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It is for the Church of Scotland to make decisions about its estate management based on the changing needs of its own membership.

The Scottish Government has been engaging with Historic Environment Scotland, Church of Scotland and other stakeholders on the closures of historic and listed churches. We will continue to work closely with the Church of Scotland and leaders of all faiths and denominations, to regularly discuss issues impacting on their communities.

Electricity regulation, generation, transmission and distribution are reserved to the UK Government. This means that mandating financial benefits for communities through the consents process is beyond the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. However we have pressed the UK Government to take action in this area on many occasions, in terms of transmission and generation infrastructure.

While we welcome the UK Government’s announcements on providing energy bill discounts and wider community benefit from upgrades to the electricity transmission network, Scottish Ministers will continue to press the UK Government to explore making such benefits for transmission and generation mandatory, subject to full consultation. I have written to the UK Secretary of State this week to urge the UK Government to ensure there is meaningful engagement with the Scottish Government as these proposals are developed.

Despite the powers to mandate being reserved, community benefits are well-established in Scotland with our national Community Benefits Register indicating that over £25 million worth of community benefits were committed from renewable energy projects in the last 12 months. We continue to explore different avenues within devolved powers that will build on the successes of our Good Practice Principles, the Onshore Wind Sector Deal, and work to develop a solar deployment ambition.

Throughout the pandemic, any changes to Scottish Government’s guidance on the extended use of face masks in healthcare and social care settings went through an extensive consultation process. Whilst direct engagement with NHS staff was not conducted, the Directorate for Health and Social Care's Professional Advisor Group were consulted - this group includes representatives from across Health and Social Care. The Professional Advisors engage with NHS staff through various forums and networks.

The consultation process also included the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Medical Officer, National Clinical Director and Health and Social Care Directors. All were content with the advice to withdraw the extended use of face mask and face covering guidance, based on the Antimicrobial Resistance and Hospital Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and Public Health Scotland reviews, the expert opinion of Professional Advisors, and consideration of the current pandemic context.

Direct engagement was conducted between the Scottish Government and social care representative bodies and providers of care homes and care at home services. These groups expressed that the extended use of face mask and face covering guidance was having a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of service users. Representatives were content for services to revert to assessing the need for personal protective equipment (such as a face mask) using the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and Care Home National Infection Prevention and Control Manual.

The Scottish Government has a robust process in place for creating, updating and withdrawing COVID-19 guidance. The health and safety of health and social care workers continues to be at the forefront of our approach in developing policies and guidance. However, it is important to note that the extended use of facemask guidance was never mandatory, and NHS Boards have responsibility for Health and Safety assessments in the workplace in an operational context.

The Scottish Government has a robust process in place for creating, updating and withdrawing COVID-19 guidance. The extended use of face masks and face coverings guidance across health and social care settings was withdrawn on 16 May 2023. This followed advice from Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and Public Health Scotland (PHS) that health and social care settings should revert to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual. Both manuals hold personal protective equipment guidance based on clinical need and risk assessment.

ARHAI Scotland and PHS continue to monitor and analyse COVID-19 data, including variants, hospital clusters and deaths. This is considered alongside reviews of the current scientific literature. The Scottish Government regularly reviews this information together with any new emerging evidence. Any change to guidance would consider the epidemiological context and the latest scientific evidence and is continually under review.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23070 on 4 December 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23097 on 4 December 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government understands the benefits of reusable nappy use in relation to reducing household costs in addition to reducing the impact on the environment.

Following the concerning news regarding the liquidation of TotsBots Ltd, our Baby Box Managing Agent ensured that all outstanding orders for a reusable nappy pack that had been sent to Tots Bots were fulfilled. Our Baby Box Managing Agent subsequently appointed a new reusable nappy supplier on 22 November who are providing the same offer as Tots Bots when parents return a pre-paid voucher or register via a QR code. The reusable nappy pack offer provides one waterproof nappy wrap and five stay dry nappy pads to try for free and offers a 15% discounted rate on future purchases. All families who received a Baby Box whilst the programme was without a nappy supplier have now been contacted and offered the opportunity to claim a reusable nappy via the new supplier.

Information on the allocation of CashBack funding is only formally collected at a local authority level. The total funding allocation to Fife local authority area between 2008 and March 2023 was £4,124,198.

Estimated funding of £1,061,633 is attributed to the Cowdenbeath constituency during that same period. This includes funding of £745,761 that was allocated to organisations delivering project activity based in the area (Scottish Sports Futures, Basketball Scotland, Boxing Scotland and the Scottish Football Association). The remaining funding was shared between organisations that supported individuals or groups across Fife and were available to children and young people in the Cowdenbeath constituency (Access to Industry, The Prince’s Trust, YouthLink Scotland, Youth Scotland and The Venture Trust).

Phase 6 of the CashBack for Communities programme runs from April 2023 to March 2026. The current estimate of spend across the Fife area is £1,036,803. Of that funding, an estimated £543,266 is currently attributed to the Cowdenbeath constituency, based mainly on anticipated project delivery in that area by Scottish Sports Futures and Starcatchers.

Details of all the Phase 6 CashBack partners and information on project delivery by local authority area are available on the CashBack for Communities website: https://cashbackforcommunities.org/

• The Scottish Government funds five direct delivery partners on an annual basis, based on the government wide capital spending allocations as agreed by Cabinet. These five direct delivery partners are NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority and Scottish Water.
• These delivery partners then sub-contract physical restoration works to organisations in the third sector and private sector contractor companies.
• Contracts for peatland restoration are issued on a composite unit cost basis. Therefore, labour costs – for example machine operator wages – are not itemised separately.
• As each individual project across delivery partner and geographic location can vary significantly, it is not possible to determine an average labour cost across or within the delivery partners.