The Act Part 4: Miscellaneous Section 31 – Monitoring and evaluation of continuing professional development
151.This section introduces a duty on the Scottish Ministers to monitor the impact of each CPD scheme made under section 30, and to prepare at least one report on the impact and effectiveness of each scheme. The section gives Ministers flexibility in the manner and the timescales to undertake monitoring and reporting, including the number and frequency of reports. However, for the purposes of monitoring a CPD scheme, the Scottish Ministers must, in particular, consider the matters in subsection (2). These relate to accessibility, appropriateness and proportionality, and may be altered, by regulations subject to the affirmative procedure.
152.For these purposes, a CPD scheme is a set of CPD activities which a person of a certain description (such as a farmer) may or must undertake as a result of the regulations under that section. This reflects that there are likely to be a range of activities that a person may undertake to maintain any CPD requirements.