Chamber and committees

The COVID(O) committee met on 14 December (attended by myself, and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer) and all 4 nations agreed to remove all 11 nations (including Angola) from the red list. This came into effect from 0400 on Wednesday, 15 December. Thus there is no requirement for an exemption being arranged

Information on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 is provided in the following table.

Table 1. Offences of Protection of livestock from dogs, by local authority, 2012-13 to November 2021.

The relevant data is provided in the following table.

Summary of inspections completed in Care Homes for Adults since 2014-15 up to Q2 2021-22 (April 21- Sep21)

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to strengthening residents’ rights in adult care homes through the introduction of ‘Anne’s Law’. This will give people who live in adult care homes the right to see and spend time with those who are important to them. Our public consultations on Anne’s Law and the strengthening of health and social care standards closed in early November 2021. We have received a considerable number of responses which will be used to inform work to implement Anne’s Law. It is important that we carefully consider the views from the public and stakeholders that took the time to submit a response to our consultations. We intend, where permission has been given, to publish the consultation responses and a report summarising the consultation responses to Anne’s Law and the strengthening of health and social care standards will be published in early 2022.

Those aged over 70, and those at highest clinical risk from COVID-19 have been receiving invitations for flu and Covid-19 booster appointment from 6 October.

Appointments for COVID-19 boosters have now been offered to all those aged 60 and over. Clinics for those aged 60 to 69 are continuing, with strong uptake among this cohort.

The online self-booking portal for adults aged 50 to 59, those aged over 16 who are unpaid carers and household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals launched on 15 Nov.

Over one third of those aged 50 to 59 have now had their booster and people in this group are urged to book their own appointment on the online portal at NHS Inform or phoning the National Helpline. Those in the 50-59 cohort who have not yet received their booster have been contacted by text/email and will receive a ‘blue letter’ reminder from Friday 10 December to make a booking as soon as possible.

A guide is available at Coronavirus (COVID-19) booster vaccination | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) for advising individuals how they will be invited for vaccination.

Those who are eligible can book or reschedule appointments via the COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that all children and young people aged 12 to 17 years will be offered a second dose of the vaccine from 8 to 12 weeks after their first dose.

As of 30 November, those aged 16 and 17 are able to schedule second appointments using the booking portal on NHS Inform, phoning the national vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013, or attending a drop-in clinic.

More information about second doses for young people aged 12 to 15 years will be available soon, and the JCVI has advised that a second dose for young people aged 12 to 15 years is advised no sooner than 12 weeks after the first dose.

However children and young people aged 12 to 17 who are at increased risk from coronavirus will be offered 2 doses of the vaccine, given 8 weeks apart. This includes those who are at increased risk from coronavirus due to underlying health conditions, live with someone with a severely weakened immune system, or are aged 16 or 17 years who are an unpaid carer or a frontline health or social care worker.

Some children and young people in these groups are eligible for a third primary dose and/or a booster dose.

Further information about second doses for children and young adults can be viewed at NHS Scotland at: Vaccinating children and young people aged 12 to 17 years | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

Responsibility for the routine maintenance, upkeep and management of burial grounds in Scotland rests with the relevant burial authority. A burial authority may be a local authority or a private owner. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act (as amended), owners must ensure any premises they are responsible for are maintained to a safe standard for both employees and visiting persons.

The Scottish Government is currently in the process of implementing the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016. Under this Act Scottish Ministers have powers to appoint Inspectors of Burial and to make regulations about the management of burial grounds. The Scottish Government have reconvened the Burial Regulations Working Group to consider the regulation of burial authorities and grounds in Scotland, with the next meeting due to take place on the 9th December 2021.

At this time the Scottish Government has no plans to provide financial support to local community groups for the maintenance of burial grounds.

Antibody tests measure the number of antibodies in the blood when the test is taken, however immunity is more complex than antibodies alone and we still do not know what level of antibodies offer protection from COVID-19 infection or reinfection. Research is underway to understand more about COVID-19 antibodies and reinfection and therefore antibody tests are currently only available as part of research and surveillance studies and in some specific circumstances for the clinical management of patients. There are currently no plans to introduce on-demand antibody testing in Scotland.

Current self-isolation policy does not permit a positive antibody test as an exemption to self-isolation, and there are no plans to introduce this at the present time. Adults aged over 18 years and 4 months can end self-isolation as a close contact if they remain without symptoms, are fully vaccinated and receive a negative PCR test result. If they are unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons, or are involved in a clinical trial which means they cannot take a vaccine as part of the trial, they are also allowed to leave self-isolation if they remain without symptoms and receive a negative PCR test result. If they test positive they will need to self-isolate for 10 days. If someone is identified as a close contact related to the Omicron variant, Test and Protect will phone them to give them specific advice.

The current advice for people at highest risk (who may formerly have been asked to shield) is for them to follow the same advice as the rest of the population.

The regulation of medicines and medicinal products, including Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) is reserved to the UK Government, and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The Scottish Government remains committed to helping build the evidence base around the safety, efficacy and quality of CBPMs.

CBPMs contain cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD). Any foods or food supplements containing a CBD must be evaluated for safety, authorised and approved as a novel food before they can be sold in Scotland. At this moment in time there are currently no CBD products that have been authorised for the GB market under the novel foods regulation. You can find more information on Food Standards Scotland's website here .

The smart meter programme is owned and led by the UK Government who have responsibility for the overall policy and the regulatory and commercial framework. Energy suppliers in turn are responsible for planning and delivering the rollout of smart meters on the ground. We will continue to work with BEIS, Ofgem, Smart Energy GB and the wider energy market, to champion the interests of Scottish consumers

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the rollout of smart meters as a national modernisation programme that will bring benefits to Scottish energy consumers, we do however have continued concerns around the implementation, particularly in regards to delays to communication systems and consumer access to smart meters. Statistics on the Smart Meter roll out are published by BEIS and the latest figures can be found at Q2 2021 Smart Meters Statistics Report (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Following the devolution of powers on consumer advocacy and advice, where people have an issue with their supplier, including related to smart meters, they can contact Advice Direct Scotland at the following web address, https://www.advice.scot/ or by calling 0808 800 9060