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Non-domestic properties are charged for water and sewerage services by reference to a meter unless it is inappropriate or impractical to install one. Where a meter cannot be installed, a non-domestic property’s charges will be assessed using its rateable value. Applicable charges to Licensed Providers are detailed in Scottish Water’s wholesale scheme of charges. Licensed providers are then required to charge non-domestic properties for the services which are available. As retail competition exists, Licensed Providers will seek to offer variable tariffs to attract customers; non-domestic customers will therefore have the option to switch provider if a cheaper service can be found elsewhere. Customers can also request that their licensed provider assesses whether a meter can be installed at the property if it is not already available.

As the retail market is working as intended, there are no plans to offer compensation to businesses for payment of water and sewerage charges.

The Scottish Government does not carry out any monitoring to ensure public transport operators apply the guidance, Women and Transport, which was written in 2000, prior to this Government’s time in office.

I am taking forward a focussed consultation, announced recently, to look specifically at improving women’s experience and safety across public transport. Initial discussions with Engender and women’s organisations will inform how we can best take forward this important work.

The information requested on how many international consultants that commuted to Scotland have been employed in NHS Scotland in each year since 1999 is not centrally available.

The Scottish Government does not collect this data.

Data on local authority instrumental music services is collected by the Improvement Service. Their reports can be found at www.improvementservice.org.uk .

Since its beginning, the aim of the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has been to reduce the number of severe COVID-19 infections, hospitalisations and deaths. From its outset it has been guided by the expert advice provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). We have no plans to provide booster vaccines beyond those which have already been announced. The provision of any further booster doses will therefore continue to be based on any future advice the JCVI should wish to provide.

We cannot provide advice on the rules for other countries. Before travelling you should check the up to date entry requirements for the destination country.

As ever, we encourage all those who are eligible to take up the existing offer of vaccination, if they have not yet done so.

As the censuses across the UK are taking place at different times, people moving from Scotland to other UK countries before March 2022 will not participate in Scotland’s Census 2022.

However, the primary objective for the census is not to collect a record of specific individuals, households, or addresses but to gather demographic information which government, councils, the NHS and a range of users in the public, private and third sectors need to inform future public services.

We continue to work closely with our colleagues in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) to produce harmonised outputs to meet a range of user needs wherever possible.

ScotWind, the recent leasing round for commercial-scale offshore wind projects, is administered by Crown Estate Scotland who are responsible for completing the process of due diligence in line with relevant guidance.

Crown Estate Scotland released a statement on 10 March in regards to ScotWind leasing in light of recent actions by Russia against Ukraine. The statement can be found here:

Statement regarding ScotWind Leasing and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The 17 successful ScotWind applications are mainly consortia of different project partners.

Crown Estate Scotland have advised they are committed to taking all appropriate action to not support trade and investment activity with Russia.

In early March, Crown Estate Scotland carried out an initial check of applicants for Russian ownership and / or registration. This did not uncover any Russian ownership or registration.

Crown Estate Scotland have confirmed they have taken a further step of seeking formal, written assurance from all applicants and project partners involved in each of the 17 applications that they will adhere at all times to the relevant sanctions regime. Project partners are subject to sanctions imposed by the state in which they are registered. UK registered entities will need to confirm they adhere to UK sanctions. Entities registered in another state will need to confirm that they adhere to the sanctions imposed by that state.

If Crown Estate Scotland do not receive sufficient assurance, Crown Estate Scotland will take appropriate action.

Crown Estate Scotland have advised that all applicants who secure an option agreement will be required to adhere to relevant sanctions throughout the term of the agreement.

In addition, Crown Estate Scotland have asked applicants for details of any Russian or Belarussian interests and steps that are being taken to divest of those interests.

The Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland will continue to work closely together to ensure each party is fully informed and taking appropriate action in what is a rapidly evolving situation.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce, subject to consultation, regulations requiring Scotland’s homes to meet EPC Band C, or an equivalent standard, where that is technically feasible and cost effective from 2025. We plan to consult over the next year on our proposals for such regulations, and this will include details of any exemptions including those linked to cost and availability of finance, clarity on the burden of responsibility, and matters relating to compliance and enforcement.

A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People - Employment Action Plan' is focused on tackling the structural barriers that prevent, or make it more difficult, for disabled people to enter the labour market and sustain fair work. Our actions to tackle these barriers are agreed with our stakeholders including disabled people’s organisations, and include:

• We have invested £640,000 to date into Apt, our Public Social Partnership to work with employers to improve recruitment and retention, offering direct support to employers to enhance practice and the support provided to disabled employees. This includes 174 training sessions to employers across the length and breadth of Scotland, reaching 230 unique organisations, to enable them to attract, recruit or retain disabled employees.

• Through the Parental Employment Support Fund (PESF) - as part of No one Left Behind - across all 32 local authorities we have invested £18.1m up to 2021-22, to support parents in households impacted by child poverty, including disabled parents, to access or progress in work. £6.1m of this funding has specifically focused on supporting unemployed disabled parents. PESF will be supported by a further £8.79m in 2022-23. Experimental Statistics show that 2,160 parents have been supported. 13% of parents reported having a disability (280).
  

•  Disabled people are a priority eligibility group for Fair Start Scotland (FSS) . The latest statistics (published 23 Feb 22) show that 44% (18,352) of participants reported having a disability and 63% (26,316) reported having a long-term health condition. 31% of disabled people on FSS has so far started a job (4,065)

• The Workplace Equality Fund (WEF) opened for new applications on 17 Jan 2022, and is focused on providing financial support for employers to address longstanding barriers in the labour market that particular priority groups, including disabled people, experience. The fund supports collaborative projects which seek to improve equality-related outcomes for priority groups and create a more inclusive working environment. An evaluation of the WEF found that 96% of businesses found WEF well received.

• For those requiring more intensive support to enter and sustain employment (including people with mental health issues and/or learning disabilities) Individual Placement and Support and Supported Employment are available through Fair Start Scotland and No One Left Behind.

Our aim is to at least halve the disability employment gap (DEG) by 2038. The number of disabled people (16-64 years) in full-time employment in Scotland is estimated to have increased from 180,000 in Jan-Dec 2016 to 217,600 in Jan-Dec 2020; with the number of disabled people in part-time employment increasing from 96,500 in Jan-Dec 2016 to 117,600 in Jan-Dec 2020.

A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan outlined the initial actions we would take to help meet the ambition to at least halve the DEG. The action plan includes commitments that relate to direct delivery of employability support and where data is currently available regarding the number of disabled people supported to achieve employment, this is provided below:

• Fair Start Scotland (FSS) latest statistics (published 23 Feb 22) show that 44% (18,352) of participants reported having a disability and 63% (26,316) reported having a long-term health condition. 31% of disabled people on FSS has so far started a job (4,065);

• No one Left Behind, including the Parental Employment Support fund (PESF) has supported 2,160 parents. 13% of parents reported having a disability (280) (experimental statistics).

The plan also includes a range of other cross cutting measures tackling the structural barriers that prevent many disabled people from entering and/or sustaining fair work, such as:

• supporting young disabled people and transitions delivered through the Young Person’s Guarantee;

• improving and increasing accessibility of public transport delivered through the Accessible Travel Framework;

• supporting employers to improve their recruitment and retention practices for example through the Public Social Partnership Apt; and

• seeking to maximise opportunities to support disabled people’s employment through available regulatory tools and mechanisms, such as the sustainable procurement duty.

When considering the population level disability employment gap clear progress has been made since we set out our ambition. The narrative updates are provided of the impact of these actions in our Year one and two progress reports .