Chamber and committees

The total full time equivalent staff employed on Home Energy Scotland at the end of July is 208. This figure includes:

• All staff within each Home Energy Scotland advice centre working on Home Energy Scotland activity, and teams and specialists managed directly by the Energy Savings Trust including the Extended Hours team, renewables specialists and private sector landlord advisors.
• All staff within Energy Saving Trust who are covered by Home Energy Scotland funding.
• Management time within the centres and Energy Saving Trust allocated to management of Home Energy Scotland.

The number of Home Energy Scotland Loans that were accepted/rejected in 2020-21 and 2021-22:

The number of Home Energy Scotland Loan applications received during 2020-21 and 2021-22 were:

As at August 2022, the number of Home Energy Scotland Loan applications currently awaiting processing is 303.

In 2004, the UK Advisory Committee on Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues for Transplantation (MSBT) advised that people who have received a blood transfusion since 1980 should no longer be allowed to donate blood in order to reduce the risks of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) via a blood transfusion. The then Scottish Executive accepted those recommendations.

The Scottish Government now takes its advice on blood safety from the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO), which has replaced MSBT as the expert Committee advising Ministers on these matters. This matter is therefore for SaBTO to advise on and they have not suggested that this policy should change. In 2019, SaBTO advised (in its Paediatric Components Working Group report) that certain measures originally implemented to reduce risks of transmission of vCJD were no longer required; however, it advised that all other vCJD risk reduction measures should remain in place.

Transport Scotland has recently undertaken a significant engagement exercise with local authorities, in partnership with the Improvement Service and National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). This has allowed us to assess offline application processes, including capacity and uptake of applications through schools, and we have provided additional support to facilitate this where it has been requested.

We have provided a communications toolkit and promotional materials to local authorities, schools, further education bodies and a wide range of other stakeholders. Engagement has been positive with the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland, and others, who have aided in the promotion of the scheme to students through college and university networks.

Transport Scotland also launched freebus.scot in May to help improve communications about the scheme, simplify information about the application process, emphasise the benefits of the scheme, provide tips for safe travel and, ultimately, increase uptake across Scotland.

All businesses with a bricks and mortar presence in their community are eligible to sign up, except for gambling and betting businesses. As of 16 August 2022, 3,839 businesses have signed up to the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card scheme. The table below details the number of businesses that have signed up to the scheme by local authority area.

The focus of the Scottish Government`s communication activities and guidance during the pandemic was to ensure that, when people needed to travel, and the prevailing Covid-19 restrictions allowed them to do so, they knew to plan ahead and were informed of the guidance to follow to use public transport safely.

Typically messaging on protection levels, ventilation, physical distancing and wearing a face covering when in crowded locations or when on public transport was included within the broader Government’s public health campaign messaging or was part of an operators own communications materials. No specific SG funding was allocated for this activity therefore, it is not possible to say how much was spent specifically on public transport marketing or advertising relating to social distancing and COVID-19 protection measures.

The Scottish Government will launch a national marketing campaign to promote the new Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme in the coming weeks. The Scottish Government has allocated £400,000 to promote this campaign during this financial year.

On promoting public transport more broadly, Transport Scotland continues to work with operating partners and stakeholders to encourage people to use public transport, as a sustainable way to access work, education and services.

This is a matter for Regional Screening Centres. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.