Chamber and committees

It is difficult to make accurate estimates of the proportion of palm oil imported into Scotland that is from sustainable sources. There is no reason to believe that the proportion is significantly different from that for the UK as a whole. The most recent Annual Progress Report from the UK Roundtable on Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil states that "since 2010, the proportion of UK imports of palm and palm kernel oil that can be reported as certified sustainable has increased from 16% to 72% in 2021, with the vast majority of remaining imports likely to be sourced through a form of assurance." The UK Government has consulted about regulations to introduce due diligence on forest risk commodities, which are planned to place new obligations on businesses that import large volumes of commodities that can be grown on newly cleared forest land. Businesses will be required to demonstrate that production of these commodities has respected local laws.

We know there can be many barriers preventing someone who is experiencing domestic abuse from leaving that relationship and we are firmly committed to looking at what we can do, within our devolved powers, to provide financial support to women so that financial uncertainty does not create a further barrier.

We are currently working with partners, including Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA), the Convention Of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) to explore how a fund providing immediate financial support to women leaving an abusive relationship could be developed and delivered.

Humza Yousaf MSP, the then Cabinet Secretary, wrote to the profession on 7 February 2023 providing an update on the new Determination 1 and indicated the direction of travel for dental reform: Letter to NHS dental teams from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care | Scottish Dental

On 27 July 2023 I provided a further update to the profession on the Scottish Government’s payment reform, which included the revised item of service fees, and will launch on 1 November 2023: PCA(2023)4 – Fees for Determination I | Scottish Dental

A table showing the number of social and affordable completions by local authority area can be accessed using the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/affordable-housing-supply-programme-completions-updates/

The homes provided through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme comprise homes for social rent, for mid-market rent and for low cost home ownership. These homes take various forms including; new build homes, rehabilitation projects, conversions and off-the-shelf purchases of both new and second hand homes.

Within the Scottish Government funding of Health and Care research falls under the remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO).

As part of the Scottish Government response to the pandemic, in October 2020 CSO launched a funding call seeking applications which aimed to investigate the longer-term effects of COVID-19. Following an independent expert review process, 9 projects were funded with a total funding commitment of £2.5 million. The funding outcome was announced in December 2020.

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/funded-research/long-covid-call/

The timetable for completion of the 9 projects funded through the longer-term effects of COVID-19 funding call is provided below.

CSO funded research project start dates are confirmed through submission by the corresponding host institution of a completed start certificate ( Form7-Start-Certificate.docx (live.com) )

Project final reports are the result of a collaborative effort between the individual project teams and members of the CSO Public Engagement Group who work together to ensure the reports are written in accessible language. There is therefore an inevitable short delay between the project end date and the publication of the final report on the CSO website.

COV/LTE/20/04

Amplifying the voices of people with lived experience to improve understanding, support, treatment and education

Professor Kate Hunt University of Stirling

Project Start Certificate 01-03-23

9 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 23-02-23

Revised End Date 30-11-23

COV/LTE/20/06

Defining and understanding the longer-term effects of COVID-19: A mixed methods study exploring the frequency, nature, and impact of ‘long COVID’ in the Scottish population

Professor Jill Pell University of Glasgow

Project Start Certificate 01-02-21

End Date 31-01-23

Project Completed

Final report published on CSO website

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/COVLTE2006.pdf

COV/LTE/20/08

COVID-19: Tracking Persistent Symptoms in Scotland (TraPSS)

Professor Nicolas Sculthorpe University of the West of Scotland

Project Start Certificate 01-04-21

3 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 19-01-23

Revised End Date 31-06-23

Project Completed

Final report in draft

COV/LTE/20/10

Prevention and early treatment of COVID-19 long-term effects: a randomised clinical trial of resistance exercise

Professor Colin Berry University of Glasgow

Project Start Certificate 01-02-21

8 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 03-04-23

Revised End Date 30-09-23

COV/LTE/20/15

Developing and validating a risk prediction model for long COVID-19

Professor Aziz Sheikh University of Edinburgh

Project Start Certificate 01-03-21

6 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 09-09-22

Revised End Date 31-08-23

COV/LTE/20/26

Clinical phenotyping to enable targeted treatment of persistent cognitive symptoms after COVID-19

Professor Alan Carson University of Edinburgh

Project Start Certificate 01-04-21

CSO currently in discussion with Lead Investigator on no-cost extension

COV/LTE/20/28

Longer term impact of COVID-19 infection people with diabetes

Professor Robert Lindsay University of Glasgow

Project Start Certificate 01-02-21

12 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 11-10-22

Revised End Date 31-04-24

COV/LTE/20/29

Evaluating emerging models of community rehabilitation for people experiencing the effects of long-COVID to inform responsive service delivery across Scotland

Professor Kay Cooper Robert Gordon University

Professor Edward Duncan University of Stirling

Project Start Certificate 01/05/21

6 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 10/03/23

Revised End Date 31/10/23

COV/LTE/20/32

Lived experience of long term COVID-19 on NHS workers in health care settings in Scotland: a longitudinal mixed methods study

Dr Nicola Torrance Robert Gordon University

Dr Aileen Grant Robert Gordon University

Project Start Certificate 01-05-21

2 month no-cost extension authorised by CSO 11-11-22

Project Completed

Final report published on CSO website

https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/COVLTE2032report.pdf

CSO’s standard funding committees also welcome applications on the longer-term effects of COVID-19 infection. To date 2 such proposals have been recommended for funding by the CSO’s Health Improvement, Protection and Services Committee Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research Committee – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

HIPS/22/33

Caring for Long COVID in Primary Care: Using Patient and Professional Experience to Build Co-Designed Solutions. A Participatory, Mixed Methods Study

Professor Catherine O’Donnell University of Glasgow

Project Start Certificate 01-04-23

Project end date 30-06-24

HIPS/23/08

Long COVID And Frontline Public Service Occupations: Impacts On Employees And Organisations

Dr Alice Maclean University of Stirling

Funding letter issued 06-07-23

Projected project end date 30-04-25

The Scottish Government welcomes this research and agrees with the need for Net Zero to be implemented in a manner that achieves maximum benefit for all of society. Through our Just Transition Planning and publication of the next Climate Change Plan we will ensure that we act quickly to achieve our Net Zero ambitions in a manner that assures inequalities are tackled in partnership with Scotland’s local communities.

Identity theft is a form of fraud and prosecuted under the general offence of fraud. As such, specific information is not routinely collected on identity theft. However, in 2018-19, a one-off detailed analysis of crimes of dishonesty was carried out by the Scottish Government and this revealed that identity theft type cases accounted for about 6% of total fraud, with most cases of identity theft being cyber-enabled.

6. Tables - Recorded crime in Scotland: 2018-2019 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

In addition, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey found 1.1% of adults experienced identity theft in 2019/20. These are the most recently published statistics as the survey was suspended due to COVID, and resumed in November 2021 with next results due to be published later this year.

Identity theft can be a traumatic experience for those who experience it. It should be reported to Police Scotland as well as the relevant financial institutions that have been affected.

Police Scotland raise awareness of the importance of trying to reduce incidents of identity theft through comprehensive advice on their website. In particular, the website includes information about common ways in which criminals seek to acquire personal information about a person with a view to using this information fraudulently. This advice also includes signs to look for in case a person's identity has been stolen to be used for fraudulent purposes and what to do if a person considers they have been a victim of identity theft. We support the steps being taken by Police Scotland in helping advise people how best to protect themselves from identity theft.

Identity theft - Police Scotland

Financial institutions also provide helpful information to customers about how best to avoid falling foul of being a victim of identity theft with advice focused on what steps to take to help protect personal information as if criminals find it more difficult to access personal information, then this reduces the chances of identity theft taking place.

The following table shows the number of affordable homes delivered in remote, rural and island communities in 2021-22 and 2022-23:

Through a combination of the R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme and the commercial broadband market – including the emergence of technologies such as Low Earth Orbit satellite - every home and business across Scotland can access superfast broadband speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps). The R100 contracts are continuing to deliver future-proofed, full fibre connections – capable of gigabit speeds; more than 30 times faster than our original superfast target.

The £500 million Just Transition Fund for North East and Moray has allocated £75 million to date, including a multi-year capital programme supporting 24 projects. The open and competitive bidding round assessed projects against published criteria in line with public finance guidelines. Details of successful projects are published here: Just Transition Fund: year one projects - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . I have committed to regular updates on progress towards a just transition to net zero to Parliament and the Just Transition Commission.