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There is no specific budget allocated for the National Treatment Centre Programme, instead the Health portfolio are required to manage this programme within the overall portfolio capital allocation. The spend to date is:

The latest data received by the Scottish Government from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland indicated that as of March 2022, a total of 1,498 referrals were made to the long COVID Support Service since its inception in February 2021.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends the use of Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccines as part of the response to the current monkeypox outbreak, for people who are at higher risk of coming into contact with monkeypox.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) are working together with Health Boards to support the safe delivery of monkeypox vaccination.

There is currently a limited supply of existing MVA vaccine, which Scotland has secured its share of. Vaccination is underway and it is currently being offered to those at highest risk first, to help reduce the spread.

Additional supplies are expected in September, and people will be offered a first dose in priority order as soon as it becomes available.

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland welcomes doctors of all grades and experience. To practice medicine in Scotland, individuals must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). For individuals who studied at a medical school outside of the UK or EEA, they will likely need to sit a Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB). Further details on the PLAB tests or GMC registration can be found here Join the register - GMC (gmc-uk.org) .

The GMC may provide assistance to refugees and those with UK resettlement leave, further details can be found here Help for refugee doctors - GMC (gmc-uk.org) . When successful in obtaining a position within NHS Scotland, the salary a recruit receives will be dependent on the banding of the role, therefore a Ukrainian refugee would receive the NHS rate of pay.

Circulars to enact the 4.5% pay uplift for NHS Medical and Dental staff were published on 5 August 2022.

This pay uplift will be backdated to 1 April 2022.

The Scottish Government recognises that Social Isolation and Loneliness is a public health issue, which has been exacerbated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between August 2021 and March 2022, £1 million was allocated by the Directorate for Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights to organisations working to tackle social isolation and loneliness. This funding has supported work including helplines, befriending, and practical support. Many of the 48 organisations funded through the Equality and Human Rights Fund (2021-2024) also make a valuable contribution to tackling social isolation.

In addition, £21 million has been spent in 2021-22 via the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, which helps to tackle priority issues including social isolation and loneliness. This fund has been continued for 2022-23 with a further £15 million.

The Scottish Government does not collect this information but expects all NHS Boards to provide free incontinence pads where a patient has been assessed and deemed as requiring incontinence products. These products are provided by local NHS Boards continence service on prescription across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is introducing the New Build Heat Standard from 2024 in direct response to the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change on how to meet the net-zero obligation legislated for, and agreed by all parties, in the Scottish Parliament.

Heat pump operating costs will vary across properties, with the precise impact depending on factors such as the design and quality of the heating system, user operation, and the energy efficiency of the property.

We have commissioned two research projects which considered the running costs associated with zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies within new homes, including heat pumps, against a gas boiler counterfactual. A copy of these research reports is available here:

• Costs of zero emissions heating in new buildings (climatexchange.org.uk)
• Renewable and zero direct emissions heating systems in affordable housing projects (phase 2): evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This analysis supports the reasonable assumption that the costs of an air source heat pump are generally comparable with gas in a new home. However, we would highlight that the analysis pre-dates the energy crisis, and that we do not have updated modelling available to reflect the current price cap. We also urge the UK Government to follow through on its commitment to publish proposals to rebalance energy bill costs by the end of 2022. Given the abundance of low cost renewables in the UK and the urgent need to decarbonise buildings, it should be cheaper to run an electrically-driven heat pump than a gas boiler.

A full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published when these regulations are introduced, incorporating the findings from these research reports and other relevant information.

Our Heat in Buildings Workforce Assessment Project, published in June 2022, provided an analysis of the current scale of the existing workforce in Scotland trained to fit certain zero emission heating systems such as heat pumps. The report highlighted that there are no publicly available statistics regarding the total number of heat pump installers in the UK and Scotland, but estimated that there are around 500 trained heat pump installers currently active in Scotland, based on data from the Microrenewable Certification Scheme. The report highlights that other forms of zero direct emissions heating such as direct electric radiators can be installed by an electrician, without any specialist heating knowledge, and there were an estimated 22,000 electricians operating in Scotland in 2018.

We are working with industry to understand the capacity of the supply chain to deliver against the New Build Heat Standard from 2024, including the availability of trained installers. At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published and the findings of the research above, and any other relevant information will be incorporated into the assessment.

The Scottish Government did not receive any business cases for funding to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest from Glasgow City Council, the City of Edinburgh Council or Aberdeen City Council prior to the announcement of the final shortlist. As no business cases were received, the Scottish Government provided no funding for this to any of the three councils.