Chamber and committees

Fire safety remains our priority and changes to the requirement for fire and carbon monoxide detectors in all homes mean that everyone will benefit from the same level of protection, whether they own their home or rent. The regulations will come into force on 1 February 2022 as scheduled. We will be undertaking a comprehensive awareness raising campaign which will look to help support people to fit the necessary alarms to the new standard.

We welcome the WWF’s Feeling the Heat report and the focus it brings to the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. We are already taking world-leading action at home and abroad, with action on these issues central to our green recovery from COVID-19.

In 2019 we scaled up the ambition of our climate targets; to reducing emissions by 75% by 2030 and to reaching net-zero by 2045. Our Climate Change Plan update, published in December, strengthens Scotland’s pathway to meeting these world-leading targets over the next decade, with nearly 150 policies driving delivery. This includes investments of more than £250 million over 10 years for peatland restoration and an additional £150 million over five years in forestry.

Protection of Scotland’s biodiversity is a key priority and we are committed to doing more to safeguard our species and habitats. Our high level Statement of Intent on biodiversity, published in December 2020, signalled our ambitions for biodiversity in Scotland, our international action and the development of a new post-2020 biodiversity strategy. We have committed £7 million to date to the Biodiversity Challenge Fund, and our latest budget included a further £10 million for a new Nature Restoration Fund in 2021-22.

Furthermore, in response to independent scientific advice on the main climate risks facing Scotland, including to our biodiversity, we are implementing Scotland’s second statutory Climate Change Adaptation Programme, setting out over 170 policies and proposals across Scotland, within an outcomes-based framework aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

These global challenges require a global response, and as European co-chair of the Under2 Coalition, we are committed to working in partnership with governments around the world to support efforts to reach net zero in a way that is fair and just. Since 2012, our world-first Climate Justice Fund has delivered over £21 million to support our key partner nations of Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda, supporting communities to build resilience against the worst effects of climate change. We are also looking forward to the opportunity presented by COP26 to demonstrate our collective ambitions to address both climate action and biodiversity.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides details on the number of people who have been vaccinated by Health Board and age profile. This information is detailed here COVID-19 Daily Dashboard | Tableau Public .

Details of defence programme contractual arrangements are reserved and a matter between individual companies and the UK Government.

Information on contracts awarded through the UK Government Ministry of Defence are published and publicly available.

Diagnostic codes for post-COVID-19 syndrome, or long COVID, were recently added into the primary care information systems used by GP practices. Guidance on coding has been issued to GP Practices, most recently in the Scottish Government ‘Implementation Support Note’ published on the SIGN website.

NHS Education for Scotland has an educational session, which covers long COVID, scheduled in August as part of its series of online webinars for primary care clinicians. All of their resources for health and care staff related to COVID-19 can be found on their dedicated Turas Learn Site ( https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/27993/coronavirus-covid-19 ). In addition to their own resources, they plan to signpost through Turas Learn to appropriate resources on long COVID developed by partner organisations as these emerge.

The University of Edinburgh’s EAVE II project has used pseudonymised GP and other patient data to track the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded across Scotland, and its analysis has helped inform Scottish Government policy.

That project now has funding from the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office to use this pseudonymised data to investigate long COVID. The project will generate analysis on the number of people assessed as having long COVID. This analysis will be shared with the Scottish Government and will be used to inform the planning of services for people with long COVID. The analysis will inform publications on long COVID in due course.

Amending Regulations were made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 today.

These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 to remove the Republic of Ireland and the area of Bedford Borough Council from the list of areas to which the common travel area restrictions apply.

These regulations also add Manchester and Salford to the list of areas to which common travel area restrictions apply.

The Regulations have been published at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ssi/2021/242 .

The NHS Research Scotland infrastructure funded by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office is supporting a number of studies on the longer term effects of COVID-19 infection. These include the UK-wide Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) led by the University of Leicester that is recruiting individuals who were discharged from hospital following COVID-19 to study the short (0-6 months), medium (6-12 months) and long-term (12 months +) effects of the disease PHOSP-COVID Home Page - PHOSP-COVID

On December 22 2020, the Chief Scientist Office announced the outcome of its funding call for Scottish-led research on the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection. Following a competitive independently peer reviewed process 9 Long-covid research projects were funded with a total funding commitment of around £2.5 million. Details of the funded projects are available from the Chief Scientist Office website

Long Covid Call – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00341 on 17 th June 2021, which states details concerning contractual arrangements for UK MoD projects are a matter between the UK Government and Babcock.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Given the importance of sandeels to the wider ecosystem and the subsequent benefit in aiding long-term sustainability and resilience, it remains an overarching Scottish Government position, which is reflected in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, not to support fishing for sandeels in our waters. During the parliamentary session on the 09 June, I committed to looking at this issue as a matter of urgency and to consider what additional measures we can put in place to manage the North Sea sandeel fisheries in the most sustainable way possible.

There are also a number of measures already in place for the protection of sandeel stocks in the North Sea. The Northeast UK closed area means that that over half the grounds of sandeel area 4 are closed to fishing. In addition, the Scottish Government has made major steps in protecting areas of key importance to sandeel through the designation of a network of Marine Protected Areas focussed on areas important to sandeel populations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00017 on 24 May 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers