Chamber and committees

Scotland has accounted for about 80% of woodland planting in the UK in recent years. Forest Research publishes National Statistics on the area of new woodland creation, which can be found on its website: Forestry Statistics and Forestry Facts & Figures - Forest Research

The following table shows the amount of woodland creation in the UK between 2016 – 2020, and the percentage share that was created in Scotland.

The Scottish Government publishes data on spending for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) report. Average annual spend for the last four years in agriculture, fisheries and forestry was £908 million, which is on average £167 per person in Scotland.

Using a slightly different methodology, the HMT Country and Regional Analysis 2020 Report provides a comparison between Scotland, England and Wales. A summary of the data for agriculture, fisheries and forestry has been provided in the following table with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not routinely publish comparisons for the individual categories for agriculture, fisheries and forestry and there is no comparative information held in the HMT report either.

Table 1: Total spend for ‘Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’ in Scotland, England and Wales and spend per capita

The Scottish Government publishes data on spending for environmental protection in the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) report. Average annual spend for the last four years on Environmental Protection was £1,258 million per year, which is on average £231 per person in Scotland.

Using a slightly different methodology, the HMT Country and Regional Analysis 2020 Report provides a comparison between Scotland, England and Wales. A summary of the data for agriculture, fisheries and forestry has been provided in the following table with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.

A summary of the data on environmental protection has been provided below with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.

Table 1: Total spend on Environmental Protection in Scotland, England and Wales and spend per person

I want to thank our health and care system for their magnificent work over this winter. It has been an enormously challenging period where they have had to manage a resurgence in cases, the emergence of new variants and the on-going demands of providing vital services to those requiring care.

The last few months have highlighted the nature of this pandemic and the continued requirement that NHS Scotland and its partners are able to be agile in their response to the new and emergent challenges we face.

We now have our Strategic Framework in place to help signal our direction of travel as a society and how we can support people and the communities in which they live, back toward the normality of life that we all wish for. That is, however, a journey that will take a number of months and, all the while, we must be mindful of the challenges that may still lie ahead. That may mean the need for further action to be taken on either a local, regional or national basis to support our health system. I am also committed to supporting and protecting the staff who have worked so hard, and for such a long time, in response to this unprecedented pandemic.

With this in mind, I have decided that NHS Scotland will remain on an emergency footing until at least 30 June 2021. It will, of course, be a matter for any incoming Health Secretary and their Government to review this when they take office following the election.

We will continue the vaccination programme in line with the independent expert scientific and clinical advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI). We are making excellent progress through the first JCVI priority cohorts. Once we have offered vaccination to these groups, we will therefore continue to follow recently published JCVI advice by inviting adults under 50 who have not yet received the vaccine in age cohorts, as follows:

• All those aged 40-49 years
• All those aged 30-39 years
• All those aged 18-29 years

The JCVI’s recommendation continues to be that an age-based approach is the best way to address the risk of severe illness and mortality associated with the virus and this approach helps us to do that as quickly as possible. This approach will be taken by the 4 Nations across the UK and we will continue to vaccinate as quickly as supplies allow.

Our priority is to save lives, and vaccination remains one of the most important tools we have as we work our way out of this pandemic, alongside our Test and Protect system and the restrictions we all must, for now, continue to live with. We would ask everyone who is invited for a vaccine to go, and I am grateful for the patience of those who we are yet to reach as we roll the programme out further.

We published the refresh of the Diabetes Improvement Plan today.

The Plan is available on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800046788

At the outset of the pandemic, the four Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) published a list of six groups where people would be considered to be at the highest clinical risk from COVID-19.

The initial approach was based on best evidence at the time. We are committed to following the evidence and we have refined the shielding criteria as new evidence emerges.

For this reason the 4 UK CMOs and based on evidence from the British Liver Trust and from researchers at Oxford University https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168827820336679 agreed to include to the shielding list patients with liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class B and C).

Letters will be issued as soon as possible to those people affected to inform them that they will be added to the shielding list and to explain what it means for them.

The seasonal flu vaccination programme has been more important than ever this year, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. That is why we expanded the programme to protect the most vulnerable and alleviate pressure on the NHS. We extended eligibility this season to include;

• social care workers who provide direct personal care,
• household members of individuals who are shielding,
• all those aged 60-64 (who are not already eligible), and
• those aged 55-59, dependent on vaccine supply.
  

All Health Boards worked closely with the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland, focusing upon improved delivery approaches, whilst dealing with the unprecedented demand for seasonal flu vaccinations. The adoption of a phased approach has allowed those at the greatest clinical risk to be prioritised.

Public Health Scotland published provisional data to the end of Week 51, 2020 (20th December 2020 on influenza vaccine uptake for eligible cohorts in Scotland and estimated that:

• 79.0% for those aged 65 years and over

• 53.8% for those under 65 years old in an at-risk group

• 44.5% in pregnant women (including those with and without risk factors)

• 59.3% in preschool children (aged 2 to under 5 years, not yet in school)

• 75.3% in primary school children

• 39.6% in health & social care staff

• 54.1% in unpaid and young carers

Although it is not possible to directly compare with previous seasons, the data indicate that the overall vaccine uptake for Scotland is higher than last season in most eligible cohorts; notably for those aged 65 years and over the uptake at 79.0% compares with that of 74% in the previous two seasons.

Public Health Scotland publish weekly epidemiological information on seasonal influenza activity in Scotland and on 27 January this indicated that:

Influenza activity is currently at low levels.

• The rate of influenza-like illness (ILI) was at Baseline activity level (0.5 per 100,000).
• The swab positivity of influenza was at Baseline activity level (0.1%, 3/2,400).
• The incidence rate of influenza was at Baseline activity level 0.05 per 100,000 population).
• There were 3 influenza A cases detected: one type H3 and two untyped.

On that basis, emerging clinical evidence indicates that overall levels of seasonal flu circulating in the community are very low, and therefore associated risks are much lower than in previous years. The new Covid variant 'VOC - 202012/01' poses a further risk to public health given the increased transmissibility of this variant.

Given the prevalence of Covid-19 across Scotland, the Covid-19 vaccination programme is now being rolled out by Health Boards at pace. The workforce equipped to deliver these vaccinations will be pivoted, and resources redirected to the planning and delivery the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

As a result, groups in Phase 3 (55-59 years) of the Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme will not be invited for vaccination. However, it remains important that those eligible, who have yet to book their vaccination appointment come forward so that they can benefit from protection for the remainder of the flu season. Pregnant women and those people who are clinically at risk of flu will continue to be offered flu vaccination.

We will write to all MSPs and Scottish MPs in the coming days to provide them with details on the continuation of the Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme.

Additionally, the NHS Inform website has a dedicated flu section that will be updated to provide information to those who require it.