Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will launch Child Disability Payment this year, the first of the major devolved disability benefits, ahead of launching Adult Disability Payment with a pilot in Spring 2022. For the remaining devolved benefits, COVID-19 has had a major impact on the Scottish Government, on Social Security Scotland, and on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), whose support we need to transfer social security powers. We are having to rework our timetable to deliver the remaining devolved benefits and to complete case transfer.

Until then, Scottish clients continue to be paid the money they are entitled to through the DWP for Child and Adult Disability Payments, as well for Winter Heating Assistance, Cold Spell Heating Assistance, Scottish Carer’s Allowance, Pension Age Disability Payment, and Employment Injury Assistance, until such time as they can be delivered safely and securely. The DWP will continue to make payments to clients in receipt of Severe Disablement Allowance for the life of this closed benefit.

Management Information on the number of applications, awards and expenditure on Self-Isolation Support Grants are available at: Scottish Welfare Fund, Self-Isolation Support Grant and Discretionary Housing Payments: monthly data - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Figures up to the end of January 2021 are available from 2 March 2021. The value of each award is £500. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of Self-Isolation Support Grant applications that were rejected or are currently being processed.

As of 14 February 2021, Social Security Scotland had received 85,000 applications for Scottish Child Payment.

Management information on the number of applications approved and denied will be published on the Social Security Scotland website on 3 March to provide an update of the position as at the end of February.

More detailed information on application outcomes as at the end of March will be included in the next release of Official Statistics for Scottish Child Payment, due to be published on 11 May 2021.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some teenage immunisations offered during academic year 2019/20 were delayed. However, maintaining the best possible uptake of the HPV vaccine is a priority for NHS Scotland. The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland continue to work with health boards to support their planning and the safe delivery of immunisation services during the pandemic.

The latest HPV immunisation statistics published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) for academic year 2019/20 show that uptake for the HPV vaccine remains high. Further information is available online on the PHS website: ( HPV Immunisation Statistics Scotland 22 December 2020 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org) )

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that pupils who were not offered the vaccine (first or second dose), or who missed the immunisation sessions at their school, will be offered the vaccine during planned catch-up sessions arranged by their health board as soon as is practicable.Young people and their parents can therefore be reassured that if they have missed their HPV, Meningitis ACWY or Tetanus/Diphtheria/Polio booster vaccines, these will be rescheduled.

All unpaid carers in Scotland 16 years and over will be offered vaccination, and they will start to receive appointments from now.

It is our intention to contact as many unpaid carers as possible to invite them for their vaccine appointment.

We will be using data from Social Security Scotland to write out to all carers on the relevant benefits. This will apply to those on Carer’s Allowance, Young Carer Grant and Child Winter Heating.

All unpaid carers in Scotland 16 years and over will be offered vaccination, and they will start to receive appointments from now. It is our intention to contact as many unpaid carers as possible to invite them for their vaccine appointment. The Scottish Government will be using data from Social Security Scotland to write out to all carers on the relevant benefits. This will apply to those on Carer’s Allowance, Young Carer Grant and Child Winter Heating.

The decision on who falls in clinically vulnerable category will be made by local GPs and based on the general guidance through the JCVI recommendation.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessment of the impact of any future reintroduction of the lynx or other large carnivore species into Scotland.

Anyone seeking to reintroduce lynx or another species into Scotland would require a licence from NatureScot. Thus far, no licence applications for the reintroduction of lynx have been submitted.

Should a licence application be made in the future, the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations sets out the process that NatureScot would be required to follow in considering whether any translocation or reintroduction project may be appropriate. This includes the need to give consideration to benefits and risks, whether of a biological or socio-economic nature. The Code also outlines the requirements for appropriate consultation to be undertaken by the applicant.

I refer the member to the answer to PQ S5W-35090 on 23 February 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce lynx or any other large carnivorous species into Scotland. We have not recently engaged with stakeholders on this issue.

All good policy making and legislation should be addressing the needs of our rural communities and businesses at present. The Scottish Government recognises that a cross-portfolio approach is needed to support rural matters. This wish for rural mainstreaming, was the leading recommendation from the National Council Of Rural Advisors in September 2018. In terms of action we are currently testing the impact of proofing through The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018. This has put in place Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIAs) to enable relevant authorities to assess and take into account the impacts of their policies, strategies or services on island communities. We will continue to review the experience of this approach in the context of our wider mainstreaming agenda for rural matters.