Chamber and committees

The Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out an ambitious programme and a wide ranging framework, incorporating funding support, delivery programmes, public engagement, local heat and energy efficiency strategies and regulations among other components. A number of organisations will play roles in overseeing implementation of different aspects of the overall framework, including the Scottish Government, the new National Public Energy Agency and local authorities.

Further, reflecting the expansion in investment and delivery programmes the Scottish Government is refreshing its programme governance arrangements to provide appropriate oversight and strategic direction. We will continue to draw advice from stakeholders and advisors through a variety of channels.

The Scottish Government is working collaboratively with stakeholders on organisational roles and responsibilities, along with other issues related to the heat transition, in an open and transparent way. Among other consultation processes, we currently have a live call for evidence to inform design of the National Public Energy Agency (open until 8 February 2022), and next year we will consult on proposals for regulation.

The Scottish Government has not received any applications for rent pressure zone designation.

Our aim is to ensure quality, affordability and fairness for everyone who rents a home and our new draft Rented Sector Strategy consultation, ‘A New Deal for Tenants’ opened on 20 December 2021, closing on 15 April 2022.

Topics include improving affordability by introducing an effective national system of rent controls in the private rented sector. For rent controls to work effectively, we need good rental data and we will undertake an analysis of what is required on data collection and will set out our intentions. We will also build on learning from the rent pressure zones. The consultation includes the question: “Are there elements of the existing Rent Pressure Zone system that could be built upon when designing a new system of rent controls?”.

Upon consideration of the consultation responses, a final Rented Sector Strategy will be published later in 2022 and deliver a key commitment, set out in Housing to 2040 , Scotland’s long term vision for housing.

Birds of Conservation Concern, often referred to as the UK Red List for Birds, is published by the British Trust for Ornithology. The report, which reviews the status of all regularly occurring birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, is compiled by a coalition of bird conservation and monitoring organisations from across the UK, including RSPB.

All bird species in Scotland are protected through the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Schedule 2 of the 1981 Act sets out the quarry species, i.e. those species that may be killed or taken outside of the closed season.

There are a range of reasons that may be responsible for a decline in a species’ population or a contraction of the species’ range leading to them being listed as a species of conservation concern. Where there is evidence that quarry species status is causing or exacerbating conservation concerns we will take steps to remove the species from Schedule 2 in accordance with the procedure set out in section 26(3) of the 1981 Act.

The existing Scottish Household Recycling Charter has been designed to cover and encourage reuse. As set out in the Programme for Government, we are committed to evaluate the Household Recycling Charter with COSLA, and review its Code of Practice to ensure it reflects current best practice and makes it easier for households to recycle and reuse

Work to develop a waste route map to 2025 and beyond is also considering how to further support reuse given its importance within the waste hierarchy.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on temporary closures of community pharmacies or the possible cost incurred by the NHS.

The provision of community pharmacy pharmaceutical care services are the responsibility of territorial Health Boards as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. Any challenges faced by community pharmacies in ensuring the safe and effective dispensing of treatments should be discussed with the local Health Board.

The Scottish Government published its response to the Just Transition Commission in September. This set out a National Just Transition Planning Framework, which defined National Just Transition Outcomes and outlined how we will work with others to manage the economic and social impacts of the net zero transition.

Our Just Transition Plan for the Energy Sector will be the first of these plans and will be published in 2022. The Plan will establish a shared vision for Scotland’s energy system and identify concrete steps to manage the economic and social impacts of the transition. It will be co-designed with representatives of workers, businesses and communities across the country. In drafting the Plan we will endeavour to amplify the voices of those most liable to be impacted by the transition.

Engagement and work on the Plan has already begun including, during COP26 convening young people from across the energy sector to discuss the opportunities and challenges for workers and businesses in the decade ahead.

We have been working with Local Government, trade unions and business organisations to establish how best to involve others in shaping the Energy Just Transition Plan. We aim to launch our engagement and co-design programme with stakeholders in the early part of this year.

The Scottish Government continues to promote the requirement for hospitality businesses to collect contact details from visitors to their premises, in line with regulations and guidance, to support the work of local Health Protection teams. Use of the Check In Scotland app, by premises or the public, is not a legal requirement; it is a tool to support settings to more easily comply with regulations and public health guidance.

In terms of monitoring the collection of contact details by settings covered by regulations, Environmental Health Teams within Local Authorities, as part of ongoing engagement with premises or in response to members of the public notifying them of non-compliance, encourage compliance within settings, and take any enforcement action deemed necessary.

It is not currently possible to identify the number of hospitality businesses nor the proportion of hospitality businesses that use the Check-in Scotland service. Whilst the collecting of customers contact details is a legal requirement, use of the Check-in Scotland service is entirely voluntary and can be used by many different types of business and venues, not just in hospitality. It is also possible to register different parts of a single venue so that they have different check-in locations (e.g. a bar with a separate address in a cinema complex could have a different check-in code to the cinema itself) and a single business may register multiple venues meaning that total figure does not equate to the number of businesses that may be using the service. Further details can be found at www.checkin.scot .

Other than the Check-in Scotland service, hospitality businesses may also use the NHS Scotland Covid Check app to verify a customers Covid Status. No personally identifiable or venue information is collected by the Covid Check App so it is it not possible to identify the number of businesses using the Covid Check app. Further details can be found at www.covidcheck.scot.

No businesses have access to any other Test & Protect systems.

The pharmacy profession and provision of pharmaceutical care is regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, who assure and improve standards of care for people using pharmacy services. The Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care strategy, published in 2017, setting out the priorities, commitments, and actions for improving and integrating NHS pharmaceutical care in Scotland up to 2022. The strategy sets the direction for how pharmaceutical care would be delivered in Scotland and the crucial contribution of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, working together with other health and social care practitioners, to improve the health of the population and impact on health outcomes.

Identifying and ensuring that the £10m long COVID Support Fund is targeted at areas where this additional resource is most needed will make the biggest impact for those people with long COVID. That is why a Strategic Network is being set up to support the delivery of the policy framework outlined in ‘Scotland’s Long COVID Service’.