It is a matter for NHS Boards, working with their partners, to plan and provide safe care to patients in line with national policies, frameworks and best practice. It is therefore a matter for NHS Grampian and Scottish Ambulance Service to ensure the safety of emergency patient transfers.

In terms of the safety of patients affected by the temporary change to the paediatric service at Dr Gray's, NHS Grampian has assured Scottish Government that they are engaging with the Scottish Ambulance Service and ScotSTAR (Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval) to ensure the overall safety of patients who need emergency transfer.

The Scottish Government continues to encourage NHS Grampian to work collaboratively with its partners to ensure delivery of safe, patient-centred, sustainable Paediatric services, and the workforce required to deliver such services. NHS Education for Scotland is firmly committed to medical training in Dr Gray’s Hospital and in Moray in general, and is working with the Board to develop the training environment as a centre of excellence with a focus on general and community-focussed care.

We have ensured that those GP specialty training posts that rotate through paediatrics in Elgin qualify for the £20K financial bursary to aid recruitment, and that the annual International Medical Training Fellowships scheme encompasses paediatric posts, which NHS Grampian can use to recruit to the gaps in training posts.

NHSScotland staff numbers have increased by over 10% under this Government to a record high of than 127,000 WTE, which includes an increase of over 90% in Paediatric Consultants.

Information relating to paediatrician vacancies levels at NHS hospital is not centrally held. Information on how many (a) consultant vacancies for Paediatrics nationally and at board level is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following web link - https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2018-03-06/Consultant_Vacancies_D2017.xls .

Whilst the Scottish Government supports NHS Health Boards in their efforts to ensure that they have the right staff in place to meet the healthcare needs of the local population, the detailed management of recruitment functions are a matter for the Health Board as employer.

NHS Grampian has confirmed that decisions about recruitment to posts at Dr Gray’s Hospital are made by the hospital’s senior clinical and management teams, who also undertake the shortlisting and assessment of candidates. They are supported by the NHS Grampian Recruitment team who provide guidance and management of the process of recruitment in line with established policies and governance arrangements.

No applications were received from Moray to the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund for 2018-19.

The Scottish Government recognises the significant contribution made by school libraries and school librarians to educational attainment, as evidenced by international research. I launched the School Library Improvement Fund in September, investing £1 million over three years in Scotland's school libraries. It will fund projects designed to enhance library provision in schools, as part of a wider approach to improve literacy skills and educational attainment. This fund was launched alongside the publication of 'How good is our school library?' guidance from the Scottish Library and Information Council, endorsed by Education Scotland. This guidance aligns with the 'How good is our school?' framework, supporting school librarians and senior managers to evaluate the specific contributions the library makes to school improvement. The development of the national strategy, whose advisory group is chaired by Martina McChrystal, Director of Library Services at the University of Glasgow, aims to create a consistent approach to service for pupils across Scotland and will be published in Summer 2018.

Research commissioned by the Scottish Library and Information Council in 2013 aimed to both identify and critically evaluate the effect of school libraries. It used both UK and international evidence from 2001 onwards, linking school libraries to educational achievement, attainment and learning in secondary education. The findings revealed a considerable body of international evidence showing that school libraries impact on: higher test or exam scores equating to academic attainment; successful curriculum or learning outcomes, including information literacy; and positive attitudes towards learning. A qualified, full-time librarian, who is proactive and has managerial status was one of a number of elements identified by the report as contributing to the impact on learning. The full report can be found on the Scottish Library and Information Council's website at: https://scottishlibraries.org/research-skills/impact-of-school-libraries/ (Williams, D., Wavell, C. & Morrison, K. (2013). Impact of School Libraries on Learning: Critical review of published evidence to inform the work of the Scottish education community. Aberdeen: Robert Gordon University Institute for Management, Governance & Society)

Research more recently commissioned by the National Literacy Trust also shows that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely than their peers to use their school library for both learning and leisure and are shown to benefit more from strong library programmes. The report is available on the National Literacy Trust's website at: https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/school-libraries-literature-review-current-provision-and-evidence-impact-2017/ (Teravainen, A. & Clark, C. (2017). School Libraries: A literature review of current provision and evidence of impact. London: National Literacy Trust)

Organisations with an interest in improving local rail connectivity can apply to the Fund. Full details of the application process including eligibility criteria will be published in the coming weeks.