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The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project cost £5,124,000. The Scottish Government provided £2,005,331 through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme. The work was completed in August 2019.

The district heating network serves a number of buildings in Stirling, including St. Modan’s High School, Forthbank Stadium and Conference Facilities, the Peak Leisure Centre, the Robertson Trust Barracks Development, Jubilee House (owned by Volunteer Scotland) and Moray House.

The project brings several benefits to Stirling, including:

• a 10% savings to end users compared to their heating costs using traditional boilers;
• reduction in associated operational costs, including servicing and boiler replacement;
• income generation to Stirling Council over 40 years;
• wider community benefits include local job creation, upskilling and regeneration of the local area.

The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project has scope for expansion, including to future proposed development at the Public Sector Innovation Hub and Heritage Hub.

The Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) replaced the Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) and were launched in October 2017. Since their launch in 2017 the following numbers of individuals have received funding and training through the scheme:

This is an operational matter for Category 1 responders, therefore the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

As one of our 100 Days Commitments we launched the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), which will develop new proposals for sustainable farming support by considering the Climate Change Plan Update and the Farmer-led Groups recommendations, helping Scottish agriculture become more economically and environmentally sustainable.

ARIOB meets regularly and its current priority is helping develop the National Test Programme, which begins this Spring and, over the next three years will deliver Scottish Government investment of up to £51 million. It is based on and informed by the work and recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, particularly to ensure we are beginning to tackle the most urgent needs and creating a base upon which to build a whole-farm low carbon approach. An outline of the National Test Programme has already been published: https://www.gov.scot/news/ambitious-future-for-rural-scotland/

ARIOB acts in an advisory capacity to the Scottish Government and have no current plans to formally report. It is for the Scottish Government to co-develop and publish agricultural policy based on this type of a collaborative approach. The Scottish Government is wholly committed to supporting farmers and crofters to start our collective journey towards becoming global leaders in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

The Scottish Government recognises the negative impacts of stigma, both on individuals and on wider efforts to prevent blood borne viruses. Over the next year, the Scottish government will focus on progressing the commitment to eliminate Hepatitis C by 2024; developing a plan to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030; and re-invigorating the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework. In all these strands, we will consider a range of actions to tackle the stigma around blood borne viruses in order to improve outcomes for individuals and encourage testing and earlier diagnosis.

Officials have engaged throughout the legislative process with the Association of British Insurers, who have advised that ABI member firms are aware of the changes to legislation and are unlikely to invalidate anyone’s policies.

This matter is for local authorities who hold the requested information. This information is not held centrally by Scottish Government.

The provision of Health and Wellbeing services, for the police workforce, is a matter for the Chief Constable.

Police officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. This includes the signposting of services by ‘Wellbeing Champions’ and the programme has resulted in a raised awareness of the services available, such as occupational health and employee assistance, which offer counselling, and specific interactions through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM).

The Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group (SICSAG) report on COVID-19 published on 2 February 2022 includes data on the numbers of COVID positive pregnant women admitted to critical care facilities (excluding obstetric High Dependency Units) to 9 January 2020. The data is presented by COVID infection wave, but not by month. SICSAG report annually on numbers of pregnant women admitted to Intensive Care Units. 2021 data is expected to be reported in summer 2022.

Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group report on COVID-19 - as at 11 January 2022 - Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group report on COVID-19 - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

There is public guidance available – the Eatwell Guide – to help people make healthier food and drink choices and which is supported by Food Standards Scotland (FSS). The Eatwell Guide has been assessed by the Carbon Trust as having an appreciably lower environmental impact than the current UK diet. To expand the value of the Eatwell Guide, FSS have recently published Eat Well, Your Way , an online resource which translates Eatwell Guide advice into practical tips and advice. The resource highlights dietary changes which can impact sustainability and FSS plan to further embed sustainability in the resource in the coming year.

We recognise that the public have an interest not only in where their food comes from, but how it is made and whether it is produced in an environmentally sustainable way. For this reason, we currently working with members of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership to carry out initial scoping work on a single marketing brand for Scottish food and drink produce, Sustainably Scottish. This brand would be available to Scottish based producers, manufacturers and suppliers who can satisfy stringent criteria on provenance and low carbon operations.

We have set up an Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board to work with farmers and crofters as we develop future policy and to support them to produce food in a way that benefits nature and the climate. To support that vision we have set up a National Test Programme, supported by £51m of Scottish Government funding, to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

This range of initiatives, and others, contribute to Scotland being a Good Food Nation. The Good Food Nation Bill will provide an over-arching framework for clear, consistent and coherent future Scottish food policy and will put in place measures to ensure that reliable access to nutritious, locally sourced, locally produced, good quality food is a practical everyday reality for everyone in Scotland.