Chamber and committees

The publication of Cycling by Design was announced to the media and publicised on social media along with targeted distribution of the document via Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) and Transport Scotland networks. In addition, the Steering Group, comprising SCOTS, Sustrans and Transport Scotland, who have overseen delivery of the document are currently progressing plans for awareness raising sessions for industry, including training sessions and presentations through professional institutions.

Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising all of Scotland's building stock, including transitioning Scotland’s many valuable heritage assets to low and zero emissions heating in a way that respects and protects the special characteristics of these buildings and places. Our Heat in Buildings Strategy recognises that for traditional and heritage buildings, bespoke approaches, including skilled design and construction, may be required. We are working with stakeholders, including Historic Environment Scotland, to develop more solutions to transition Scotland’s historic buildings to zero emissions heating while respecting and preserving the special characteristics of our buildings and places, and where needed continue to build our evidence base and the guidance available for the heat transition in these buildings and areas, including in our approach to regulation.

To ensure property owners have access to suitably qualified installers, we have developed, with industry, installer skill requirements for our Heat in Buildings Strategy which includes skill requirements for any work carried out on pre-1919 buildings where installers will be required to have a 'SQA Level 3 award in Energy Efficiency Measures for Older and Traditional Buildings'.

A range of guidance is available from Historic Environment Scotland to help with potential options for the installation of micro-renewables technologies, energy efficiency measures and climate change adaptations in listed buildings, traditional homes and buildings in conservation areas. This support can be accessed through the Historic Environment Scotland website at: www.historicenvironment.scot . Of particular interest may be:

Owning a Traditional Property: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support/your-property/owning-a-traditional-property/

Making changes to your Property: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support/your-property/making-changes-to-your-property/

Saving Energy in Traditional Buildings: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support/your-property/saving-energy-in-traditional-buildings/

Domestic loans and grants are available through the Home Energy Scotland service which acts as the gateway to all Scottish Government-funded domestic energy efficiency schemes. Home Energy Scotland advisors can offer free and impartial energy efficiency advice, and advice on how to keep homes warmer and more affordable to heat, and are contactable Freephone on 0808 808 2282. Their website containing details of all Scottish Government energy efficiency schemes available for home owners can be found at: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/home-energy-Scotland .

Additionally, property owners may be eligible for support through heritage-related grant schemes or relevant funds which can be found : https://www.heritagefundingdirectoryuk.org/ .

The annual drug-related death statistics published by National Records of Scotland ( Drug Related Deaths in Scotland | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk) ) does not contain information about the life circumstances of people who have unfortunately died from a drug-related death.

The National Drug-Related Deaths Database (NDRDD) published by Public Health Scotland was established to collect wider and more detailed information regarding the nature and circumstances of people who had a drug-related death. This report does not currently include detail on whether individuals were care leavers or care experienced. However, Public Health Scotland are working with Research Data Scotland to explore the feasibility of widening out data linkage to non-health datasets and care-experience has been identified as an important area to explore.

( https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Publications/2018-06-12/2018-06-12-NDRDD-Report.pdf ).

All under 18 year olds are exempt from our COVID-19 status certification scheme. We will, however, keep this under review as the vaccine is rolled out to younger age groups, which takes into account important factors such as disruption to education.

Our decisions are taken, and reviewed on the latest data and clinical evidence. Our review process includes consideration of the impact assessments, such as the Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment.

The scheme is a necessary and proportionate measure limited to activities that are higher risk and is an alternative to the potential closure of higher risk venues. We have made clear that certification will never be a requirement for access to public services including education.

Vaccination is the best way to keep you, your friends, family, and community safe and we encourage everyone to consider getting the vaccine. In the vast majority of cases a successful route to safe vaccination can be found.

If vaccination is not straightforward, support is available to help people achieve the benefits of protection from the Covid-19 vaccines. Local vaccination centre can help answer questions about the vaccine and can advise what arrangements may be put in place to enable safe vaccination. In the rare cases where that support does not lead to vaccination, the offer of an exemption will be a part of the process.

A person who is identified as clinically unable to safely receive the vaccine will receive a secure paper exemption certificate in the post.

NHS Scotland already utilises an electronic prescription message between GP practices and community pharmacies which runs in parallel with paper prescriptions. However, the use of paper prescriptions is still a necessity at this stage as a legal requirement.

The Scottish Government has commissioned NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to take forward a number of digital priorities in response to COVID. This national programme includes investing in development of a new ePrescribing and eDispensing pathway by enabling the use of advanced electronic signatures in primary care and addressing the need for an end-to-end digital solution that will support replacement of the paper prescription from all community settings with a digital solution. The programme recognises that electronic prescribing will help some vulnerable sections of society, but we must also ensure others are not disadvantaged and the solution adopted should address patient needs including digital exclusion. It is difficult to be precise on timescales at present but significant progress on the technical and process models continues at pace and the Scottish Government is committed to deliver a solution through this programme.

Our refreshed Digital Health and Care Strategy includes a clear approach on how we will empower the public to manage their health and wellbeing through digital means. This work will look to give greater access to things like health records and being able to manage prescriptions online.

In addition, patients who have a long-term condition can access the ‘Medicines: Care and Review Service’ at their local community pharmacy. It promotes a partnership approach between the pharmacist, the patient and their GP practice. Patients with stable long-term conditions can receive serial prescriptions for a duration of 24, 48 or 56 weeks which are dispensed in regular intervals by the pharmacy and remove the need to request regular repeat prescriptions.

The regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government and as such Scottish Ministers are unable to directly intervene in the commercial decisions made by financial services companies or comment on individual complaints. Scottish Ministers engage regularly with their UK counterparts and we engage with the industry via the Financial Services Industry Advisory Board (FiSAB) as well as meeting regularly with representative bodies.

The Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with the UK Government, banks and other stakeholders to ensure that customers, local communities and businesses have access to the banking facilities they require.