Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government released new forestry cultivation guidance on 27 July.

The guidance can be found at: https://forestry.gov.scot/publications/1032-cultivation-for-upland-productive-woodland-creation-sites-applicant-s-guidance/viewdocument/1032 .

Whilst Covid-19 has change the way the NHS works, the Scottish Government has been clear since the start of the pandemic that NHS remains open and those with health concerns should be able to access the care they need safely and quickly. In a life-threatening emergency, 999 and A&E services will always be available.

A National Door Drop to all households in Scotland in January 2021 - “ A Guide to NHS Scotland Services ” - included information about the different healthcare services the public can seek advice from. This information can be accessed on an ongoing basis on the “ Your Community Health Care Services ” page on NHS Inform. To assist NHS Health Boards with local messaging, the Scottish Government has also produced the Primary Care Digital Communications Toolkit , which provides resources for primary care providers to utilise when communicating with the public on how to access healthcare services.

The Scottish Government’s Primary care Directorate meets weekly with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the BMA to discuss a range of issues including Covid related issues such as long Covid.

NHS Boards are developing pathways according to local services and the needs of their respective populations, to support people with long COVID. We continue to invest in and expand multidisciplinary teams in primary care consisting of health and care professionals that play a key role in the provision of rehabilitation services.

Since the publication of the rehabilitation framework in August 2020, we have established a National Advisory Board to oversee its implementation.

The rehabilitation programme is currently undertaking a significant scoping exercise through a self-assessment process to understand the current status of rehabilitation services in Scotland, from the perspective of the staff working in them.

The self-assessment tool has been circulated to all NHS Boards, Health & Social Care Partnerships, third sector organisations, and Leisure Trusts as part of Local Authorities.

The outputs from the self-assessment tool along with demand and capacity data will help us shape priorities, understand challenges and opportunities and inform funding decisions.

The Scottish Government has supported the following research:

‘Genetic Testing for Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome and the British Coronial System’. This is currently in follow-up in NHS Grampian and ran from May 2014 to June 2020.

‘The Role of Genetic Testing & Molecular Autopsy in Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS)’, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which ran from 2011 – 2014.

‘Phenotype-driven molecular autopsy for sudden cardiac death’ through the Familial Arrhythmia Network Scotland, the Scottish Genetics Consortium, NHS Grampian and NHS Highland which ran from 2001 to 2013.

‘Non-invasive prediction of total and sudden cardiac mortality in patients with heart failure’, University of Glasgow, which ran from 1994 to 1996.

It is currently not practical to establish a definitive implementation timetable for bringing the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 (the Act) into force. Covid-19 has considerably stretched resources within Health Boards and the wider health and social care sector, with the focus being on maintaining and delivering essential services and rolling out the vaccination programme.

Prior to the pandemic, we proposed a phased commencement of the Act, with a programme of preparatory work to lay the way for implementation. This work had not concluded pre-Covid when the Act became one of several areas of policy/legislation to be paused in order to prioritise the Government’s and Health Boards pandemic response.

Additionally, during the previous session there were substantial demands on parliamentary time arising from Covid-19 and EU Exit legislation and also critical legislation needing to be progressed prior to the dissolution of Parliament.

However, the Scottish Government continues to be resolutely committed to the Act and its aims and principles. Health and social care staff across Scotland have risen to the very significant challenges posed by Covid, showing incredible resolve and flexibility, and as the Health Service recovers and remobilises we will ensure this Act is implemented as soon as is practicable to effectively drive positive change for NHS staff and patients .

The Scottish Government continues to work under the interim Subsidy Control regime introduced by the UK Government on 1 January 2021 and provisions held within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Alongside this, consideration has to be given to any further UK Subsidy Control obligations such as World Trade Organisation membership and commitments arising from international treaties and Fair Trade Agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party.

The UK Government introduced a Bill on Subsidy Control to Parliament on 30 June 2021 with a view to implementation of a permanent Subsidy Control regime.

Officials will continue to diligently work through the UK Government’s proposals to understand the impact on subsidies, including on ferry services.

The Scottish Government’s Forestry Grant Scheme supports the planting of all types of trees to create new woodlands. Over the last 3 years it has supported the planting of over 12,000 hectares of native trees, including within commercial forestry schemes. This has more than met the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy target of between 3,000 and 5,000 hectares of new native woodland per year.

Under the current Forestry Grant Scheme (2014 - 2024), Scottish Forestry estimate that 160 million trees have been planted.

Of these, 93.6 million were non-native conifers (predominantly Sitka spruce, Douglas fir and other species), and 10.4 million were native conifers (mainly Scots pine). A further 52.5 million were native broadleaves (typically oak, alder, ash, birch, hazel and hawthorn) and 3.5 million were non-native broadleaves (sycamore, beech etc).

The Scottish Government does not offer any tax incentives to support woodland creation through any devolved taxes.

The project was chosen for funding through engagement with regional partners including the Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Strategic Leadership Group and the North East Regional Economic Strategy Group as part of the wider Energy Transition Fund support package to help deliver net zero and help the energy sector recover from the dual economic impacts of Coronavirus and the oil and gas price crash.

The location of the ETZ is primarily a matter for local partners, and the planning authority, in the first instance, not the Scottish Government.

Recognising the value of green space to local communities, a critical success factor of the project is that the ETZ must offer communities societal benefits including coastal access, open space, landscape and biodiversity enhancements and that project owners are able to demonstrate meaningful engagement with local communities as the project develops.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulator has approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be given in Scotland, and across the UK. This vaccine also complies with European Medicines Agency requirements and is shown on the record of vaccination as Vaxzevria - EU/1/21/1529.

Individuals travelling abroad will still need to meet the requirements for their destination country when travelling. For example, a negative pre-departure test etc. if stipulated by the respective country.