitalise town centres.

The Scottish Government has long-term funding and a strong framework with clear priorities and actions to help support local government and other partners to develop town centres in accordance with the needs of their own communities. This includes the Town Centre Action Plan 2, the Retail Strategy, and subject to parliamentary approval, and subsequent adoption by the Scottish Ministers, the National Planning Framework 4.

These recognise the critical importance of planning with and for communities and in diversifying the offer within town centres, to help them thrive, improve their resilience and anticipate continuing societal, environmental and economic change. The draft NPF4 recognises that our cities and towns are a national asset and strengthens support for development in centres to be considered first, while limiting out-of-town retail development. Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation contains bold and ambitious actions - within the powers currently available to us – and is a route to a strong, inclusive economy with good, secure and well-paid jobs and growing businesses.

The Government has committed in the recent budget to continue to deliver the Place-Based Investment Programme, which aims to accelerate ambitions for place, 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre action and community wealth building and the complimentary Vacant and Derelict land Programme. In addition, as part of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal and recognising the importance of our smaller rural market and coastal towns to the local economy, the Scottish Government is committing up to £20 million in the South of Scotland.

The NHS Scotland National Medical Equipment Management System (NMEMS), which aims to provide national oversight and visibility of medical equipment in NHS Boards, is being delivered in 2 phases.

Phase 1, commenced in October 2022 and has a provisional completion date of Spring 2023, has cost £28,000 to date which includes licences, data migration costs and post implementation support.

Costs for Phase 2 are currently being scoped and are expected to be finalised in early 2023.

For more information on the NMEMS delivery phases I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12907 on 21 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 recent Covid 19 pandemic highlighted the need for a national medical equipment management system in Scotland that provides an NHS Scotland-wide overview and visibility of critical medical equipment. To deliver this requirement, a National Medical Equipment Management System (NMEMS) is currently being developed by NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Scotland, and the Scottish Government. Once in place the system will also allow for improved strategic planning of medical equipment replacement and will aid the response to medical equipment related safety notices.

The system will be launched in 2 phases: Phase 1 commenced in October 2022 and aims to install medical equipment management systems in all the NHS Boards that currently do not have one. Work for phase 1 is currently underway with a provisional completion date of Spring 2023.

Phase 2 aims to link all the NHS Board medical equipment management systems centrally and is currently on track to commence in early 2023, with completion projected for summer 2023.

A total of 254 Target Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS) bursaries have been taken up by GP trainees in the South Scotland parliamentary region since 2018. A full breakdown is included in the following table.

Funding for CCTV is provided to local authorities through their block grant and, as with most of that funding, is not ring fenced. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available. This includes installing, upgrading and maintaining CCTV, and working with the police, based on local needs and priorities. First, they must fulfil statutory obligations within the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Police Scotland and CoSLA have highlighted ongoing challenges around the use, management, maintenance and funding for an ageing public space CCTV network. In response to this, in July 2022, the Scottish Government commissioned research on public space CCTV in Scotland. The purpose of this research is to collate a baseline of evidence in order to better understand the effectiveness and value of public space CCTV in Scotland. The research is due to conclude by the end of March 2023. The findings will be used to inform policy on public space CCTV and help future discussions with national partners.

The Stonemasonry Short Life Working Group held its initial meeting in May 2022 and has since met three further times, with the most recent meeting held on 4 November 2022. After the next scheduled meeting in January 2023, the Stonemasonry Short Life Working Group intends to report to the Our Place in Time Skills and Expertise Group by the end of January 2023 with an outline of what actions are required to put stonemasonry training in Scotland in a sustainable position. Additionally, in order to provide an independent review of 2022-23 Scottish Stonemasonry Skills & Training needs, four stakeholder stonemasonry training workshops have taken place across November and December 2022.