The Scottish Government published the National Strategy for Public Space CCTV in Scotland in March 2011. The Strategy was created to provide guidance and a common set of principles to operators of public space CCTV across Scotland. It did not impose requirements but sought to provide advice and clarity to support decisions on the development of CCTV systems.

A number of Police Scotland CCTV cameras within the estate will be Hikvision or will contain Hikvision components. We are aware that the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee last year recommended to the UK Government that equipment manufactured by Hikvision and other such companies should not be permitted to operate within the UK. The UK Government’s response, published in November 2021, outlined the steps that had been taken to address the situation and undertook to take further steps in the coming months. The Scottish Government will continue to keep in close touch with developments and act accordingly, including consulting with Police Scotland on what measures they might take in response to these next steps.

PPE guidance is developed by infection prevention and control (IPC) experts on a four-nation basis and they maintain that current evidence does not support a change to the current IPC guidance on respiratory protective equipment (RPE). WHO has not changed its position on the route of transmission of COVID-19. It is still transmitted predominantly via droplets and contact with contaminated hands or environment.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.

This is a matter for NHS Scotland Health boards. The information requested is not held centrally.

This is a matter for individual Health Boards. We do not hold this information centrally.

Scotland’s next census will be held on Sunday 20 March 2022, with letters arriving in households across Scotland from today (28 February), providing instructions on how to take part.

Scotland’s census is the official count of every person and household in the country and the only questionnaire of its kind to ask everyone the same questions at the same time.

It is the responsibility of National Records of Scotland (NRS) to put in place a census that enables everyone across Scotland to participate so that information collected can be used to produce high quality outputs and deliver the benefits required by the people of Scotland. For the first time, Scotland’s Census 2022 will ask a question about previous service in the UK Armed Forces and voluntary questions on trans status or history and sexual orientation, for those over 16.

Scotland’s Census provides people, businesses and organisations with high quality data and analysis which is used to inform key decisions in relation to policy making, investment decisions and the planning and delivery of key services. The census also helps paint a rich picture of the of the population, helping us to better understand the similarities and differences in the population’s characteristics locally and nationally, now and over time. The census also becomes part of our history. In the future our descendants will be able to find out about us and how we lived.

This will be the first census to take place since the Scottish Government pledged to make public services “digital first”, recognising that this is now a favoured channel for many. This approach will also deliver a number of benefits in terms of ease of completion and accessibility for respondents. It is important however that all households are able to complete their census return, with paper questionnaires available upon request. Help and support will also be available for those who need it via a dedicated contact centre and the Scotland’s Census website.

I urge members to help ensure a successful census by encouraging maximum participation amongst all communities across Scotland.

The pandemic paused the Oral Health Improvement Programme, which was developing, through Design Groups, preventive and patient focused care through the New Model of Care.

The clear focus for Scottish Government is to recover and stabilise NHS dental services, enabling the sector to emerge from the pandemic in a condition to improve patient access to care. The recovery of the sector will support the development of the longer term reform programme, building back the sector to support necessary strategic reforms that develop the work that was developed in the Design Groups pre-pandemic.

Scottish Government has signalled some key areas for the reform programme through fee changes that were put in place form 1 February, in particular the preventive Childsmile element, focus on deprivation and harmonisation of examination fees for adult and child patients.

On 4 November 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans chaired a roundtable on spiking to discuss how we can achieve the right balance of targeted and universal intervention to ensure the safety of the public. Twenty-six partners attended including representatives from Police Scotland, SPA Forensic Services, Health services, Night Time Economy, Further and Higher Education, Local Authority, and Third Sector organisations.

A further roundtable was convened on 8 December 2021 at which time Police Scotland reported a downward trend in recorded spiking incidents. Key outcomes focussed on consistent messaging, training and prevention, with the Violence Reduction Unit supporting partners to continue roll out of the bystander training for night time industry staff to raise awareness and help keep people safe.

In January 2022, Police Scotland subsequently noted that there has been no corroborated evidence to support claims of needle spiking in Scotland, and forensic analysis has found no traces of drugs used for spiking in any alleged victims. ‎

We continue to work with partners to strengthen our response to spiking, and ensure that women feel safe and are supported to report. This includes continuing to implement our Equally Safe Strategy.