Chamber and committees

Preliminary data indicates that in the Delta wave we are seeing a cohort of younger people in hospital with Covid.

The risk of COVID-19 in young children remains low.

The marriage notice (M10 form), or notice of intention to marry, is set out in a statutory instrument made by the Registrar General for Scotland, or their deputy, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers. Each party to the intended marriage can select in their marriage notice whether they should be designated in the marriage register as a bride or a bridegroom or they can choose for no designation to be entered.

The Registrar General and the Scottish Government will, when time permits, write to key stakeholders to seek their views on what changes may be required to the marriage notice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00570 on‎ 21 June 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Improvement Service has been commissioned by the ELC expansion programme to collect data from local authorities on progress towards delivery of 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare, and to report on this data. The most recent report, on data returned by Local Authorities in April 2021, was published on 15 June and can be accessed via the Improvement Service and Scottish Government websites. This provides detail on progress with both recruitment and construction work.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and its predecessor Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) has sold the following under the New Woodland Investment Programme (2021 - 2017) / Repositioning Programme (2007 – 2016). The figures in the following table include 6,598 hectares sold / transferred to communities and NGO’s under the National Forest Land Scheme and Community Asset Transfer Scheme:

Excluded are sales of ‘surplus’ assets, typically buildings and small parcels of land, sold under the Rationalisation policy.

The funds for disposals have been used for the following:

• Acquiring land for planting;
• Cost of woodland creation;
• Maintenance and management of new woodland creation;
• Starter Farms initiative;
• Transaction and programme costs both for acquisitions and disposals.

The New Woodland Investment programme was closed at the end of FY 20-21 and there will be no further land sales as part of the programme. Further acquisitions / residual obligations (to cover future costs as detailed above) remain to be discharged over the following four year period.

As announced as part of last year’s Capital Spending Review, FLS were allocated £30M of capital funding over the next five years (starting in FY 21-22) to purchase land for woodland creation and expansion of Scotland’s national forests and land.

The woodland sold by FLS / FES remains managed as woodland. Using the proceeds to subsequently purchase and plant additional land has ensured that the area of woodland in Scotland continues to increase.

On 2 June 2021 the Scottish Government announced a further‎ £62 million fund to assist eligible Taxi or Private Hire drivers and Private Hire and Taxi licence holders in Scotland with fixed costs.

In order to be eligible for payment of £1,500 from the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Driver and Operator Support Fund, licensed Taxi or Private Hire drivers must hold a current local authority Taxi or Private Hire driver licence which is valid as of 3 June 2021 and have previously received an initial grant from the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund earlier in 2021.

As of 30 April 2021, over 21,800 drivers had been paid the initial grant from the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund. Local authorities are in the process of making automatic payments of the second £1,500 grant to eligible drivers, with many drivers already having received payment.

Preliminary data indicates that in the Delta wave we are seeing a cohort of younger adults in hospital with Covid.

We do not recommend travelling to another area of Scotland to take part in an activity that is not permitted in your local protection level.

The risk of COVID-19 to young children remains low.

The Scottish Government engaged extensively with a number of organisations representing the Taxi and Private Hire vehicle trade including Unite Union, Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Scottish Taxi Federation to explore how and where funding should be targeted. I also met directly with Unite the Union and representatives of the Private Hire industry prior to the launch of the fund.

Boarding inspections in Port can only be conducted if a vessel lands in a Scottish Port. Therefore this largely depends on what vessels land in Scottish ports.

The following table is a breakdown of Boarding inspections in port by Month (January to May) in 2020 and 2021, by nationality.

Radiography education is not commissioned or controlled by the Scottish Government. The following table sets out the number of entrants to accredited radiography courses at Scottish Universities each academic year. The courses included match the Health and Care Professions Council’s (HCPC) list of accredited courses from 2015-16.

Entrants to accredited pre-registration radiography courses.