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The Breast Screening Programme invites women between the ages of 50 and 70 for routine breast screening every three years. This is in line with the recommendation provided by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

When the programme resumed on 3 August 2020 following a pause due to the impacts of COVID-19, the difficult decision was taken to maintain a pause on the option for those over the age of 70 to self-refer into the programme. This decision was taken on the basis that the risks and benefits of screening women over the age of 70 are not yet clear. Available capacity is therefore being used to prioritise women eligible for screening and for whom the benefits are already clearly established.

The option for women aged 71 and over to self-refer for a breast screening appointment will resume once capacity in all screening centres returns to pre-Covid or close to pre-Covid levels. This is based on the recommendation of the Scottish Screening Committee, the National Screening Oversight and the Breast Screening Programme Board, all three of whom are keeping the situation under regular review. They are also working closely with Health Boards to increase appointments and meet this criteria as soon as possible.

We continue to emphasise that everyone should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.

The contact tracing system has not changed its approach regarding the time frame used to identify close contacts.

Those testing positive who have attended a complex or high-risk setting during their infectious period, or who have travelled in the last 14 days, are contact traced and then referred to their local Health Board, who will make a risk-based decision on whether ‘backwards’ contact tracing is appropriate to enable Test and Protect to identify where the index case might have contracted the virus. This ‘pre-infectious period’ covers the 5 days prior to the infectious period.

Separately, the timeframe of 48 hours before symptom onset or a positive test, plus the 10 days after, relates to the infectious period of a positive person. This is based on clinical advice and has been the position since Test and Protect was launched in May 2020. Close contacts identified during this timeframe are offered public health advice by Test and Protect to prevent potential onward spread of the virus.

The evidence on symptoms in relation to COVID-19 is currently under active consideration. However, there has been no change at this time to the NHS Inform guidance on the main symptoms to look out for – a new, continuous cough, a high temperature or fever and a change in sense of smell or taste.

Around one in three people with COVID-19 do not show any symptoms and rapid lateral flow testing is already helping to identify new cases. Regular, rapid testing is already available to people in a wide range of settings, and everyone should access testing regularly.

As I said in my reply to S6W-01546 on 29 July 2021, I chair the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) that meets monthly and is driving progress on the Construction Recovery Plan. Actions implemented so far include: introduced new ways of working for managing infection control health and safety; work to retain the current and future apprentice pipeline and the Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool.

Policy on corporate insolvency is largely reserved to the UK Government. The temporary suspension on statutory demands and restrictions on petitions to wind up companies is scheduled to expire at the end of September. The Scottish Government would support action by the UK Government to enable further transitional provisions and to extend these protections.

We remain focused on delivering the maximum support for businesses and the economy as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have directly benefitted from more than £3.7bn in support – more than a third of total COVID-19 funding – £2.8bn in grants and £965m in COVID-19 non-domestic rates reliefs.

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

Data on turnaround times is management information and is not currently published.

It is vital that test results are communicated in a timely manner to allow the appropriate public health action to be taken. PCR testing in Scotland is split between NHS Scotland testing, which focuses on health and social care testing, and the UK-wide National Testing Programme operated on a 4 nations basis, which primarily focuses on public-facing, symptomatic testing. We receive a population-based share of the capacity of the UK National Testing Programme Laboratory Network. We continue to work very closely with DHSC to improve and maintain strong testing turnaround times which may be affected by any testing fluctuations across the UK-wide network. Additional laboratory capacity is being brought online to respond to recent the rising demand for PCR tests.

It is a matter for local authorities to consider/assess individual applications having considered particular circumstances of the current regulations and latest guidance.

Throughout the pandemic our approach and principles are set out in our Framework for Decision Making, based on clinical evidence, expert advice, and a balanced assessment of the risks. The Scottish Government, the Chief Medical Officer's Advisory Group and SAGE have used scientific evidence on transmission coupled with the social and economic benefits, which Ministers have then used to make decisions.

EURO 2020 was a flagship event approved by the Scottish Government through an events gateway process. Flagship events are internationally significant events which maintain Scotland’s longer-term profile as a host of major events, with an eye to recovery from the pandemic, and with appropriate Covid-19 mitigations in place which were supported by months of very detailed planning.

We are currently finalising the Terms of Reference and membership of the Implementation Group, and will announce this shortly along with details of the first meeting. All future information about the Implementation Group will be published on the Scottish Government website.

As recommended by the National Review of Eating Disorder Services, it is anticipated that the Implementation Group will have a lifespan of around one year. However, this can be kept under review, if appropriate.

It is a matter for local authorities to consider/assess individual applications on spectator proposals having considered particular circumstances of the current regulations and latest guidance.

This requires Event organisers to apply in line with the requirements of the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 as amended and provide the Local Authority with an application in writing (can be email) along with the minimum of:

• A description of the type of event (or events) proposed,
• An event plan for the event (or events) proposed, and
• A risk assessment for the event (or events) proposed, including what measures are proposed relating to the prevention or minimisation of the risk of the incidence and spread of coronavirus arising from the event (or events).

Since May 2020 the Scottish Government has published projections of infections, hospitalisations and ICU admissions in its weekly publication Modelling the Epidemic in Scotland Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . These projections also feed into internal Scottish Government models on the demand of the Test and Protect system, including the tracing workforce, to enable operational planning.

The path of the pandemic has been highly complex and uncertain over the last 16 months and this is reflected in the complexity and uncertainty of the modelling. We make the best judgements we can on the data in front of us and the advice we have. Right now, as often in the past, our judgement is that the best path for us in Scotland is to make progress carefully and cautiously, and that is what we are doing.