Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government utilises a vaccination management tool at the point of vaccination, the data forms used have built in validation to ensure the data entered are accurate. A new vaccination record is transferred to the National Clinical Data Store (NCDS) after 60 minutes. The layers of recording are updated from NCDS to the reporting dashboards, these are refreshed every two hours to ensure accurate recording.

The Scottish Government aim is that is that the public should be able to access COVID- 19 vaccinations they require, at the time and in the format that they need it in. We are actively investigating more interactive appointing systems, while recognising that this will not work for everyone and will be need to be accompanied by other ways of securing appointments.

As a Government we always looking to improve service delivery, and building on the success of the unpaid carers and 18 to 29 years old self-registration service, lessons learned from the implementation of the National Vaccination Scheduling Systems, is that there is an opportunity to move to a more person- centred appointments services with benefits for individuals and communities, alike.

We are adhering to the priority list devised by the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) who have advised an age-based programme will capture those with clinical risk factors as the risk of death is very strongly linked with age, more so than any other factor. A number of mountain rescue workers may fall into the priority risk groups set out by the JCVI based on their age and health; and these individuals will receive an invitation to their vaccine appointment.

In addition, some mountain rescue workers may be vaccinated as part of cohort 2 - frontline health and social care workers – but only when they are assisting other emergency services due to pandemic pressures, such as: the Mountain Rescue Service assisting Scottish Ambulance Service.

The Non Native Species Action Group met once in 2020. The group’s main purpose is to prioritise and coordinate action on invasive non-native species (INNS) in Scotland.

NatureScot and other public bodies take an operational lead on providing advice to land managers and coordinating priority action to control INNS. The lockdown in spring 2020 resulted in the cessation of fieldwork for the control of INNS, with work resuming under Phase 1 of the Covid-19 route map. However, in light of the current ‘stay at home’ regulations, engaging the public in voluntary work to manage INNS has been temporarily suspended by many projects.

Progress on rhododendron:

In March 2017, Scottish Forestry published An Approach to Prioritising Control of Rhododendron in Scotland . This document encourages landscape-scale partnership work, specifically within designated sites.

Scottish Forestry’s approach to controlling invasive rhododendron aims to ensure effective use of available funds by targeting entire local populations and focussing effort on priority areas. Rhododendron control plays an important part in restoring native woodlands, which was identified as a priority in Scotland’s Biodiversity: A Route Map to 2020 . Much of this work is being taken forward under the umbrella of the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforests, a voluntary partnership of more than 20 organisations committed to collaborative action for the benefit of native woodlands. The Alliance aims to establish projects across the rainforest zone.

There are also additional projects in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National park near Aberfoyle and Inversnaid, tackling rhododendron at a landscape scale.

In 2019, NatureScot organised a sharing good practice event in Appin to share and learn from experiences of rhododendron control projects in Scotland.

Progress on other invasive species projects:

Scotland’s Biodiversity Route Map identified a number of other priority projects aimed at tackling invasive species:

• The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative partnership, which covers almost a third of mainland northern Scotland, is tackling a suite of invasive non-native plants (giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed, American skunk cabbage) and the American mink. Since 2018 more than 50,000 volunteer hours have been provided to support American mink control and more than 15,000 volunteer hours to invasive plant control. The project has also supported 175 volunteers to gain formal qualifications to build capacity and skills to maintain control programmes beyond the end of the scheme.
• The Biodiversity Challenge Fund, administered by NatureScot, is providing additional funding for invasive plant control within Rivers Tweed and Endrick catchments.
• The Hebridean Mink Project, run by NatureScot, aims to prevent significant losses to ground nesting birds in the Western Isles. Mink numbers are now at very low levels, with only isolated animals being caught in certain areas of Lewis and Harris and North Uist. Large areas of the Outer Hebrides remain free of mink, to the benefit to the indigenous wildlife.
• The Uists are home to internationally important populations of ground nesting wading birds. Research carried out by NatureScot has shown that removing introduced hedgehogs can allow more wader nests to hatch successfully and give wader populations the best chance to recover. North Uist remains free of hedgehogs.
• The Shiants Seabird Recovery Project removed a population of black rats, which were threatening an internationally important seabird colony. The Shiant Isles were officially declared rat-free in 2018 and there are encouraging signs that storm petrels may be returning to the islands breed. Following on from this project, the RSPB-led Biosecurity for LIFE project is raising awareness of the threat of invasive predators and putting in place systems to prevent their accidental introduction to islands.
• Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a partnership project that is working to contain the spread of grey squirrels in Scotland. Thanks to the work of project staff and community volunteers, red squirrels have returned to the city of Aberdeen, and are continuing to hold their own in parts of southern Scotland and in much of the north of Scotland.
• Orkney Native Wildlife Project aims to ensure that the unique native wildlife of the Orkney Islands is safeguarded from stoats, which were first seen there in 2010. The project passed a significant milestone in February 2021 as the trapping team reported 1,000 stoats have now been caught.

It is too soon to introduce any form of certification. We need to know more about the efficacy of the vaccines, their impact on transmission and the length of immunity before it would be safe to introduce a vaccine certificate.

We continue to engage in national and international developments in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), including on the issue of vaccine certification. These discussions are led by the World Health Organisation and include consideration of technical details, ethical and equality issues, and privacy standards. The outcome of those discussions will guide our work in this area.

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 the risk increases exponentially with age. Additionally the committee considers frontline health and social care workers who provide direct care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination.

The JCVI priority list represents 90% of the preventable mortality from COVID-19 in Scotland and throughout the delivery of the vaccination programme we will be guided by the clinical expertise of the JCVI, the MHRA, and our own senior clinical advisers.

At this stage in the vaccination programme every vaccine given to one of these groups would be one less vaccine to an at-risk individual.

To save lives it is essential that vaccinations are given to the first priority groups as set by the JCVI, these being residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, people over the age of 80, and frontline health and social care workers.

Prioritisation by sector is not being considered for the following reasons;

• Criticality of service is not an indication for priority vaccination because clinical risk is the overriding concern. This is influenced most greatly by age, not occupation.
• Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of any workers other than frontline health and social care workers. This is because we don’t know enough about if the vaccine prevents spread, but it does reduce the harm to those most at risk should they catch the virus.

Our plans will remain flexible and we will continue to adjust these based on the guidance provided by JCVI.

Garden centres can open in any area designated at protection level 3 or below and are presently open on some Scottish islands, including Shetland and Orkney. For all areas in protection level 4, garden centres are closed but are able to operate a permitted collection service and fulfil on-line orders.

I have recently met with the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) to discuss the impacts restrictions are having on this area. The HTA has provided us with their safe operating protocol and have briefed us with valuable information which we are taking into consideration when making our decisions.

From 5 April it is our hope and expectation that the stay at home restriction will be lifted. Also in this phase, we will begin the re-opening of retail. This will start with an extension of the definition of essential retail and the removal of restrictions on click-and collect.

We hope to move back to a levels system from the last week in April with a phased but significant re-opening of the economy, including non-essential retail, hospitality and services like gyms and hairdressers.

We will set-out in Mid-March the indicators that will guide our decisions on levels as well as on any revision to the content of each level and the order in which we expect those parts of the economy that have been restricted could start reopening from the last week of April.

In July 2020, we published the Rail Services Decarbonisation Plan, an action plan to decarbonise Scotland’s railways by 2035. The Plan focusses on decarbonising transport through the achievement of modal shift for both passengers and for freight.

In addition to this, our recently published Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) (Phase 1) confirms the action being taken to decarbonise the Borders railway.

This will include the removal of diesel-powered units through the introduction of Battery Electric Multiple Unit (BEMU) train services, via partial electrification, with the potential for full electrification of the line and move to full-electric (EMU) services in the future.

Further detail on STPR2 can be found via:- Strategic Transport Projects Review 2

The Scottish Government engages regularly with both SEPA and local authorities on a wide range of issues, including flood defences, to ensure that Scotland is resilient to the challenges of flooding and other climate pressures.

As required by the process set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, SEPA and local authorities are currently reviewing and updating the Flood Risk Management Strategies and Plans for the 2022-28 cycle and these will be published for consultation later this year. The updated Strategies will contain proposals for new flood defences and are required to be submitted to Scottish Ministers for approval before they are published.