As of 31 March 2022, the interim voucher portion of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is now closed. The main voucher worth up to £5,000 remains open for those who are not planned to benefit from build through R100 contracts or commercial coverage.

No requests for a voucher through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) for eligible premises have been declined.

Given the change in guidance on 18 April on asymptomatic testing and the ceasing of the universal testing offer as set out in the Test and Protect Transition Plan , it would no longer be appropriate for Covid Status Certification to be used domestically. We have therefore removed the guidance for customers and businesses on domestic certification from the Scottish Government website and the domestic function of the Covid Status app will be switched off shortly at a date to be agreed in line with the rest of the UK.

The NHS Scotland Covid Status app will continue to be used to facilitate international travel for the foreseeable future until it is no longer required.

Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) are used for a variety of purposes and may be included in a number of different contractual and settlement arrangements. The Scottish Government has no plans to review the use of NDAs at this time. In an employment context, the UK Government consulted on measures to prevent the misuse of NDAs in situations of workplace harassment or discrimination in 2019 and further information can be found here . Responsibility for employment law is a reserved matter.

The Scottish Government is committed to upholding and advancing the rights of those that choose to make their life here in Scotland, including former Hong Kong residents. Racism and discrimination are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with the UK Government, COSLA, Police Scotland and third sector partners to understand the needs and requirements of former Hong Kong residents to support their integration into our communities.

As well as publishing a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, we have also provided funding to COSLA, who have a dedicated online Hong Kong Welcome Hub intended for Hong Kong BN(O) migrants arriving in Scotland and Council Officers supporting their integration. Both resources include information on what to do if someone is the victim of racism or discriminatory practices.

We encourage anyone subjected to racism or discrimination to report it to the relevant authorities.

The Scottish Government takes bullying very seriously. Bullying of any kind is completely unacceptable and must be addressed.

In November 2017, the Scottish Government published updated anti-bullying guidance ‘Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People’

In August 2019, we introduced a consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools. All schools and local authorities are expected to be using the new approach.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans for the numbers of bullying incidents to be collated at a national level. Recording and monitoring is essential and best carried out locally where recurring patterns can be understood and acted upon. An evaluation will be undertaken later this year to assess how successfully the new system has been embedded.

respect me, Scotland’s anti-bullying service, continues to provide support to all adults working with children and young people to give them the practical skills and confidence to deal with all types of bullying behaviour.

For reference details of the 9 projects are available from the Chief Scientist Office website

Long Covid Call – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

Six-month progress reports have been received for all 9 projects

A twelve-month progress report has been received for project LTE/20/04

On 31 March 2022 the Chief Scientist Office hosted a virtual symposium where the lead investigators for each of the 9 projects presented the results obtained to date

During 2022, we will take forward necessary preparatory work to support the national rollout of the Caledonian System with the aim of making it available to all 32 Scottish local authorities by the end of the parliamentary term.

The size of a local authority, and the domestic abuse offending rates within, play a significant role in any forecasting. The Caledonian System is currently available in 19 local authorities and by expanding its availability across Scotland we will significantly increase the number of men accessing the programme.

The Scottish Government is clear that physical intervention should only ever be used appropriately, as a last resort, to prevent harm and when in the best interests of the child or young person.

The Scottish Government is working with partners, including the Children and Young People’s Commissioner, on new human rights-based non-statutory guidance to minimise the use of restraint in schools. This new guidance will replace existing advice provided within Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: Preventing and Managing School Exclusions ( Supporting documents - Included, engaged and involved part 2: preventing and managing school exclusions - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

The physical intervention working group began work on the new guidance in January 2020. Progress was affected by group members’ focus on the Covid-19 response. However, work resumed in June 2020 and positive progress has been made since then. Working Group members have now reached agreement that the draft guidance can be put to public consultation. The Scottish Government is currently preparing this consultation.

Details of the membership and notes of the meetings of the physical intervention working group are available on the Scottish Government’s website: Physical Intervention Working Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

In the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021, 379 men were required to attend the Caledonian System as part of a Community Payback Order (CPO). In total, 1100 men were provided with the opportunity to access the programme in this period.

Prior to 2016 uptake of the Men's Programme is difficult to quantify precisely, because of limitations in the monitoring data. However, from the data available, the Caledonian System Evaluation in 2016 found that at least 941 men had started the Men’s Programme and 598 women had taken up the offer of support from the Women’s Service since September 2010.

Since the introduction of a new dataset from 1 May 2018, 1386 men have been required to attend the Caledonian System as part of a CPO. During this same period, 1934 women were also contacted, and offered the opportunity to contribute to the assessment process and have been offered safety planning.