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The £150 cost of living payments are administered by local authorities who have discretion over whether to make them as a credit to council tax accounts or as direct payments in order to ensure delivery by the end of April 2022.

Local authorities have indicated that payments will be included as a credit in council tax bills for 2022-23 in the majority of circumstances. This is the most readily available means of delivering this support to eligible households as fast as possible. Some councils also indicated that payments to eligible low income households exempt from council tax, such as those in temporary accommodation or refuges, would be made as direct payments. In these circumstances, they have discretion over the method used which may include, for example, PayPoint cash vouchers, cheques or BACS transfers to bank accounts.

Priority groups for the Open Market Shared Equity and New Supply Shared Equity schemes were established following discussions with a range of stakeholders. In 2017 people aged 60 and over were included further to a Programme for Government commitment to assist older people to move into accommodation more suited to their needs.

Applications to the schemes are demand led and assessed against the scheme criteria including income. Applicants can often fall into more than one category for example first time buyer and disabled person. Eligibility is not known until assessments have been carried out and this includes whether or not the person is applying as a priority access group.

Launched in August 2021, the Green Jobs Workforce Academy provides an important step in preparing our current and future workforce for green careers. Through the online resource, individuals can access information and careers advice on green jobs and the skills required to enter into or progress in them, and identify courses and funding available to support their upskilling or retraining. While the Academy is online, through greenjobs.scot individuals can access a range of virtual and in-person training opportunities.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health without stigma, including medication where this is the most appropriate intervention.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the numbers of children and young people aged 19 and under who were prescribed antidepressants by a GP, without seeing a specialist, while waiting for access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has been exceptionally difficult for the mental health and wellbeing of many children, young people and their families. Long waiting times for treatment are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of patients begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral. This is why in the 2021-22 financial year we have allocated nearly £40 million to NHS Boards to improve CAMHS; with £4.25 million specifically invested this year to help NHS Boards tackle backlogs, with a clear view of meeting standards and clearing CAMHS backlogs by March 2023.

As set out in the response to S6W-07188 on 21 March 2022, prescribing is a clinical decision based on a prescriber’s judgment as to what they believe is in the best interests of the patient. The prescribing of antidepressants for children and young people is undertaken in consultation with the patient, and where appropriate with their family, to ensure that patient choice is also central to decisions taken regarding treatment and care.

Medication is one aspect of treatment, alongside psychological therapy or other therapeutic interventions, available as an option for children and young people who require support. We continue invest and improve access to other services, including by providing £16 million per annum to ensure that every secondary school in Scotland has access to counselling support; and by investing £15 million in community-based mental health and wellbeing services as part of our focus on early intervention and prevention.

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 does not hold the information requested.

Data on UK and export sales of peat sourced from Scotland since 2011 is gathered for the UK Growing Media Monitor ( https://hta.org.uk/associations-committees-groups/growing-media-association/gma-research ) and provides insight into the volumes of peat extracted for horticulture in Scotland up to 2020, the main end use of extracted peat.

The Scottish Government is committed to banning the sale of peat related gardening products, as part of our wider commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture, and we are currently preparing to consult on this issue. Our draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) sets out that development proposals for new commercial peat extraction, including extensions to existing sites, should not be supported unless the extracted peat is supporting an industry of national importance to Scotland.

We will also give consideration, through our peatland restoration programme, to whether and what further data may be required to support future monitoring of progress against targets.

The £150 cost of living support payments are administered by local authorities who are responsible for ensuring this support, and indeed all the other services they deliver, are visible and accessible for people in minority ethnic communities. Local Authorities have indicated they are using the discretion we allowed to make payments as a credit to council tax accounts in the majority of circumstances. Where payments are made in this way, the credit should be automatically included in council tax bills for 2022-23.

The cost of living package also included extra funding for the Fuel Insecurity Fund which is distributed through third sector organisations who are partnered with referral organisations. Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) recently reported that they now have over 500 trusted referral partner organisations (advice /support services) signed up who can refer people they believe are in need of assistance.

Children and young people who are prescribed antidepressants will receive regular medication reviews with their prescribing clinician. The frequency and structure of these reviews will be based on the clinician’s judgment and on consultation with the patient and, where appropriate, with the patient’s family.

Clinicians will refer to the British National Formularyfor Children (BNFC) when prescribing antidepressant medication to children. The BNFC is the standard UK paediatric reference for prescribing and pharmacology.

Clinicians can also refer to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline NG134 which sets out further advice for the prescribing of antidepressant medication to children and young people.

The Scottish Government does not have a role in legislating on electrical infrastructure. The Electricity Act 1989 and the regulations under the Act are reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government plans to consult in the coming year on our proposals for regulating minimum energy efficiency standards (equivalent to EPC C) in owner occupied and private-rented homes.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health without stigma, including medication where this is the most appropriate intervention.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the numbers of children and young people aged 19 and under who were prescribed antidepressants by a GP, without seeing a specialist.

Prescribing is a clinical decision based on a prescriber’s judgment as to what they believe is in the best interests of the patient. The prescribing of antidepressants to children and young people is undertaken in consultation with the patient and, where appropriate, with their family, to ensure that patient choice is also central to decisions taken regarding treatment and care.

Medication is one aspect of treatment, alongside psychological therapy or other therapeutic interventions, available as an option for children and young people who require support. We continue invest and improve access to other services, including by providing £16 million per annum to ensure that every secondary school in Scotland has access to counselling support; and by investing £15 million in community-based mental health and wellbeing services as part of our focus on early intervention and prevention.