Chamber and committees

Since the publication of the rehabilitation framework in August 2020, we have established a National Advisory Board to oversee its implementation and we have appointed a professional advisor to lead on this programme of work.  

The rehabilitation programme is currently undertaking a significant scoping exercise through a self-assessment process to understand the current status of rehabilitation services in Scotland, from the perspective of the staff working in them.  

The self-assessment tool has been circulated to all NHS Boards, Health & Social Care Partnerships, third sector organisations, and Leisure Trusts as part of Local Authorities.  

The outputs from the self-assessment tool along with demand and capacity data will help us shape priorities, understand challenges and opportunities and inform funding decisions.  

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00977 on 22 July 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers  

While the Scottish Government has access to management information (MI) on the number of independent contractors participating in the Covid-19 vaccination programme. This MI has not been subject to the same level of validation and checking as National Statistics or Official Statistics. Therefore, the data are not publicly available; however, as individual Health Boards have responsibility for local deployment decisions, they are best placed to advise on the composition of their respective workforces.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on‎ 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Government provides a significant amount of financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises in Scotland, notably through our enterprise agencies.

The following table provides information on funding predominantly aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees, which was approved by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise in each financial year between 2017 and 2021.

Funding approved by the enterprise agencies aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees (£m)

Note: Approvals by South of Scotland Enterprise are included only for 2020-21, the agency’s first year of operation. 

The Scottish Government follows the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in the planning of vaccine delivery. This evidence-based guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age and that COVID-19 risk increases exponentially with age.

JCVI priority group 4 of the vaccines programme incorporates those considered Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) on the GP system and therefore at higher risk of severe illness with COVID-19.

First doses and second doses of vaccine are offered in accordance with the same clinical prioritisation guidelines outlined under the JCVI priority groups.

The Scottish Government’s office of the Chief Medical Officer is working closely with the UK Department of Health and Social Care and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to prioritise potential treatments for COVID-19. Further results of well-designed randomised controlled clinical trials exploring treatment efficacy of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 are awaited.

The MHRA, together with an independent advisory group, continues to review the emerging body of evidence regarding potential medicines for treatment or prevention of COVID-19, including Ivermectin.

The MHRA advises that, at this time, no application has been received for a licence for ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19, in the UK. However, should an application for a licence be made, then the MHRA has processes in place to expedite such an application, as required.

Scottish Government annual statistics on the number of long term empty properties and unoccupied exemptions are published at

Housing statistics quarterly update: December 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ,

with detailed local authority level Excel tables with figures from 1996 to 2020 available at Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

These figures are sourced from the Council Tax Base data return, and relate to properties on the Council Tax Valuation List as at the first Monday in September each year.

Since 2007, the number of long term empty properties in Scotland has increased from 20,328 properties to 47,333 in 2020. However some of the rises across this period, particularly across 2013 to 2015, will have been due to reclassification exercises which local authorities carry out from time to time, or issues with management information systems, rather than being real changes in the numbers of long term empty properties.

The 16% (6,370 properties) increase in the number of long-term empty properties over the latest year between September 2019 and September 2020 is likely to be associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which directly affected both the property rental and sales markets, with the movement restrictions in place also having a range of other impacts.

The most recent annual data as at September 2020 shows that the local authorities with the highest number of long-term empty properties include the City of Edinburgh (7,152 properties), Aberdeen City (4,537 properties), Glasgow City (3,536 properties), Aberdeenshire (3,167), and Fife (2,943).

We want everyone who would benefit from palliative and end of life care to have access to it, including those who are homeless. As the Marie Curie report makes clear, good end of life care requires collaborative, multi-disciplinary support which is based on the specific needs of the individual and their loved ones. However, we know that people experiencing homelessness are less likely to engage with healthcare services regularly and are more likely to have multiple mental or physical health problems - often with uncertain trajectories. This can make it challenging for care and support services to recognise a palliative care need in a timely manner.

To support better identification of the healthcare needs of homeless people, Public Health Scotland published a learning resource primarily aimed at primary care staff earlier this year. The course aims to raise awareness of the health challenges and barriers that homeless people face and support staff in better identifying the health and care needs of people who are homeless. Although the course has been developed with primary care staff in mind as they act as first healthcare points of contact, it is a foundation level course which is accessible and relevant to all staff working with people who are homeless, particularly those working in frontline homelessness services. This course can be accessed here: https://learning.publichealthscotland.scot/course/view.php?id=553

Over the coming months we will continue to work with key stakeholders to explore what further steps we can take to help ensure that people who are experiencing homelessness can access the palliative care and support that is right for them.