Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to reforming crofting law, subject to agreement by parliament, to support the future of crofting. The Scottish Government sets out its legislative agendas for each year in the respective Programme for Government.

A consultation on proposals for crofting law reform was launched on 6 June 2024, and will close on 2 September 2024. Throughout July and August, officials have held public events throughout the crofting counties, which have been well attended with positive discussion.

The topic of Scottish independence was not discussed.

Please see the breakdown of recorded bullying and harassment cases as advised by each NHS Board through Staff Governance Monitoring returns from 2021 in the following table. Please note, recorded cases for 2023-24 are not yet available centrally.

As defined in the policy, there are two stages to raise bullying and harassment concerns. Early resolution cases are resolved at the earliest opportunity by informing the other party of the impact of their behaviour or actions. If early resolution is unsuccessful or inappropriate, cases can be raised formally.

(Source: Staff Governance Monitoring Annual Board Returns)

The First Minister recently met with Kathleen Jamie at Bute House to mark her term and thank her for her stellar work over the last three years as Scotland’s fourth modern Makar, as an ambassador for poetry, in Scotland and overseas.

The next National Makar will again be appointed by the First Minister. The Scottish Government is considering the process and will share more detail in the coming months.

This information is not held centrally.

The non-executive Whistleblowing Champion role has no operational involvement in cases, rather it is an assurance role which helps NHS boards comply with their responsibilities in relation to whistleblowing.

I confirmed with David McAllister the current position on holding another independence referendum following the supreme court ruling on the subject.

The Scottish Government has allocated £20,000 per annum to support the Makar since 2021.

Service innovation and redesign are central to the future of NHS, and the CytoSCOT programme is an excellent example of how innovation in diagnostic services can support patients to access alternatives to traditional endoscopy closer to home, helping to reduce demand on health services.

NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continues to support island Health Boards to implement this service, with NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland expected to begin roll out later this year.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of NRS to respond. Her response is that the National Records of Scotland (NRS) are responsible for the Scottish Register of Tartans website.

NRS remains committed to maintaining a website to support the Scottish Register of Tartans. There are no current plans to update the user interface of the Scottish Register of Tartans website.

NRS are focused on the launch of the refreshed Scotland’s People website during September 2024 and work will then follow to consider all website provision.

The topic of Scottish independence was not discussed.