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The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards, which Boards use to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. In addition, the Scottish Government has ensured that additional Covid related costs reported by Health Boards and Integration Authorities have been met in full, including £862 million allocated to date in 2021-22. Further allocations will be made over the course of the year to ensure that our health and care services continue to receive the support required to address pressures relating to the pandemic.

Detail on how this funding has been used to specifically support protecting people with pre-existing respiratory illnesses, such as COPD, would require to be requested from NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government has provided the following funding to support Clean Air Day each year since it started in 2017. Clean Air Day is a UK wide annual clean air awareness campaign run by the environmental charity Global Action Plan. Since 2018 in Scotland, Clean Air Day is run jointly by Global Action Plan and Environmental Protection Scotland, also an environmental charity.

Current guidance reflects the best scientific and clinical advice, as well as the current state of the pandemic and the anticipated trajectory of infections. The restrictions which limit non-essential visitors in schools and early learning and childcare settings, include attendance by parents for nativity plays and similar events. However, we know that many schools and settings plan to use other creative means to present these activities, such as streaming them online or holding them outdoors.

The Scottish Government has agreed to grant £1 million to the Climate Justice Resilience Fund to support their work to address the needs of communities suffering the most acute impacts of climate change and develop and test a framework for delivering loss & damage programming. We will be working with the Fund to develop further details on programming in the first quarter of 2022.

As in all Climate Justice Fund programming, the perspectives of communities will be central to the design and determination of priorities.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that all children and young people aged 12 to 17 years will be offered a second dose of the vaccine from 8 to 12 weeks after their first dose.

As of 30 November, those aged 16 and 17 are able to schedule second appointments using the booking portal on NHS Inform, phoning the national vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013, or attending a drop-in clinic.

More information about second doses for young people aged 12 to 15 years will be available soon, and the JCVI has advised that a second dose for young people aged 12 to 15 years is advised no sooner than 12 weeks after the first dose.

However children and young people aged 12 to 17 who are at increased risk from coronavirus will be offered 2 doses of the vaccine, given 8 weeks apart. This includes those who are at increased risk from coronavirus due to underlying health conditions, live with someone with a severely weakened immune system, or are aged 16 or 17 years who are an unpaid carer or a frontline health or social care worker.

Some children and young people in these groups are eligible for a third primary dose and/or a booster dose.

Further information about second doses for children and young adults can be viewed at NHS Scotland at: Vaccinating children and young people aged 12 to 17 years | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters. In response to the changing risk posed by the Omicron variant, the booster will now be given no sooner than 3 months after the primary course.

1,961,588 people have received a booster or 3rd dose to 8 December, and we are working as quickly as we can, prioritising those most vulnerable.

Data is published at COVID-19 Daily Dashboard | Tableau Public which includes boosters and 3rd doses delivered per JCVI cohort.

We continue to work closely with Public Health Scotland to develop the vaccination data to provide robust statistics that enhance public understanding.

While demographic difference make robust comparisons difficult, figures from the UK dashboard show we have administered boosters or 3rd doses to a greater proportion of the population than the other UK nations at this stage of the programme.

We are aiming to offer the booster vaccine to everyone aged 18 or older who is eligible by the end of January 2022.

Those aged over 70, and those at highest clinical risk from COVID-19 have been receiving invitations for flu and Covid-19 booster appointment from 6 October.

Appointments for COVID-19 boosters have now been offered to all those aged 60 and over. Clinics for those aged 60 to 69 are continuing, with strong uptake among this cohort.

The online self-booking portal for adults aged 50 to 59, those aged over 16 who are unpaid carers and household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals launched on 15 Nov.

Over one third of those aged 50 to 59 have now had their booster and people in this group are urged to book their own appointment on the online portal at NHS Inform or phoning the National Helpline. Those in the 50-59 cohort who have not yet received their booster have been contacted by text/email and will receive a ‘blue letter’ reminder from Friday 10 December to make a booking as soon as possible.

A guide is available at Coronavirus (COVID-19) booster vaccination | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) for advising individuals how they will be invited for vaccination.

Those who are eligible can book or reschedule appointments via the COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013.

In 2021, the Regional Food Fund received 191 applications with 91 of those sifted out as determined ineligible with the fund. Of the remaining 100 applications, 41 were successful and received funding.

In February 2020, the Scottish Government published the Inshore Fisheries Pilot: Inner Sound of Skye Consultation Outcome Report. One of the recommendations contained in the report, was to establish an Inner Sound Local Fisheries Management Advisory Group. There are currently live legal proceedings relating to the Outcome Report and therefore it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Information on funding awarded to projects from the Regional Food Fund in each year since it was established is published on the Scotland Food & Drink website and can be found at the following link: https://foodanddrink.scot/regional-food-growth/regional-food-fund/

In February 2018, the then-Chief Medical Officer wrote to NHS Scotland Medical Directors about public interest in the use of mesh implants, including in hernia repair. Medical Directors were asked to ensure that clinicians offer patients all appropriate options for surgery, as well as the option of no surgery. In addition, the importance of shared decision making, informed consent and listening and acting upon patients concerns was noted.

The Scottish Government commissioned a review by the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) of primary inguinal hernia repair in men. SHTG published their report in early 2020 and this concluded that, compared to non-mesh procedures, using mesh resulted in lower rates of recurrence, lower rates of serious adverse events and similar or lower risk of chronic pain. The advice for NHS Scotland was that surgical mesh should be used in elective repair of inguinal hernia in adult males.

Further to this, the Scottish Government asked SHTG to examine hernia repair more broadly, to include women, and to review the outcome of mesh versus non-mesh surgery in a variety of groin or abdominal wall hernias. SHTG have published their report today which is available online at: Elective surgery using mesh to repair primary or incisional hernias in adults (shtg.scot) . This states that the current evidence supports the continued availability of surgical mesh for elective repair of primary ventral hernias, incisional hernias, and primary inguinal hernias in adults in Scotland. This notwithstanding, SHTG also recommends that consideration should be given to patient preference and that patients should have access to alternative hernia treatment options such as non-mesh (suture and natural tissue) repair. Once again, the importance of shared decision making and informed consent has been emphasised.

The Chief Medical Officer has written to Board Chief Executives and Medical Directors to draw their attention to the report’s findings. The Scottish Government will continue to work with Health Boards, Specialist Associations and the relevant Royal Colleges on the issues raised within the report.