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The ten-year £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray is a single initiative. The initial £20 million announced for the 2022-23 is a mixture of Capital and Financial Transactions, but should not be regarded as distinct ‘funding streams’ with separate objectives and deliverables.

As specified in the draft Shared Policy Programme, and as specified in this year’s draft Budget, the strategic objective of the Fund is to support and accelerate the development of a transformed and decarbonised economy in the North East and Moray and support the role of Aberdeen and the wider north east as one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy.

Detailed policy design work and implementation planning, informed by a programme of engagement with partners in the region, is underway ahead of the new financial year. This will inform the specific objectives and deliverables of the Just Transition Fund in a) year 1 and b) for the first tranche of £20 million of funding. Further updates will be shared as this engagement develops. We will work collaboratively, continuing to engage and co-design this Fund with partners in region throughout the lifetime of this ten-year £500 million commitment to the North East and Moray.

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines on stroke have been withdrawn due to being over 10 years old. SIGN therefore recommend that healthcare professionals look to other up-to-date evidence-based guidelines to inform practice. A good source is the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evidence search that includes trusted sources from a wide range of organisations: https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/

A four nations approach will be taken to update the Royal College of Physicians Guidelines for Stroke (2016). SIGN is involved in the development process so that the revised guideline will be a collaborative national guideline which will be applicable for use in Scotland.

The updated guideline is expected to be published in February 2023.

We fully recognise the importance the Farm Advisory Service (FAS) provides for farmers, land managers and crofters to help them ensure their businesses are ready to meet the challenges of the future. That is why we are currently in the process of finalising a new FAS contract effective from April 2022 that will provide continuity of the service that will connect the sector to expert consultants with the goal of keeping the industry up to date with current issues with nearly all the available support and advice entirely free to the consumer.  

And we will be working with the relevant industry and organisations as we look to develop future agriculture policy to help shape the future longer term evolution of the service to ensure it keeps pace with key challenges to support farmers, land managers and crofters to deliver high quality food production, climate mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publishes figures on probable deaths by suicide annually. Figures for each year from 2017 to 2020 are provided on the NRS website, and this includes a breakdown by local authority areas at Table 5. The data is found here: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/probable-suicides/2020/suicides-20-all-tabs.xlsx

NRS plans to publish figures of probable deaths by suicides for 2021 in summer 2022.

NRS does not publish annual crude rates of probable suicides at a population level. Instead, it uses age-standardised rates which provide reliable comparisons across local authority areas by taking account of different demographic profiles. NRS publishes this data on a 5 yearly basis, rather than on an annual basis, to ensure the data does not disclose individual cases. Detailed information is available in figure 6 of the spreadsheet provided in the above link.

The Scottish Government does not collect or publish information about prices to install external wall insulation per meter squared. The cost of installing external cavity wall insulation will vary significantly to reflect different sizes of property, construction type, materials and overhead costs.

We obtain independent technical advice in tendering public contracts for these type of works as part of our Warmer Home Scotland service. Similarly we request and take account of information provided by our delivery partners in designing our fuel poverty and energy efficiency schemes.

The vast majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on road maintenance, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

It is for locally elected representatives to manage the allocation of resources and the level of services that are delivered to their local communities.

The Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme Warmer Homes Scotland offers to install external wall insulation for eligible households, where it is appropriate and technically feasible for the property. Most local councils include projects to deliver external wall insulation as part of their Area Based Schemes targeting fuel poor households. This is typically as provided grant-in-aid but property owners may be asked for a contribution to reflect higher individual costs associated with their home (e.g. additional repairs or for a larger detached property).

Households that are not eligible for help as part of our fuel poverty programmes can apply for a Scottish Government loan via Home Energy Scotland. Help is available with the costs of purchasing and installing energy efficiency measures worth up to £10,000 (£6,000 loan plus £4,000 cashback). Full independent advice and information is available through the Home Energy Scotland website.

The Scottish Government has provided over £3.2 million of grant funding directly to Stirling Council since 2017 to enable procurement of zero emission charging and refuelling infrastructure. The following table provides the detail of funding awarded to Stirling Council in each year from 2017.

We have published guidance which includes eligibility criteria for the Close Contact Fund and this information is now available on the Scottish Government website: Coronavirus (COVID-19): funding for businesses affected by Omicron control measures - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the Find Business Support website:

Close Contact Services Fund (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) . Businesses will be able to apply for the close contact fund from Monday 14 th February. We have been working with relevant industry representatives to understand how best to target this funding as the sector includes a large number of businesses who do not have premise so cannot use non-domestic rates as a way of validating business details .

Eligible Businesses must be registered as a beauty service, hairdressing and hair removal service or a spa and wellness service and provide services listed in the guidance such as, hair trimming and cutting, laser hair removal, nail treatments etc.

The Close Contact grant is a one-off payment at the rate of £1,000 for self-employed businesses and £1,500 for NDR registered premise based business owners.

All local authorities, including East Renfrewshire Council, have been involved in discussions around delivery of this funding and it has been agreed funding for close contact businesses will be distributed by our delivery partner NEC.

We have published initial guidance which includes eligibility for the Close Contact Fund. This information is available on the Scottish Government website: Coronavirus (COVID-19): funding for businesses affected by Omicron control measures - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the Find Business Support website:

Close Contact Services Fund (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) . Businesses will be able to apply for the close contact fund from Monday 14 th February.