Chamber and committees

We published our NHS Recovery Plan last August and continue to work with Public Health Scotland on updating guidance for Primary Care settings, covering key issues such as the removal of mandatory physical distancing requirements, access for patients and infection prevention and control.

We increased the Primary Care Improvement Fund to recruit multi-disciplinary teams from £110m in 2020-21 to £155 million in 2021-22, and this will increase again to £170m in 2022-23.

In line with JCVI advice, adults aged 75 years and over, and residents in a care home for older adults, as well as individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed, will be offered an additional booster dose in spring 2022, at least 24 weeks after their last dose.

As per clinical guidance in the Green Book, health boards have the flexibility to offer spring boosters sooner than this (at least 12 weeks since last dose) where appropriate, to help provide additional protection during the spring and summer months. Those eligible will receive a scheduled appointment letter and should wait to be contacted.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the cost to local authorities for housing homeless households in temporary accommodation. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly.

Funding for local authorities is provided by way of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, including any funding to combat homelessness, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Licensing authorities must determine their own fees and fee structures to recover establishment and running costs specific to their area. Licensing authorities must review their fees from time to time to ensure that revenue from fees remains in line with the running costs of the licensing scheme.

The total quantity of discards below Minimum Conservation Reference Size from Scottish vessels is not currently estimated. Marine Scotland estimates the total weight of unwanted catch (catch that was not considered suitable for commercial sales) below Minimum Conservation Reference Size for demersal trawlers and seine netters for each year, using data collected by scientific observers on-board fishing vessels. (Fishing trips by vessels using other gears are not surveyed.) The estimates for 2021 are given in the following table. These estimates are for fishing trips by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad.

Estimates of the total weight of unwanted catch (kg) below Minimum Conservation Reference Size caught in 2021 in ICES subarea 4 and division 6a by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad, fishing with demersal trawls or seines.

Scottish Government lawyers provide legal services and advice to the Scottish Government and its agencies only. As such, Ukrainian-speaking lawyers have not been specifically recruited in order to assist the resettlement process.

To support the settlement process of Ukrainian refugees, the Scottish Government has provided £36,000 to JustRight Scotland to provide free, confidential legal advice to Ukrainians and their family members seeking safety in Scotland. We have also provided £7 million to Local Authorities to meet longer term needs. In addition, we have provided £1.4 million to the Scottish Refugee Council for the expansion of its Refugee Integration Service.

Sex discrimination cases will continue to be dealt with under the Equality Act 2010. The provisions of the 2010 Act are not modified by the proposals in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill also does not change the legal effects of a Gender Recognition Certificate as they are currently set out in the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

The total quantity of discards from Scottish vessels is not currently estimated. Marine Scotland estimates the total weight of unwanted catch (catch that was not considered suitable for commercial sales) for demersal trawlers and seine netters for each year, using data collected by scientific observers on-board fishing vessels. (Fishing trips by vessels using other gears are not surveyed.) The estimates for 2021 are given in the following table. These estimates are for fishing trips by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad.

Estimates of the total weight of unwanted catch (kg) caught in 2021 in ICES subarea 4 and division 6a by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad, fishing with demersal trawls or seines.

In order to support older and disabled people in meeting this new legislation, we have provided a total of £1.1 million in 2021-22 to Care and Repair Scotland.

We also provided £1 million to SFRS for their Home Fire Safety visits to help those most vulnerable to the risk of fire to meet the new standard. The general principle is that owners are responsible for the cost of looking after private property. Our targeted funding is reaching those most at risk and least able to do the work themselves. There are no currently plans to provide further funding.

The Scottish Government published a statement in partnership with COSLA on 21 January 2022 confirming that local authorities will take a proportionate and measured approach to compliance and individual circumstances will be taken into account.

Whilst we encourage homeowners to install these alarms at their earliest opportunity to protect lives and possessions, we have emphasised consistently that there will be no penalties for non-compliance.

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 came into force on 1 March 2022. Licensing authorities have until 1 October to open schemes in their areas to receive applications from new and existing hosts. We published updated guidance for licensing authorities on 18 March, and we will continue to work closely with them in the run up to schemes opening.