Chamber and committees

Since 2011 the Energy Saving Trust (EST),on behalf of the Scottish Government has maintained a database of all community and locally owned (CoLo) renewable energy installations in Scotland and produces a report on the information it contains each year.

The Scottish Government has not provided any direct financial support to the private sector for onshore or offshore wind energy projects in the last 10 years.

The Scottish Government has not provided any direct financial support to the public sector for onshore or offshore wind energy projects in the last 10 years.

Spending data on additional support for learning (ASL) is provided below. This data is collected from local authorities via the Local Financial Returns (LFR). In addition to 2020-21 expenditure data, figures for 2019-20 have also been provided due to revisions in LFR statistics since the response to S6W-00064 on 1 June 2021. These revisions reflect an upward revision in ASL spending reported by Aberdeen City, and a downwards revision in ASL spending reported by Renfrewshire local authority.

Local authorities are asked to provide this data in line with guidance to ensure returns are completed on a consistent basis to allow for a reasonable degree of comparability. However, these figures may be affected by variations in local accounting practices and education strategies. It is important to bear this in mind when making comparisons between local authorities and years.

Local authorities are asked to record all centrally funded ASL expenditure under Special Education, irrespective of where it is delivered. Decisions about prioritisation and budgets, including those for the provision of services for pupils with additional support needs, are a matter for individual councils. We recognise the challenges facing authorities in balancing their need to meet a wide range of statutory duties, local priorities and local circumstances.

Tables 1 and 2 show gross revenue expenditure on additional support for learning (ASL) education from 2020-21 and 2019-20 respectively, split by Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary and Special Education.

Table 1 – 2020-21 ASL expenditure by Local Authority (£000)

The exact financial value of the electricity output from Scotland’s wind energy projects is not known. Electricity is traded on in the wholesale market where the price fluctuates continuously and precise data on prices is not publicly available.

? Also a large proportion of wind generators are subsidised through schemes such as the contracts for differences (CfD) and the Renewable Obligation (RO) so the revenues obtained will differ from the wholesale market price.

? However, taking estimates of annual average wholesale market prices together with the volume of electricity generated by Scottish wind farms, the estimated value of the electricity generated from 2012-2021 is approximately £9.5bn.

? Due to recent spikes in energy prices around 25% of the total value over the last 10 years occurred in 2021 alone.

Our best and final estimate of the number of reverse vending machines (RVMs) that will be required to operate Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is 3,021, as set out in Table 2 of the amended final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) published on 15 December 2021. At the time of drafting the amended final BRIA, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) confirmed that this matched their estimate.

We have had no further discussions with CSL regarding any estimated numbers of RVMs since that time and do not recognise the figure of around 5,000. Although it is entirely appropriate for CSL to continue to update its own assumptions regarding key parameters for DRS, our best and final estimate prior to implementation remains unchanged and we have no intention to further revisit the amended final BRIA.

The powers required to legislate in respect of company acquisition and ownership are reserved to the UK Parliament and, as such, the Scottish Government does not have the power to take action in this area. In addition recent legislative change in the UK via the National Security and Investment Act enables an increased screening of acquisitions in certain sectors on grounds, for example, of national security. This reflects similar change in EU legislation.

The Scottish Government and Enterprise Agencies therefore aim to work with businesses in Scotland, domestic and overseas owned, to ensure Scottish operations are not only secured here but opportunities for growth are pursued. Scotland has a highly supportive eco-system for early stage and high growth businesses with potential to scale. In a UK context Scotland is recognised by the Scale Up Institute as having a particularly supportive business eco-system for ambitious Scottish companies, with our Enterprise Agencies at the centre of a network based upon collaboration between public, private, third sector organisations and academic partners.

In support of this approach both our Inward Investment and Global Capital Investment Plans place maximum emphasis on securing good quality investment into Scotland aligning with our values as a nation and delivering our net zero economy supported by good green jobs. We will therefore continue to work closely with those Scottish and overseas-owned businesses and organisations with whom those values most closely align.

As at the week beginning 11 April 2022, over 6300 non-hospitalised individuals had received COVID-19 treatments (oral antivirals or monoclonal antibody treatment) in Scotland since 22 December 2021.

Adults and children (aged 12 years and above) are eligible to be assessed for their suitability for new COVID-19 treatments if they:

? have symptoms of coronavirus that started in the last 5 days with no signs of clinical recovery;

? are a member of one of the patient groups considered at high risk from coronavirus and with a clinical condition prioritised for treatment; and

? coronavirus is confirmed by a positive lateral flow device (LFD) or PCR test.

Some COVID-19 positive individuals who meet the eligibility criteria will decide not to receive antiviral treatments, or may be unable to, for example due to other medications they are taking.

The information on those who were eligible for treatment and who received it within five days and those who did not receive it within five days is not held centrally.

As set out in the answer to S6W-07830 on 29 April 2022, we have had no further discussions with Circularity Scotland Ltd regarding any estimated numbers of reverse vending machines since the publication of the amended final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for our Deposit Return Scheme, and do not recognise the figure of around 5,000.

. 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

( a) The information requested is not held centrally.

(b) The Scottish Government recognises that accurate data on long COVID prevalence and symptoms is needed to forecast and plan for the need for healthcare services arising from long COVID. Public Health Scotland will lead on surveillance of long COVID. It is currently anticipated that this surveillance will be undertaken via the EAVE II study, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh ( About EAVE II | The University of Edinburgh ). Funded by the Medical Research Council, the EAVE II study has used a pseudonymised patient dataset to track the COVID-19 pandemic across Scotland. In a separate project funded by the Chief Scientist Office, the EAVE II dataset will be used to create a tool to identify people at greatest risk of developing long COVID. The findings will in due course provide information about the number of people diagnosed with long COVID and their use of health services, including among residents of care homes.