Chamber and committees

Sex discrimination cases will continue to be dealt with under the Equality Act 2010. The provisions of the 2010 Act are not modified by the proposals in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill also does not change the legal effects of a Gender Recognition Certificate as they are currently set out in the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Since May 2020, the Scottish Government has invested over £48 million in our Connecting Scotland programme, which provides people on low incomes with a device, connection with unlimited data for two years, as well as training and support. Since programme launch 60,000 digitally excluded people in total have been brought online. We are now working on an extension to the programme to reach 300,000 people by the end of this Parliament.

The programme is part of our wider package of support to help everyone in Scotland benefit fully from the advantages of the digital world – from broadband connectivity to digital skills training and support for schools and business.

This is a matter for Local Authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the cost to local authorities for housing homeless households in temporary accommodation. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly.

Funding for local authorities is provided by way of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, including any funding to combat homelessness, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Oversubscription to the UK Foundation Training Programme occurs on an annual basis as a result of there being more applicants than available places. The rate of oversubscription is influenced by various factors, the most prominent of which being changes made by the UK Government to the Shortage Occupation List. These changes mean that overseas applicants are eligible to apply to the programme, and can outperform UK graduates when competing for an established place.

However, regardless of the extent to which the programme is oversubscribed, there has to date been a UK-wide intergovernmental commitment to ensure all UK medical school graduates are able to secure a place on the Foundation training programme if they are eligible and wish to do so. This is essential in order to ensure that medical school graduates are able to achieve full GMC registration, which takes place after trainees complete the first year of Foundation training.

The Scottish Government will therefore continue to fund Scotland’s share of oversubscribed places in 2022. Discussions remain ongoing with NHS Education for Scotland regarding the number of required places, and funding will be provided to ensure that every eligible Scottish medical school graduate is given the opportunity to enrol in the UK Foundation Training Programme.

Health Boards and Health & Social Care Partnerships are responsible for considering local health needs and taking population growth and infrastructure expansion into account when providing general medical services.

The Scottish Government's NHS Capital Investment Group meets on a monthly basis to consider investment proposals submitted by Health Boards.

Scottish Ministers have established a short-life Food Security and Supply Taskforce, together with industry. The Taskforce met for the first time on 18 March and again on 01 and 20 April. It will monitor, identify and respond to any current and potential disruption to the food and drink supply chain resulting from the impact of the current situation in Ukraine.

It is currently considering a range of issues and proposals submitted to it and will seek to recommend, any short, medium and longer-term actions that can be taken to mitigate impacts, resolve supply issues and strengthen food security and supply in Scotland. The taskforce will report in due course.

We published our NHS Recovery Plan last August and continue to work with Public Health Scotland on updating guidance for Primary Care settings, covering key issues such as the removal of mandatory physical distancing requirements, access for patients and infection prevention and control.

We increased the Primary Care Improvement Fund to recruit multi-disciplinary teams from £110m in 2020-21 to £155 million in 2021-22, and this will increase again to £170m in 2022-23.

In line with JCVI advice, adults aged 75 years and over, and residents in a care home for older adults, as well as individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed, will be offered an additional booster dose in spring 2022, at least 24 weeks after their last dose.

As per clinical guidance in the Green Book, health boards have the flexibility to offer spring boosters sooner than this (at least 12 weeks since last dose) where appropriate, to help provide additional protection during the spring and summer months. Those eligible will receive a scheduled appointment letter and should wait to be contacted.

The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition to net zero and this includes supporting those who are least able to pay.

As part of a wider package of funding announcements made to tackle the cost of living crisis, we have committed a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which has been helping households at risk of self-disconnection, or self-rationing their energy use, since late 2020.

This money is in addition to the £25m funding we have provided this winter to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6m provided to trusted third sector partners to help low income families.

Anyone struggling with their energy bills can get in touch with our Home Energy Scotland service for advice and support to reduce their fuel costs.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.