Chamber and committees

COVID vaccines are procured by the UK Government on a four nations basis, and the cancellation of the contract with Valneva is a matter for the UK Government. Valneva is a valued contributor to our life sciences sector and the Livingston facility is an important asset, developing vaccines for the treatment of many infectious diseases and supporting high quality jobs. This includes their COVID-19 vaccine, and I welcome the positive results Valneva has reported from clinical trials. I met with Valneva last week to hear more about their COVID-19 vaccine and the impressive work underway at their Livingston facility. Ministers and Scottish Enterprise are in advanced discussions with the company to agree a package of support which would underpin the company’s operations in Scotland.

The Scottish Government will continue to be guided by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations in deploying vaccines in the face of Omicron. In line with the JCVI’s advice, the best defence against the virus is for everyone who is eligible for a booster to come forward now, alongside following the Scottish Government’s guidance on testing, face coverings and restrictions.

The Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out our intention to reform Energy Performance Certificates to ensure they are a suitable basis for future Energy Efficiency Regulations. In Summer 2021 we consulted on the first step of our proposed EPC reforms which focused on removing the cost element and instead using energy consumption as the headline metric. We are currently analysing feedback from this consultation and will consult on wider proposals for Energy Efficiency Regulations in Summer 2022. We are also considering what other changes are needed to EPCs to provide a robust basis for Energy Efficiency Regulations, and whether any changes are required to the 2008 regulations that established EPCs.

The pharmacy profession and the provision of pharmaceutical services are highly regulated, overseen by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). The GPhC's role includes upholding health and safety standards for the pharmacy workforce, as well as for patients.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with Community Pharmacy Scotland, the representative body for pharmacy owners, to discuss a range of topics including workforce issues, including health and wellbeing. This year the Scottish Government has made £12m available to support the wellbeing of the pharmacist workforce. This includes £8m from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce – alongside an extra £4m to provide further support to address winter pressures.

The funding supports the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, our National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing and the Workforce Specialist Service, alongside tailored psychological interventions for staff, providing individualised wellbeing support focusing on people’s physical and emotional needs.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland in a joint letter (8 December 2021) with the leaders from the pharmacy sector, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scotland), has written to all pharmacy teams outlining the range of wellbeing support available to pharmacy teams and encouraging them to access these resources for support when needed.

Following a successful three year pilot, in 2013 the four nations agreed to a 10 year grant to support those affected by the thalidomide drug. Over the last nine years the Scottish Government has issued a total of £11.512 million to the Thalidomide Trust, for distribution to Scottish survivors. A further £1.636 Million is projected for the final year (2022-23), bringing total funding to £13.15 million.

The Scottish Government receives annual funding from the UK Government as part of the Barnett consequentials, however no funding is specifically ‘ring fenced’ for Thalidomide.

Breakdown of Funding:

The community pharmacy network is a vital part of the primary care team. The Scottish Government continues to work with Community Pharmacy Scotland and other partners to ensure not only the stability of the network but also that a balance is maintained across the whole pharmacy workforce in the hospital, community, and GP practice sectors.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has committed to putting together a workforce forum which will meet in early 2022. The forum will look at the workforce challenges and bring together stakeholders from pharmacy education and pharmacy service provision to set a strategic workforce plan for the profession.

The Scottish Government is not considering the introduction of sanctions for any contractor which breaches its NHS contract at present. The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, set out the provision of NHS pharmaceutical services and requirements for those entered on the Boards Pharmaceutical List.

The Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care strategy, published in 2017, commits the Scottish Government to review contractual arrangements and as such may consider the introduction of sanctions as part of any future strategy framework.

The Scottish Government is not considering the possibility of allowing Health Boards to take over the running of community pharmacies that are struggling to remain open. Community pharmacies, along with other primary care contractors, are wholly independent private entities providing NHS services on behalf the Health Board. Any challenges faced by community pharmacy contractors in delivering existing pharmaceutical care services should be discussed with the Health Boards who will be able to consider actions to support service provision.

The commitment to reduce car kms by 20% by 2030 (against a 2019 baseline) as set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) published in December 2020 remains unchanged, either in terms of measurement or time scale.

An incorrect graphic was posted on social media on the 10 th of December. As soon as the error was noticed, the post was removed at the earliest opportunity to avoid further confusion, and we remain fully committed to reducing car km driven in Scotland by 20% by the year 2030.

There are no plans to introduce protected learning time at present. It is a decision for employers to allow staff time to study for additional qualifications.

To support delivery of the Community Pharmacy First Plus service, Community Pharmacist contractors receive backfill (up to £5750) to release community pharmacists to undertake their IP qualification (5 days face to face teaching + 12 days Period of Learning in Practice), clinical skills training (4 days) and also access to a maximum of 3 sessions at a CCC Teach and Treat Training Hub (backfill up to £750).

he A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ . I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021 available on the Parliament's website at the following link: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-05362

I can confirm that the project remains on budget. There is no change to the estimated total project cost of £49.5m at Q4 2018 prices, of which the construction contract value is £18m, as reported in the Infrastructure Investment Plan updates.