Chamber and committees

We acknowledge that some people can feel unwell after any vaccination, however at this time there is no compensation for those who take time off work following a vaccination, including COVID-19. The UK Government have a vaccines damages payment scheme in place for anyone who becomes severely unwell Vaccine Damage Payment: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

Zero Waste Scotland, an independent not-for-profit company was established in 2014. I have asked Zero Waste Scotland’s Chief Executive to respond to Mr Golden directly with the information requested.

None. The Fund officially launched on 24 June 2022.

Information about applying to the fund, including the criteria involved, is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website at: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/circular-textiles-fund

The Scottish Government has published guidance for local authorities which includes what safeguarding measures, such as disclosure checks, should be in place for people arriving through the Super Sponsor scheme and the private sponsor scheme. This guidance can be found on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/super-sponsor-scheme-and-homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-local-authorities/pages/person-checks/

In addition to the above, the Scottish Government has published Public Protection guidance for all practitioners involved in safeguarding of children and adults who are arriving in Scotland from Ukraine to identify and respond to risk and need, which can be found here .

As at March 2022, a total of 260 WTE Mental Health workers have been recruited through the Primary Care Improvement Fund. This data was published on 21 June 2022 - ( Primary Care Improvement Plans: Summary of Implementation Progress at March 2022 ).

The next set of data will cover the three month period up to 31 March 2022 and will be published once all 32 local authorities have provided the relevant information. This was requested from local authorities in April and reminders were sent in May and June. We will continue to publish this information on a quarterly basis.

To date, data until 31 March 2022 detailing expenditure, grant and refusal figures have been obtained for 23 local authorities. This shows £4,463,069.51 expenditure, 4,003 grants and 1,298 refusals.

The latest set of full available data, broken down by local authority, is the Tenant Grant Fund monitoring report: January 2022 , which was published in March 2022.

As local authorities can continue to use any remaining allocation in 2022-23 until fully spent, a final review will be carried out once all LAs have closed their funds.

The publication of the Household Food Waste Behaviours Research was delayed due to reprioritisation of work during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, results have continued to inform ongoing intervention and communication development. Zero Waste Scotland has confirmed this report is currently being reviewed to ensure the information remains valid and appropriate to publish as a standalone document. The cost of this work was £20,000.

Scotland has a wealth of experience and learning from previous refugee schemes and we have held discussions with experienced stakeholders including Room for Refugees. The New Scots strategy is providing the foundation for our response to Ukraine. It sets the clear principle that integration should begin and be supported from day one of arrival and has a tried and tested approach to integrating refugees into our communities, schools, and workplaces.

We are working closely and collaboratively with partners to ensure we rapidly respond to opportunities and resolve challenges and issues as they emerge, and ensuring that stakeholders and the direct experiences of those arriving in Scotland feeds directly into continuing to improve our programme.