The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring a sustainable supply of midwives and providing attractive employment opportunities for newly qualified midwives in Scotland. In addition to the One Year Job Guarantee Scheme for newly registered midwives and better pay for Agenda for Change staff in Scotland compared to anywhere else in the UK, Scottish Government reintroduced a national Return to Practice scheme from April 2015 to attract former nurses and midwives back into the profession, enabling them to retrain and re-enter employment. There were 111.6 WTE Band 5 midwives employed in NHS Scotland at 30 June 2016, compared to 71.9 WTE employed at 30 June 2014 (Source: ISD Scotland National Statistics release, 6 September 2016: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/data-tables.asp)

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) collates data on midwifery graduates each year in its Nursing and Midwifery Annual Statistical Supplement report, which is available on request from NES. The report outlines that there were 87 midwifery graduates in 2014 and 96 in 2015.

The number of midwifery vacancies as at 31 March 2016 is shown in the following table.

NHS board	March 2016
Scotland	88.4
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	-
NHS Borders	0.8
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	5.2
NHS Fife	2.8
NHS Forth Valley	3.4
NHS Grampian	25.6
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	17.1
NHS Highland	16.4
NHS Lanarkshire	1.0
NHS Lothian	10.0
NHS Orkney	1.8
NHS Shetland	-
NHS Tayside	4.3
NHS Western Isles	-

Information Services Division

Uniquely in the UK, the Scottish Government has been actively engaging with Higher Education Institutions, NHS employers, trade unions and professional organisations to maximise job opportunities for newly registered midwives under the one year job guarantee scheme. The Scottish Government is committed to providing an offer of employment to all registered midwives if they have been unable to find a post. NES administers the scheme in partnership with NHS boards through a nationally co-ordinated 'internship' programme, more information on which can be found on the NES website at http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/recruitment/nursing-and-midwifery-one-year-job-guarantee-(oyjg)-scheme.aspx.

The Scottish Government is committed to continue to support sport at grassroots level, and provides funding and support for community based sports clubs through our national agency for sport, sportscotland.

sportscotland has a portfolio of programmes within their 2015-19 corporate plan which aim to increase the number and quality of opportunities to participate, develop and progress in sport. This portfolio provides leadership for club development and, where possible, support clubs to continue being or become a self-sustaining part of the sporting system. For 2016-17, sportscotland has allocated £10.8 million to the clubs and communities portfolio.

sportscotland also remains committed to supporting sports clubs by creating community sports hubs which focus on sustainable, community-led approaches that get clubs working together to develop welcoming, safe and fun environments for sport. There are currently 155 community sports hubs operational across Scotland, with a new target of 200 by 2020, supported by further sportscotland investment of £6 million. Other funding strands which are open to sporting clubs via sportscotland are Awards for All, Direct Club Investment and Sports Facilities Fund. Future Scottish Government funding will be determined by future spending reviews.