Chamber and committees

Under the terms of the framework agreement with Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland (CES), CES are required to obtain approval from the Crown Estate Sponsor Team, within Scottish Government, for any “novel, contentious or repercussive proposals.” Scotwind, being the first offshore wind leasing process in Scotland for ten years and the first run by CES, was classed as novel and the Sponsor Team were notified of the Discussion Document. No comments on the fee or “applicant valuation” were provided. A summary of the responses received by CES was published on crownestatescotland.com

Crown Estate Scotland (CES) and the Scottish Government have different but related responsibilities with regard to ScotWind. As such, correspondence between organisations is considerable and recent requests were deemed manifestly unreasonable. Any new request for information under FOI/EIR would, of course, be considered on a case by case basis. A previous request for similar information was addressed at Gov.scot

Following the outcome of the Round 4 auction, CES informed the Scottish Government that it would undertake a rapid review of the ScotWind Option fees. That review concluded on 24 March 2021, with the changes outlined by Crown Estate Scotland .

Decisions about the use of particular literacy resources and programmes are informed by purpose, context and the specific needs of learners. Consequently, such decisions are taken at a local level by schools and teachers themselves.

Education Scotland offers support to practitioners through online platforms such as the Glow based National Literacy Professional Learning Community.

The NHS National Services Division (NSD) commissioning team have completed a Major Service Review of the current Genomics service. The final report has been shared with NHS Board Chief Executives, the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, Trade Union representative, Medical and Laboratory Directors for the boards that host the Genomic Laboratories, the document is now available on the (NSS)NSD website at the following link:

Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on the extended use of face masks and face coverings in hospitals, primary care and wider community healthcare was updated on April 14th 2022 to reflect the change from legislation to guidance for the wider use of face masks and face coverings in public spaces, and to align with the updated Scottish Winter (21/22 Respiratory Infections in Health and Care Setting Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Addendum.

The updated guidance for staff and patients/visitors reaffirms the continued use of face masks in healthcare settings. Staff (in hospital, primary care and community healthcare) providing direct care are strongly recommended to continue to wear Type IIR fluid resistant surgical masks (FRSMs) at all times while on shift.

Staff in non- clinical areas are strongly recommended to wear a FRSM (or their own face covering) when not seated at a desk.

Out- patients and visitors are strongly recommended to wear a face covering when attending health and community healthcare settings. Face masks are provided at the entrance to hospitals for any individual who requires one.

Section 5.1.5 of the Scottish Winter (21/22 Respiratory Infections in Health and Care Setting Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Addendum sets out the current recommended PPE requirements for Healthcare workers across the NHS (hospital, primary care and community healthcare).

The safety of staff in health and social care settings is our top priority and spending decisions on pandemic PPE are, at every stage, led by clinical need and current guidance. Work on implementing a joined-up public sector procurement arrangement which will provide Scotland with a resilient and secure pandemic PPE supply for the long term is being taken forward at pace.

This information is not available in the form requested.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) explores the physical condition of Scotland’s homes as well as the experiences of householders. Data from the SHCS provides estimates of the main heating fuel used and method of central heating across the housing stock at national level, based on a single year of data. Due to sample sizes, analysis at the local authority level requires three years of data averaged to produce an overall figure. Due to the impact of Covid–19 the 2020 SHCS was postponed and there was no 2020 SHCS publication, therefore the most recent local authority data set is from 2017 to 2019. Additionally, due to sample sizes and low prevalence, it is not possible to produce robust local authority level estimates of all the above heating fuels and methods of central heating distinctly. As such heating fuels have been grouped into 4 categories: Gas, Oil, Electricity, and Other which mirrors the groups used in the SHCS annual publication while the percentage of dwellings which have heat pumps or are part of communal heating are given at the national level only.

Percentage of dwellings by Local Authority by primary heating fuel

Average 2017-2019.

During the Cabinet meeting of 24 August 2015, the First Minister was informed that a preferred bidder had been selected for vessels 801 and 802.

We recognise the importance of upgrading the energy efficiency of homes in order to make them more affordable to heat. Regulation of energy efficiency in the social housing sector has already ensured that it has the most energy efficient housing stock of any tenure, and this will continue to improve as the sector works to comply with EESSH2. This requires that all social housing meets, or can be treated as meeting, EPC Band B (Energy Efficiency rating), or is as energy efficient as practically possible, by the end of December 2032, within the limits of cost, technology and necessary consent.

In addition our Social Housing Net Zero Head Fund is making at least £200 million available to registered social landlords to help install zero emission heating systems and improve energy efficiency in social housing during this parliamentary session.

We also recognise that social housing tenants are more likely to experience fuel poverty than the general population. That is why we have been working in partnership with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to ensure a proportion of our Fuel Insecurity Fund can be distributed through social landlords directly to their tenants who are struggling with their energy bills. £4.4 million has been delivered in this way since 2020-21 and we have recently allocated a further £10 million to the Fuel Insecurity Fund to allow it to continue during the current financial year.

15 of the 16 Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) Area Offices are currently open for face to face appointments. The exception is the Area Office based in Galashiels, which is currently closed due to building works. The RPID Area Offices have other customer support offers including phone calls, MS Teams calls, web chat or emails. Officials in Galashiels have also offered, in a very small number of specific of cases, to support the customer face to face in a location outwith the Galashiels Area Office.

The Scottish Government’s annual report on our Vision for Trade recognised the widespread concerns about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in free trade agreements (FTAs). We have consistently called on the UK Government to ensure that any ISDS mechanism does not prevent Scotland and the rest of the UK from regulating on health, social, environmental and economic matters.

Any ISDS system must be transparent, based on judicial procedures, and permit meaningful representations by all parties with a potential stake in the matter. Provisions in this area have the potential to impact Scotland significantly, limit the ability of the Scottish Parliament to regulate in devolved areas and constrain action to achieve our net-zero goal.

We have made our position on the inclusion of ISDS in UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) clear to the UK Government, through ministerial and official contact.

The annual report on Scotland’s Vision for Trade can be accessed here: Scotland's Vision for Trade: annual report - March 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)