Chamber and committees

I can confirm that 28 of 32 local authorities charge citizens for technology-enabled care equipment as part of their telecare services.

The Data collated in 2022 also identified that charges range from £1.48 to £8.40 per week for telecare. An annual survey to ascertain current charging levels will be issued to local authorities, via COSLA, during the summer of 2023.

Up to £30 million is being made available to the Rural and Islands Housing Fund during this parliamentary term.

The Rural and Islands Housing Fund has £11.8 million remaining available to allocate during this parliamentary term to fully developed, consented main fund project applications in rural and island communities.

The following table shows the number of people killed in injury road collisions in the Mid Scotland and Fife region by year, month and road between May 2016 and December 2021. The statistics cover Clackmannanshire, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Stirling local authority areas. Road casualty figures for 2022 will be published on 24 May 2023.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a range of measures to promote the guidance for displaced people from Ukraine. At the point of publication, the guidance was issued via direct mailing to a wide range of stakeholders and delivery partners, including local government and third sector. It has also been promoted on Scottish Government social media channels including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We have engaged with external stakeholders such as ScotHosts, Help Ukraine Scotland and Barnardo’s to have the guidance promoted directly on their social media channels. This ensures the guidance is sent directly to Ukrainians as well as Hosts who support Ukrainian families.

In addition, Scottish Government subsequently published a stakeholder toolkit to support our partners to further promote the guidance. This, too, was issued to a wide range of stakeholders and delivery partners. The toolkit, which is available online to download, contains information on the guidance alongside a range of assets for use, including key messages, social media posts and videos focusing on accommodation, showcasing Scotland, and rights and protections.

The Scottish Government has produced posters promoting the guidance and worked closely with local authorities and our partner organisations such the Scottish Refugee Council, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain and Volunteer Edinburgh to have the posters displayed at arrival points, in welcome accommodation, or other places where our partners meet with people displaced from Ukraine.

The guidance was also promoted in Scottish Government’s Scottish Government: ‘Supporting Ukraine’ monthly newsletter, with a call to action for those subscribers to share the content widely.

We are grateful to our partners for their work in helping to ensure displaced people from have access to the guide and we are committed to continuing to work in partnership to further promote it widely.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to supporting carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and we have set out a positive vision for this in our Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. Since taking up office, I have held a roundtable with the Scottish Cluster to seek industry’s view on how best we can support, accelerate and scale up CCUS following recent UK Government announcements. I have also met with the UK Government Minister Andrew Bowie to discuss the Energy Bill, to ensure this vital piece of enabling legislation best reflects Scotland’s interests. Yesterday I also met with the Carbon Capture and Storage Association to discuss the opportunities around Track-2 and the development of the sector.

We remain wholly committed to supporting the advancement of the Scottish Cluster and CCUS, and also stand firmly behind our commitment to make available £80 million of financial support. We continue to urge the UK Government to provide a clear timetable for when the Scottish Cluster will be awarded.

The Scottish Government engages closely with NHS Highland on dental service delivery matters and has put in place a framework of support to facilitate local solutions.

This includes Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI) grant support, which pays out a potential £100,000 for the first surgery, and £25,000 per additional surgery to practices setting up a new practice, or extending an existing practice; and making available recruitment and retention allowances with payments of up to £37,500 over a three year period. Both mitigations apply across the whole of the Highland Health Board area.

In this particular case the Board is working with the practice to facilitate recruitment resting on the incentives available. In the meantime a locum dentist will provide cover at the practice, pending recruitment.

Unregistered patients can access emergency and urgent dental care via the Public Dental Service, Argyll & Bute Dental Helpline.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data. Guidance was issued to Health Boards in April 2022 setting out our expectation that Health Boards will ensure Ukrainian refugees have access to GP practices.

In the 2022 Programme for Government, and more recently in the FM’s policy prospectus, the Scottish Government has committed to launch a Talent Attraction and Migration Service for Scotland. The service is in the early stages of development and we intend to launch it before the end of 2023. The service will improve Scotland’s ability to attract and recruit workers with the skills that our economy will need in the future and support international workers in the migration and relocation process.

The Scottish Government will update the guidance regularly to ensure displaced people from Ukraine have up to date information. Updates have been made since the guidance was first published in 6 th April 2023. We will continue to review the guidance – and listen to our stakeholders, partner organisations and displaced people from Ukraine living in Scotland – to ensure it is up to date and meets needs.