Chamber and committees

The main release to air from Scotch whisky maturation is the fugitive emission of ethanol, which disperses very quickly in the atmosphere and is not considered to be harmful to human health through this exposure route.

Whilst emissions from maturation of Scotch whisky are not subject to regulation under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012, SEPA works with regulated business through sector plans to help drive improvement and reduce emissions across environmental media.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK as this a statutory function of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA produces a weekly summary of Yellow Card reporting and includes other safety investigations carried out by the MHRA under the COVID-19 Vaccine Surveillance Strategy. On 1 July this report was updated to include new data up to 23 June 2021. The MHRA does not currently break down these data by treatment required at secondary or primary clinical care settings.

The number of suspected ADR reports received in the UK for COVID-19 vaccines up to and including 23 June were as follows:

Table 1

Glasgow City Council have Memorandum of Understanding with UK Government related COP26 and to recover costs incurred in relation to the direct spending associated with hosting COP26 in Glasgow. Scottish Minister have made clear their expectation that all costs arising from the decision to hold COP26 in Glasgow will be borne by the UK Government, this includes funding to Glasgow City Council for hosting COP26.

The primary aim of the Scottish Government throughout the pandemic has been to protect people in Scotland against the direct and tragic harm to health which the virus causes, including against long-COVID as we know that the virus affects people’s health in different ways.

Every phase of easing COVID-19 restrictions is considered on a “Four Harms” basis – namely (1) the direct harm caused by the virus; (2) the impact of the virus on broader health and wellbeing; (3) social harms arising from measures necessary to suppress the virus; and (4) damage to the economy. A consideration of the impact of lifting restrictions on the number of people developing long-COVID is at the core of “Harm 1”.

Throughout the pandemic, we have published evidence in support of our decision-making. Impact assessments have been published to accompany regulations since the Strategic Framework was first introduced. They will continue to be a key publication where appropriate whenever regulatory changes are made.

Our initial plan for moving of all of Scotland to Level 0 was delayed in order to allow more people to be fully vaccinated and also to assess the impact of the Delta variant on case numbers and hospital admissions. We have now moved to Level 0 but with an added degree of caution. These decisions have prioritised a careful and gradual approach and taken into account the high prevalence of long-COVID especially amongst young people. This is a concerning trend which we are closely monitoring and, therefore, justifies the cautious easing of restrictions we are pursuing.

The Scottish Government gathers data on pupils and staff who are not in school for COVID-19 related reasons. The Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children's Issues considered this data alongside the latest evidence on long-COVID when producing its latest advice on the return to school in August. The sub-group will continue to look at the impact of long-COVID on education, and will update its advice if required in the light of any new findings.

The Scottish Government is supportive of the work of Versus Arthritis including the six-point support package. In support of this the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport is due to meet with representatives of Versus Arthritis soon to discuss the initiative.

We are working in collaboration with the organisation to ensure that patients on waiting lists receive good communication and relevant support while they await treatment. This work will be ongoing with essential collaboration with patients, carers and providers including the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain NACCP.

From the moment it was announced that COP26 would be coming to Glasgow, the Scottish Government have been fully committed to playing our role in ensuring a safe and secure event. The Government of the United Kingdom hold the presidency of COP26 and are therefore responsible for working alongside the United Nations to organise the main summit and its attached "Green Zone". A joint COP26 delivery framework has been agreed between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Scottish Government, which includes Glasgow City Council and Scottish Agencies. This outlines the plans, organisation, structure, systems and methodology that will be used to manage delivery of COP26 including appropriate mitigation of impact on business as usual. As the Scottish Government have devolved powers around Safety and Resilience, our colleagues and organisations such Police Scotland, and Transport Scotland, who are responsible for the COP26 transport plan, have been engaged through the COP26 planning process. With a separate Legal landscape in Scotland, we are responsible for ensuring the correct legislative mechanisms are put in place that will allow the event to happen.

The Scottish Government is proactively leading a Scottish response to COP26, ensuring that our communities, businesses and organisations have the opportunities to engage and benefit from COP26 coming to Glasgow. Part of our offering will be to host a Scotland Zone, showcasing the talents, skills and innovative approach that Scotland is taking to addressing the climate emergency.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. We are however developing a meaningful equality and diversity objective for Chairs of NHS Boards that directly support the work of staff equality networks, ensuring they have a voice and influence to drive change, with clear and defined lines of accountability. While this is in development we are actively encouraging Health Boards to develop staff led equality networks across a range of protected characteristics, which includes disability.

We are also working with service-led disability organisations to support graduates with disabilities enter the NHS workforce and the development of a user-focussed workplace adjustment policy.

The Scottish Government continues to work under the interim Subsidy Control regime introduced by the UK Government on 1 January 2021 and provisions held within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Alongside this, consideration has to be given to any further UK Subsidy Control obligations such as World Trade Organisation membership and commitments arising from international treaties and Fair Trade Agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party.

The UK Government introduced a Bill on Subsidy Control to Parliament on 30 June 2021 with a view to implementation of a permanent Subsidy Control regime.

Officials will continue to diligently work through the UK Government’s proposals to understand the impact on subsidies, including on ferry services.

This information is not currently available. Weekly updated data on the proportion of the NHS workforce reported absent for all COVID-19 related reasons in total is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/