Chamber and committees

We regularly engage with people who are at highest risk from COVID-19 through surveys, in-depth interviews and testing communications. Earlier this year we spoke directly to people at highest risk who have returned to the workplace as restrictions eased, to understand their challenges and what guidance and support may be needed when restrictions ease. Most recently, we launched a survey about the move to level 0 and beyond which asks how people are feeling about those changes. The results will be published late summer.

Three Disabled People’s Organisations (Inclusion Scotland, Disability Equality Scotland and Glasgow Disability Alliance) were consulted on the easing of restrictions.

Throughout the pandemic we have been engaging with both carers and carer organisations to ensure unpaid carers have the advice they need to help protect themselves and their loved ones during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Scottish Government acts on the basis of the latest guidance issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which considers all available evidence for the most appropriate vaccinations policy approach in the UK. Current JCVI advice remains that the single greatest risk of mortality and severe disease from COVID-19 is increasing age and COVID-19 risk increases exponentially with age.

Those registered as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) on the GP system are already included in group 4 of phase 1 of the JCVI priority list. Solid organ transplant recipients are deemed CEV and have been previously included on the Shielded Patient List. A hospital clinician or GP can also add a patient to the list, based on their clinical judgement, because they consider them to be at very high risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

All patients on the CEV list will also fall into the broader disease categories outlined in table 3 of the Green Book, Chapter 14a, but are in priority group 4 because of more recent treatment, more advanced condition or co-morbidities. Other patients in the same clinical risk group, but not on the CEV list at the time group 4 is called, are within priority group 6, or with their appropriate age cohort. Further information is available here: COVID-19: the green book, chapter 14a - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

On 30 June the JCVI published interim advice on adult COVID-19 booster vaccinations. The interim advice is to begin offering COVID-19 booster vaccines in September 2021, in a two-stage programme alongside the annual flu vaccination programme.

The JCVI will consider additional scientific data as it becomes available over the next few months ahead of formulating final advice. Accordingly, we shall consider the final advice issued on this matter and any adjustments JCVI may or may not recommend in light of additional scientific data it is presently considering, as this becomes available over the next few months.

The Serum Institute of India (SII) manufactures both Vaxzevria and Covishield, both branded vaccines are exactly the same COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine. All SII-made doses approved by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and administered in the UK were those branded as the ’COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca’ which is now known commercially as ‘Vaxzeria’. The MHRA has not approved doses branded as ‘Covishield’ and none were in administered in the UK.

All AstraZeneca vaccines given in the UK are the same product and appear on the NHS Vaccination status letter as Vaxzevria. The European Medicines Agency has authorised this vaccine and we are confident travel will not be affected.

Individuals can access the batch number of the vaccine they received in Scotland via a Subject Access Request from their GP.

As of 2 August 2021:(a) 1470 vouchers have been approved for the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS). We have defined this as instances where the connection has been delivered or where the voucher has been issued to a supplier but build has yet to complete. Of these, 333 vouchers have been approved through the Interim Voucher Scheme and 1137 vouchers have been approved through the Main Voucher Scheme.

Vouchers approved through the SBVS to date are broken down by local authority as follows:

As agreed in the ADT Highlands and Islands Working Group terms of reference, the Group met three times. The last of these meetings took place on 4 February 2019

The Group offered external challenge to our consideration of options, and made a valuable contribution to the evidence base in support of maintaining the Highlands and Islands exemption, producing new analysis that underlined its importance to the region.

There are no current plans for the Group to meet again. Scottish Ministers will however continue to consider this on an ongoing basis, taking account of relevant developments.

More information on the Highlands and Islands Working Group can be found here:

https://www.gov.scot/groups/adt-highlands-and-islands-working-group/

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) is responsible for the procurement of ferries on behalf of Ministers.

Neither Ministers nor officials have had any meetings in the last year, either with CMAL or with third parties, to discuss the procurement of new ferry vessels specifically from foreign shipyards although the wider requirements of the open procurement for the Islay vessel has been discussed.

Transport Scotland officials have however had a number of discussions with CMAL regarding the business case for the acquisition of tonnage currently under construction in an overseas shipyard.

The information available is in the following table (As of 11 August 2021)

Network Rail continues to progress early, on site, construction activities whilst the necessary development work for the complete project is progressed.

In June 2021, Network Rail announced as part of the East Kilbride Enhancements Project, Hairmyres station is moving to a new site off Redwood Avenue – approximately 600-metres to the west of its existing location.

Scotland’s Railway, South Lanarkshire Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) continue to work collaboratively to fund and develop the expanded transport interchange at Hairmyres to encourage more people out of their cars and onto trains.

Future updates can be sourced via the dedicated project pages in the Scotland’s Railway website:-

https://scotlandsrailway.com/projects/east-kilbride-enhancements

As of 22 July 2021:

a) the number of households in each local authority that can access broadband as a direct result of (i) the R100 contracts, (ii) the main voucher (MVS – worth up to £5,000) and the interim voucher (IVS – worth up to £400) portions of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) and (iii) commercial coverage stands at:

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of properties across all 32 Scottish local authorities that are eligible for vouchers through the Reaching 100% (R100) Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) as at 22 July 2021 ( these figures are subject to change, depending on ongoing R100 contract and commercial build ).

We cannot provide a breakdown between residential and SME properties. However, the breakdown does show percentages for both the main voucher ( MVS – worth up to £5,000 ) and the interim voucher ( IVS – worth up to £400 ).