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To date, formal responses have been received from College Employers Scotland and EIS-FELA.

The Scottish Government will provide an update on FWDF in due course.

This is not a proposal of the Scottish Government.

No. It is anticipated that any additional funds would be paid to the Scottish Government for distribution to coastal local authorities under the current arrangement.

Since the start of the pandemic we have worked collaboratively with Public Health Scotland and National Services Scotland to continuously update and improve our NHS Inform information , the online booking portal and access to the National Vaccination Helpline.

For the helpline we continuously monitor call wait times and when they rise above expected service level agreement wait times, we increase the numbers of call handlers to bring these down (to note this cannot be done immediately, as we need to bring in more staff which can take over 24 hours). The helpline also work closely with the scheduling team so that when a large number of invites go out to groups that typically use the helpline as opposed to the online portal, such as those of older age, we pre-emptively step up the number of call handlers to meet expected demand. We have automated messages explaining the current queue length and time, so that people can choose to call back at a quieter time. For those who cannot speak for long amounts of time, we have a mechanism whereby a nominated individual can speak on another person’s behalf.

We have continued to make the online portal as user friendly as possible. The latest development in 2023 was to make it easier for users to see the next available appointment is at their clinic of choice. We also include a person’s username in their appointment letter and this contains a QR code that will take them straight to the Winter vaccines | NHS inform landing page. NHS Inform contains helpful step-by-step videos on how to use the portal to book or change an appointment and we constantly monitor feedback from the public in regards to the portal to inform future changes and developments.

The Scottish Government recognises that it is essential that pre-eclampsia is diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. This is why the Scottish Government contributes funding towards the commissioning of the Maternal Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review Programme run by Mothers and Babies, Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK). All maternity units in Scotland contribute data to this and reports focus on pre-eclampsia every 3 years, highlighting recommendations for healthcare professionals, Health Boards and Trusts, policy officials and other organisations to tackle this condition.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards in Scotland to take note of the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) recommendations, published on 23 March 2023, and take steps to ensure that any woman who requires access to placental growth factor (PlGF) based tests as part of her maternity care can do so.

As Oxfam’s report recognises, the regulation of fossil fuel industries and the majority of tax powers remain reserved to Westminster. We will keep pressing the UK Government to take the urgent action needed – especially after their recent backsliding on net-zero ambitions.

Here in Scotland we are committed to using what powers we have to meet our world-leading climate targets. We will continue with our progressive approach to tax and working to ensure we achieve a just transition – all of which will help achieve our climate goals, safeguard jobs and protect those on the lowest incomes.

A strong manufacturing sector with more jobs will be central to the successful delivery of our 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

The Making Scotland’s Future Programme, which is focused on strengthening and diversifying Scotland’s manufacturing sector, has a dedicated leadership and skills workstream alongside others supporting sectoral growth. This commitment to the sector’s growth is also demonstrated by our £26 million Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund (LCMCF) and the £75m investment in the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS). NMIS has a Manufacturing Skills Academy. It is also working with large and small manufacturers to unlock big productivity gains; develop new products and processes; transform workforce skillsets; win new orders; and grow their businesses.

The Scottish Government has also accepted the recommendations of the independent Equalities and Wellbeing Working Group and is working with the sector to support and diversify the manufacturing workforce.

Scotland remains the most attractive place in the UK outside London for foreign direct investment. Recent successes with substantial employment opportunities include a number in the manufacturing sector.

We are also developing a Green Industrial Strategy, which will set out how we will help businesses and investors to realise the enormous economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero and create good, well-paid jobs across Scotland.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS anticipate the Strategy will be finalised by the end of October and will be published at the end of this year.

Continued competing priorities impacted stakeholder capacity to contribute within the planned timeframe, and a need to divert SPS resources to support several acute cases of mentally unwell people in SPS care have contributed to a delay in publication.

The revised date now reflects the impact of those delays, whilst ensuring sufficient time is allocated in order to analyse the evidence gathered from consultation with mental health experts and those in our care with lived experiences.

Scottish Government commissioned this report from Finance Earth to better understand the potential role of blended finance in mobilising responsible private investment for peatland restoration. We will draw on its conclusions and recommendations as we develop our forthcoming natural capital markets framework, which we committed to in this year’s Programme for Government.