Chamber and committees

The National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories. NSD are currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland’s genomics services which will include reviewing the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021–2022 financial year.

The outcomes from the review will be considered by the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, chaired jointly by Professor David Crossman, the Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, NSD Director, who are supporting the Scottish Government in ensuring appropriate planning and robust decision-making processes are in place for genetic testing availability in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has met all four Rail unions on a number of occasions recently, but union representatives have not chosen to use those meetings to discuss ScotRail’s Fit for the Future document.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is the statutory advisory body to the Scottish Ministers in respect of meeting their duties under climate change legislation.

The CCC has stated that, with respect to the decarbonisation of heat, our short-term priorities should be a reduction in demand through improved energy efficiency and the installation of renewable heating systems in off-gas buildings where the carbon intensity of displaced fuel is greater than on-gas areas.

This advice is set out in the CCC’s ‘Next Steps for UK Heat Policy’ publication, which can be found at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/next-steps-for-uk-heat-policy/ . This advice has informed our proposed approach to heat decarbonisation set out in our final Heat in Buildings Strategy, published on 7 October 2021.

ScotRail, when proposing the May 2022 timetable, has examined in detail previous, current and expected passenger demand. ScotRail has developed a proposed timetable that offers an increase in the number of services compared to current service levels as well as service patterns that meet demand, with scope for growth, while recognising the need for financial and environmental sustainability as we work towards Net Zero.

Pension Credit is reserved to the UK Government and, therefore, the Scottish Government has not corresponded with local authorities or COSLA in relation to raising awareness about claiming pension credit or supporting people to do so.

The Scottish Government funds the Citizens Advice Network in Scotland to deliver the Money Talk Team Income Maximisation Service. This is a money advice service that includes advice about all benefits, including pension credit. We have undertaken three national marketing campaigns to make people aware of the service.

The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the independent assessors, who follow applicable statute and case law in making their decisions on non-domestic property valuations. The 2020 Supreme Court ruling for England and Wales is not binding in Scots law, although I am aware that dialogue is ongoing between assessors and agents regarding the rating of ATM sites following that decision.

The Scottish Government provides the most generous non-domestic rates regime in the UK, and in 2021-22 delivered an unprecedented reduction in the poundage mid-revaluation; returning it to pre-COVID levels, which saves Scottish Businesses over £120 million compared with a standard inflationary increase.

The Scottish Government have continued to ensure that the sites of standalone ATMs in rural areas are exempt from rating. Other ATMs may benefit from as much as a 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, each local Council has wide-raging powers to create rates reliefs to reflect local needs. This may apply to a sole business, sector or area. The relief may be an adaptation of an existing national relief scheme or a unique standalone scheme.

The winter funding will be used by Health and Social Care Partnerships to fund a range of options to support the timely discharge of patients from hospital. This includes £62 million for enhancing care at home capacity, £20 million to develop multi-disciplinary teams, £40 million for the development of alternative, interim care options and up to £48 million to increase the hourly rate of pay for social care staff.

In addition to this funding, in March 2021 we issued a £20 million Community Living Change Fund to be used during 2021–2024. Funding will be used to redesign services for people with complex needs including intellectual disabilities and autism, and for people who have enduring mental health problems, avoiding the need for out of area placements and reducing delayed discharges from hospital.

Recovering our NHS is our top priority. Addressing the backlog of care, while continuing to meet the ongoing urgent health and care needs of the country, is the central aim of our NHS Recovery Plan.

The Plan is backed by over £1 billion of additional investment to support delivery of improvements throughout the 5 years of this Parliament. Amongst other things, it will increase primary care investment by 25% and restore face to face consultations in GP surgeries. It will reduce A&E attendances by 15% to 20% and increase outpatient capacity by 10% compared to pre-Covid levels.

While it is not possible to determine when NHS performance will return to pre-pandemic levels, we will continue to work to identify ways of adding additional activity, through new facilities or through improvements to existing ways of working in order to reduce the length of time patients are waiting and bring waiting times back within standards.

We have worked closely with CoSLA and others to develop this fund. Local authorities will report progress with administering the Tenant Grant Fund to the Scottish Government, on a quarterly basis. This means the first official reports from local authorities on their use of the Tenant Grant Fund, will be available early next year. In the meantime, we will remain in close contact with CoSLA to ensure that this new grant fund reaches those in need.

The Scottish Government is required by law to regularly review all protective measures that are currently in place, such as the mandatory requirement for the wearing of face coverings in most indoor settings, including places of worship. This measure will continue to be monitored and reviewed in relation to evidence on the four harms : the direct impact of COVID-19, other health impacts, societal impacts, and economic impacts.

After a recent review, during which there was careful consideration of all of the current evidence as well as the options available, Ministers determined that the regulations on face coverings remain proportionate and should not change for the present.

At this stage of the pandemic many of the more intrusive restrictions have been lifted, but the virus and the harms that it causes have not gone away. We still continue to see hospital admissions and deaths as a result of COVID and the impacts of long COVID can be significant. That is why it remains important to maximise the use of the remaining measures such as face coverings.

While the vaccination has significantly weakened the link between new cases and serious health harms, it has not been completely broken. It is therefore important that places of worship, along with many other indoor settings, continue their good practice to reduce the spread of the virus.

We are grateful to faith and belief communities for their important role in protecting their congregations and enabling everyone, particularly those at higher risk, to access worship safely.