Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people who require stoma care services are able to receive the best possible care and support wherever possible and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put the patient at the centre of their care.

A range of nurses and support workers with mixed responsibilities can support patients who have stomas across health and social care. There are many nurses within differing units and specialities within NHS Boards and social care, including in the community, who are able to support stoma patients alongside stoma clinical nurse specialists.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate this information.

A statutory public inquiry has been established to examine the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. The inquiry will undertake scrutiny of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland as a whole and identify lessons and implications for the future.

Audit Scotland will publish its report on Scotland's financial response to COVID-19 in May 2022. This audit is a review of the public sector’s financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole. It will consider the financial management, governance and oversight arrangements in place for public bodies to quickly distribute funding to those that need it.

In addition, the Scottish Government continues to review on an ongoing basis the support provided to the social care sector to ensure that it remains appropriate. This is undertaken on a collaborative basis with partners across the sector to ensure understanding of the impact of decision making on providers and those receiving care.

Scotland House London is clearly not an overseas office, but is a hub in a crucial city for Scotland. The facility provides a platform to develop trade and investment links, strengthen government to government relations and facilitate collaboration on economic, academic and innovation projects. Through Scotland House we are enhancing the range and depth of engagement with international partners across areas of shared ambition and common challenge, in order to inform and support the delivery of the Scottish Government policy agenda. Scotland House London is a unique collaboration between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise (including Scottish Development International), VisitScotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Scottish residents who received a full course of their COVID-19 vaccination overseas are currently not able to have a Scottish record of vaccination, or to use the NHS Scotland Covid Status App. Instead, they should obtain proof of vaccination from the country where they received their vaccine.

For those who have received one dose in Scotland and one dose internationally, you can obtain your vaccination status showing the dose administered in Scotland following the normal process outlines on NHS Inform. For the dose administered internationally, this will need to be requested from the country you were vaccinated in.

We are currently working to expand our digital solution to record vaccines which have been administered in Europe and internationally.

For domestic certification purposes, we accept proof of vaccination from across the UK and Crown Dependencies, as well as the Digital Covid Certificate Scheme – which Scotland is part of. Visitors from other nations, such as the USA, will need to provide the same proof of vaccination status that is accepted for entry into the UK.

SEPA’s draft budget allocation for 2022-23 is £41.406 million. This year’s budget settlement represents the best possible outcome against the backdrop of significant pressures on public finances, including a 10% reduction in cash terms compared with 2021-22, in Scottish Government’s capital budget, and the level of resources required to deliver statutory functions and agreed Ministerial environmental priorities across 2022-23. The Scottish Government are in dialogue with SEPA on the specific priorities to be reflected in their 2022-23 Operational Plan ,which is due to be published April 2022. The Plan will include work such as developing regulation for the Deposit Return Scheme and Single Use Plastics. Delivery of Scotland’s River Basin Management Plan will continue to be a core priority as will their Flood Forecasting and Warning Service.

Following engagement with sector bodies it was clear that many nightclubs would not be viable with distancing and table service restrictions in place. A decision was therefore taken by Ministers, using a four harms approach, that closure of nightclubs with appropriate support was the most effective option for controlling the virus and for the sector. This decision allowed nightclubs the flexibility to adjust operations and remain operating with relevant restrictions or close and receive extra financial support. Due to the pace of decision-making, it was not possible to engage with Local Authorities prior to the announcement however officials engaged with relevant teams after the announcement.

The requested information is not centrally held. NHS Education for Scotland publishes annual data on joiners/leavers, but this information does not specify start date or professional background of joiners. Information on joiners/leavers by staff group for each financial year can be found on the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

In October 2021, SG officials wrote to those remaining on the COVID-19 temporary registers with advice on how to view and access NHS Board vacancies, encouraging them to consider returning to the service. Prospective candidates were directed to vacancies hosted by individual NHS Boards, who are fully responsible for local recruitment.

Our overall assessment, from the numbers that remained on the registers and feedback from boards, is that a reasonable return rate would have been in the region of 5-10%; or around 200 doctors, nurses and midwives, allied health professionals and pharmacists (headcount) nationally. However, as candidates were directed to NHS Board vacancies, the Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of returners joining as a result of this measure.

A decision was taken, in discussion with Boards, that monitoring the rate of applicants in autumn and winter who had applied from emergency registers would be a burdensome task for already pressured Health Board recruitment teams.

All 429 of the intelligence reports received between 24 August 2020 and 30 November 2021 via the webform have been assessed, with appropriate actions identified and initiated.

The remit of the short life working group expressly omits the merits of different models to tackle prostitution .