Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is guided by the best available scientific evidence in our response to the global climate emergency. That evidence is absolutely clear, climate change is one of the greatest threats facing the world’s population.

The latest independent expert assessment of the impacts of climate change, published by the UK Climate Change Committee on 16 June 2021, identifies key areas of both risk and opportunity for Scotland. The inclusion of potential opportunities in this assessment reflects the fact that the impacts of climate change are inherently complex and vary across both space and time. Also, if we consider the mitigation - as well as adaptation - aspects of the response to the climate emergency then there will be significant economic opportunities for those, like Scotland, who are leading the transition to a global net-zero economy.

Nonetheless, the balance of the impacts set out in the Committee’s independent assessment is clear – with 53 of the 61 identified areas being classified as risks (entirely or partly). The Committee’s overall advice is that the overall landscape is one of a “worsening reality of climate risk” and all of its recommended areas for priority action relate to managing specific risks, rather than exploring potential opportunities.

‎The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the impacts of climate change as part of Scotland's just transition to a net-zero economy and society. We will be responding to the Committee’s updated risk assessment through the development of a new statutory adaptation programme, which is due for publication in 2024.

As the Deputy First Minister set out in his answer to S5W-33331 on 2 December 2020, officials continue to actively engage a range of stakeholders on issues relevant to home education guidance, and will listen to the views of all stakeholders in the preparation of the guidance.

The guidance will set out the legal position on home education and further information on the roles and responsibilities for home educators and for local authorities in relation to home education; and to support and encourage the collaborative development of relationships based on mutual trust and respect that function in the best interests of the child.

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

Plans for future legislation are set out in the annual legislative programme announced in the Programme for Government.

We remain fully committed to restricting the promotion and marketing of foods high in fat, sugar or salt where they are sold to the public. Work is continuing to further improve the evidence base to underpin the proposals and we continue to engage with the other administrations in the UK to explore the scope for the possible alignment of policy and legislation.

On 26 April free lateral flow device (LFD) test kits were made available to everyone in Scotland, for twice-weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing via the universally accessible testing offer. In addition to this, free LFD test kits are available through the Scottish Government’s targeted asymptomatic testing programme which includes routine testing for:

• health care workers
• educational staff, senior phase pupils and HE/FE students
• prioritised workforces in the public sector and in critical national infrastructure
• high risk private sector settings such as food processing businesses

Free access to LFD test kits has been extended through the summer period until September, when a formal review will be undertaken by the Scottish Government. Workforce testing is currently being expanded to all private sector organizations with more than ten employees.

On 26 April free lateral flow device (LFD) test kits were made available to everyone in Scotland, for twice-weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing via the universally accessible testing offer. In addition to this, free LFD test kits are available through the Scottish Government’s targeted asymptomatic testing programme which includes routine testing for:

• health care workers
• educational staff, senior phase pupils and HE/FE students
• prioritised workforces in the public sector and in critical national infrastructure
• high risk private sector settings such as food processing businesses

Free access to LFD test kits has been extended through the summer period until September, when a formal review will be undertaken by the Scottish Government. Workforce testing is currently being expanded and as now is open to all private sector organizations with more than ten employees.

The Scottish Government has no immediate plans to charge for LFD tests.

The Scottish Government do on occasion receive correspondence expressing dissatisfaction in relation to local authorities failing to take regard of the home education guidance. There have been 6 items of such correspondence in the period July 2018 – July 2021, some of which the Scottish Government were copied into for information, and were not the body responsible for addressing the complaint.

A complaint relating to the Scottish Government’s home education guidance would be made to the education authority in the first instance. Where an individual believes that a local authority has failed to carry out a duty in relation to education, the option of a complaint under Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is available to them. As set out in our publication Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) 1980 Act: guidance on making a complaint , “Scottish Ministers strongly believe that any issues which arise between parents, carers or young people and schools and education authorities should be resolved at as local a level as possible.” There have been no section 70 complaints received in the period July 2018 – July 2021 in respect of home education.

In section 126 of Scottish Planning Policy, affordable housing is defined broadly as housing of a reasonable quality that is affordable to people on modest incomes and this includes social rented accommodation, mid-market rented accommodation, shared ownership housing, shared equity housing, housing sold at a discount (including plots for self-build), and low cost housing without subsidy.

The Scottish Planning Policy definition is therefore at a high level, since it will apply across a variety of housing types and areas. While the definition of affordable housing includes reference to people on modest incomes this term is not defined as affordability can be affected by a range of factors such as tenure, income and location.

Further advice on the types of affordable housing that can contribute to affordable housing requirements is set out in Planning Advice 2/2010 - https://www.gov.scot/publications/planning-advice-note-2-2010-affordable-housing-housing-land-audits/

As there is no universally accepted definition of rent affordability, Housing to 2040, Scotland’s first long-term housing strategy, which was published in March 2021 includes a commitment to work with stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of affordability which is fit for the future

In terms of daily dosage amounts, our advice is a supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D (400 IU). This applies to adults and children over one year of age. Ten micrograms per day is the average amount needed by the majority (97.5%) of the population to maintain adequate vitamin D levels when UVB sunlight exposure is minimal. This is to maintain bone and muscle health and is based on the recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), as set out in its 2016 report Vitamin D and Health. SACN advises all devolved nations and UK Government on nutrition related matters.

The report is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-vitamin-d-and-health-report

Further information on our current advice on vitamin D is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/vitamin-d-advice-for-all-age-groups/

SACN published an updated rapid review on Vitamin D and acute respiratory tractinfections on 17 December 2020. SACN recommended the reference nutrient intake for vitamin D remain unchanged at 10 micrograms per day.

The rapid review is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-rapid-review-vitamin-d-and-acute-respiratory-tract-infections

We currently have no plans to revise our advice on vitamin D supplementation. We will continue to be guided by SACN as the evidence on vitamin D develops.

The information you have requested on the number of people who have a community alarm is set out below. We do not gather information on the number of households that this applies to so we cannot provide this information. There also wasn't a national collection pre 2011, so all existing data is included below.

The British and Irish Lions rugby match was a flagship event approved by the Scottish Government through an events gateway process. Flagship events are internationally significant events which maintain Scotland’s longer-term profile as a host of major events, with an eye to recovery from the pandemic, and with appropriate Covid-19 mitigations in place.

Decisions about the sale of alcohol was a matter for the Local Authority and was discussed at the City of Edinburgh Council Event Planning & Operations Group Meetings which had Police Scotland in attendance.

We are grateful that the majority of supporters followed the mitigation measures put in place around physical distancing which included extensive messaging around Covid protocols in advance of the match and on the day itself. This included signage (and hand hygiene) at all bars, public address announcements and an additional 150 stewards employed to manage this, however, we are aware that a small number of fans did not always comply. For those reasons, Scottish Rugby took the decision to close the bars earlier than scheduled to avoid a half-time surge. The safety of spectators and employees is, and will always remain, paramount.

The Scottish Government and event organisers will use the knowledge learnt from this to support the wider restart of events across Scotland.