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The Scottish Government has carried out economic analysis of impacts of the provisions of the Land Reform Bill. This is set out in the. Land Reform (Scotland) Bill - Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (www.gov.scot).

The One Year Job Guarantee (OYJG) scheme was previously facilitated by NHS Education for Scotland. The scheme was closed due to low application numbers.

Scottish government officials have been engaging with health boards on their current position in relation to supply of midwives. It is our understanding that they remain committed to maximising opportunities for newly qualified midwives and officials are exploring all options to support graduates into employment.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of student midwives recruited who have not been offered posts in NHS Scotland.

Scottish Government officials have been engaging with Health Boards about their current position in relation to job offers and supply, with Boards remaining committed to maximising the opportunities for newly qualified midwives to find employment.

We currently do not have plans to provide direct training for community councillors in relation to energy infrastructure projects. The Scottish Government provide funding to Planning Aid Scotland who offer tailored training for Community Councils to meet their individual needs.

The Scottish Government publish enforcement data which details the number of marine inspections by nationality. Marine and fisheries compliance: boardings of vessels in Scottish waters - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) These statistics have been updated recently to include data up to 30 June 2024.

The Scottish Government publish Enforcement Data which details the number of coastal inspections by nationality. Marine and fisheries compliance: boardings of vessels in Scottish waters - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). These statistics have been updated recently to include data up to 30 June 2024.

The Scottish Government ensures all non-UK vessels landing into Scotland are authorised to do so by meeting detailed regulations which includes vessel tracking and daily electronic catch reporting, and the requirement to complete Port State Control and export documentation. Officers from the Marine Directorate verify documentation by undertaking risk-based remote and physical inspections at ports. The Scottish Government also inspect non-UK vessels at sea using Marine Protection Vessels and surveillance aircraft. Additionally, the Scottish Government is further developing a program of detailed analysis of vessels fishing Scottish waters but landing in another state. This involves working closely with the EU and other third countries to improve data sharing, including sales and inspection data.

The allocation of funding to Collaboration projects had not yet been determined, and was intended to be open to applications from all Local Action Groups. Scottish Government officials had therefore not yet been in a position to provide any breakdown of geographical distribution of projects funded by the £800,000. To date this financial year (2024-25), we have allocated funding of £6.65m for Community Led Local Development (CLLD), from which Highlands & Islands-based Local Action groups received £2,086,003.73 (Highlands and Islands is defined here as Highland, Shetland, Orkney, Outer Hebrides and Argyll and Bute)

Despite the reduction of £800k, we will continue to support projects that assist and empower rural communities through the CLLD budget.

The training costs for an average nursing or midwifery student is in the region of £60,000 and a full breakdown of these costs including teaching grants, tuition fees, bursary and the various allowances was reported in S6W-28706 on 6 August 2024.

In the academic year of 2021-22, there were 190 entrants to first degree courses at a Scottish university on midwifery courses. Training costs for the 190 Scots Domiciled students for 3 years would be in the region of £11.4 million.

However combined with student attrition / withdrawal, pauses in education due to academic failure, ill health or maternity leave taken into account, the full cohort of students would not be expected to graduate in 3 years. Of those delayed students, many will go on to complete their programmes after 4 or even 5 years.

Vacancies fluctuate across NHS Scotland Boards and by specialism but vacancies will continue to be advertised across all Boards as they arise over coming months allowing graduates additional opportunities to apply. Health Boards are autonomous institutions, separate from the Scottish Government, and as such are responsible for recruitment. The Scottish Government’s role is to set policies and frameworks at a national level, and Health Boards, as employers, are responsible in recruiting graduates through fair and consistent recruitment practices. In some specialist areas the workforce profile means that turnover is lower and so anticipatory recruitment is more challenging than in higher volume / higher turnover roles.

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 Democracy Matters 2 national conversation received over 160 responses and was informed by engagement through multiple channels including facilitated engagement events. Engagement has informed a detailed findings report which will be published later in September 2024. The publication of the findings will be accompanied by a joint statement with COSLA outlining next steps for this process. As outlined in the 24-25 Programme for Government, we will work with communities and wider stakeholders to take forward the Democracy Matters findings on the future of community decision-making.