Public Health Scotland (PHS) routinely monitors and publishes vaccination uptake rates for those within education settings. The Scottish Government is working closely with territorial Health Boards and PHS to understand and promote uptake of the MenACWY vaccine in our student population. Regular communication between Health Boards and PHS provides intelligence on uptake levels in specific groups, allowing for targeted responses to improve uptake.

For additional information, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21082 on 19 September 2023. 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

Uptake of vaccinations among young people in Scotland remains high and is delivering lifesaving benefits.

Agreement has been reached through the Police Negotiating Board for a 7% increase to officer pay across all ranks for 2023-24. It means that police officers in Scotland remain the best paid in the UK.

The agreement recognises the valuable contribution police officers make to keeping people and communities across Scotland safe. It is also cognisant of the current economic climate and seeks to recognise the fact that officers are unable to take industrial action.

This agreement ensures a cumulative 12.35% increase in police officer pay since 1 April 2022 which broadly mirrors wage growth for firefighters in the Scottish Fire Rescue Service. In 2023-24 Nurses and Paramedics received a 6.5% pay award.

Where an application to the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan scheme is unsuccessful, the applicant will be informed why they have been unsuccessful. Applicants have the right to appeal and can provide further information to help progress their application.

If an application has been unsuccessful, the HES Advice Service can provide further information and support. Unsuccessful applicants are not precluded from applying to the scheme again in the future.

The issue of passports is a matter for the UK Government. In relation to reducing activity in Scotland, Police Scotland act on intelligence to reduce the impact of the use of counterfeit and forged documents and will act wherever suspicion exists regarding whether a passport is genuine or not. Police Scotland work closely with their partners in other key border enforcement agencies and rely on Border Force for their expertise in determining whether a passport is genuine or altered and Border Force staff are used as expert witnesses in cases referred to COPFS.

The following link provides a recent successful conviction in England which does have a Scottish footprint : https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/updated-sentence-three-men-jailed-supplying-fraudulent-passports-criminals

We are currently developing detailed proposals for the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS). A formal remit will be drawn up (and published) in due course.

A key part of the work being done is to develop governance and oversight of the work being done to tackle racism in Scotland, as per the recommendation of the Expert Group on Ethnicity and Covid-19 (ERG). This will include consideration of how to measure, track and evaluate progress made in eradicating racism in Scotland.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme was launched in December 2022 as an update to the Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme.

Across these schemes, since May 2017 to August 2023, a total of 8315 applications for energy efficiency funding have been received and 5908 have been successful.

Both COSLA and the Scottish Government recognise the need for a review of councillor pay to ensure that terms and conditions truly reflect the responsibilities of a modern-day councillor and, to ensure remuneration does not act as a barrier to encouraging a diverse range of people from standing for elected office.

Councillor pay is currently being reviewed by the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee (SLARC). SLARC is an independent committee appointed by Ministers to review Councillor pay. The Committee started its work in April this year and, has been gathering evidence in preparation to provide its advice to Ministers. Ministers anticipate the Committee’s final report to be submitted later this year.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides estimates of the number of homes which have an EPC rating below band C. For figures at the local authority level the Scottish Government uses a three year pooled data set to ensure sufficient sample sizes.

These figures were recently provided in the answer to PQ S6W-20664 which gave the number and percentage of all homes below EPC C by local authority area for the latest available 3 year period 2017-2019.

The Scottish House Condition Survey provides a snapshot of the Scottish housing stock in each survey year including the construction age and built form of Scottish domestic buildings.

The most recent estimates of houses (specifically covering all Detached, Semi-detached and terraced houses) with an EPC below C at local authority level are for 2017-2019, and are presented in the following table.

The Scottish Government is committed to making sure that robust measures are in place across Scotland to ensure our partners can identify and support victims of sexual extortion.

The National Child Protection Guidance was updated in August 2023 and supports frontline workers by defining and clarifying the roles and responsibilities for everyone working with children and young people, setting out the foundation for protective action to keep young people safe from harms including sexual exploitation.

The Scottish Government works closely with national and UK service partners including Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland to tackle cyber-crime and online sexual extortion scams. We are also members of Police Scotland’s Multi-Agency Group on Preventing Online Sexual Abuse which helps us to recognise and respond effectively to new and emerging trends in online child sexual abuse and exploitation, such as the financially motivated sexual extortion of our young people.

I chair the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce which convenes key partners involved in tackling organised crime, disrupting the activities of organised crime groups and reducing the harm it causes our communities. In June of this year we published guidance for practitioners on criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults on behalf of the Taskforce.

The Scottish Government’s “Our Delivering Equally Safe” fund has awarded over £110,000 to the South West Grid for Learning to deliver advice to victims of intimate image abuse and to improve awareness of sexual exploitation – or ‘Revenge Porn’ across Scotland. The Safer Scotland website was updated earlier this year to provide information, links to support and advice for victims on reporting intimate image abuse. The Scottish Government’s Parent Club website also offers advice for parents on how to protect their children from online harms. We are currently reviewing the content of the Hub to include advice for parents and carers on sexual extortion as well as other emerging risks for children online.

The Neonatal Expenses Fund (NEF) and the Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) are demand-led funds and the Scottish Government has ensured full funding against demand in each year since 2018-19. Actual spend may differ from profiled spend as demand requirements change over time.