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The Gateway Review team concluded its work and submitted its report on 25 June 2021.

The Gateway Review into Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme was carried out by two external advisers accredited by the Infrastructure Projects Authority, part of the Cabinet Office, to lead Gateway Reviews. The external advisers are independent of the Scottish Government.

We do not capture data on the profession of travellers entering Managed Isolation.

In certain circumstances, seafarers and offshore workers can be exempt from entering Managed Isolation. Sectoral exemptions are set out in the International Travel (Scotland) Regulations 2020.

Travel for non-essential purposes has been permitted since 17 May following the introduction of the traffic light system. This meant that only those returning to Scotland after having been in a red list country in the previous 10 days had to enter managed isolation - those coming to Scotland after being in an amber list country must self-isolate at home instead. This is also applicable to seafarers and offshore workers coming back to Scotland for leave. After assessing a range of criteria including numbers of relevant individuals and risks posed by travelling from a red-list country for non-essential activity, it has not been deemed appropriate to permit an exemption for seafarers or offshore workers travelling for the purposes of leave if they have been to a red list country in the previous 10 days.

The speed at which the Delta variant has become prominent throughout the UK following introduction from international travel serves as a reminder of the need for appropriate travel restrictions at this time and to limit the risk of importation of variants of concern wherever possible. We continue to review our international travel restrictions and associated exemptions and health measures and will consider appropriate changes where clinical and scientific advice allow it.

The Scottish Government engages with local authorities on a range of issues related to climate change on a regular basis, including local authority target setting and reporting requirements, and the Climate Change Plan and Climate Change Plan update. This engagement includes meetings that were held during the formulation of the Climate Change Plan update, and now includes discussions on sectoral issues such as the development of Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), the decarbonisation of transport and the development of a circular economy.

Additionally, the Scottish Government engages with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE), the Sustainable Scotland Network, and the Scottish Cities Alliance. For example, a meeting was held on Wednesday 7th July with COSLA on the Climate Change Plan update commitment to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030.

The Scottish Government has not had any recent conversations with Ofgem regarding the planning rules for local distribution power networks. The planning process requires network operators to apply to Scottish Ministers under Section 37 of the Electricity Act for consent to install or keep installed an electric line above ground (larger than 2 dwellings and 20 kiloVolts). These applications are made by the distribution network operators (ScottishPower and SSE) with all determinations then shown on the ECU portal .

We work closely with both Ofgem and the network companies to ensure that regulatory decisions and network business plans reflect Scottish energy policy. Our Energy Networks Strategic Leadership Group (SLG), which includes representatives from these organisations as well as others, agreed a set of principles this year for the development of energy networks which set out the need to account for devolved policy and targets.

Changes to travel restrictions affecting Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council were notified to Parliament by answer to question S6W-00162 on 21 May 2021, and announced to businesses and the public through a media briefing by the First Minister, a news release, and updated guidance on the Scottish Government website. Enforcement of coronavirus travel regulations in Scotland is a matter for Police Scotland. 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

The Scottish Government provides funding for energy efficiency schemes that provide grant and/or loans for the installation of boilers.

Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) operates a National Customer Price mechanism that ensures customers throughout Scotland have the same access to the same measures when they make an application to the scheme. It also means that customers pay the same rate for additional radiators or for measures that exceed the maximum customer grant irrespective of where they live.

All installations are inspected by Warmworks inspectors to ensure that the measures have been installed to both contract and industry standards. In addition, the Scottish Government appointed Pennington Choices as the independent scheme auditor for Warmer Homes Scotland. Pennington Choices carries out audits on a percentage of applications at every stage of the delivery of the contract including the quality of completed installations.

Home Energy Scotland (HES) Loans require quotes to be provided and recommendation reports. For boilers, they must be included on the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), be A-rated, and the installer must be Gas Safe registered. Gas Safe has the overall responsibility for the standard of installation and the performance of the companies, and all installations should have associated maintenance plans and warranties in place. Energy Saving Trust (EST), who manages the scheme on behalf of Scottish Government, carries out annual cost reviews of technologies.

Installers for projects delivered as part of our Area Based Schemes are commissioned by local councils in line with public procurement guidance. Local councils are required to meet all relevant quality assurance and legal requirements for installation, as well as ensuring value for money in procurement.

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has maintained close contact with Scottish Water and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) around charging policy and was supportive of the WICS action introduce a package worth £60 million to provide additional liquidity to licensed providers, allowing them to assist customers through deferred payment terms. On 14 May 2020, WICS announced a further water charges relief scheme building on the initial intervention to provide at least another £50 million of liquidity to allow a further deferral of charges for businesses that had been impacted by Covid-19.

In Scotland, all non-domestic properties remain liable to be charged if they have access to services. Scottish Water is still required to provide services to properties, even if they are temporarily closed, and there are costs associated with this, in particular ensuring property drainage and ensuring water and wastewater services are available whenever a business might be able to re-open. If follows therefore that businesses are still required to pay their Licensed Provider for services but the liquidity support means this can be over an extended time period and Licensed Providers will continue to pay Scottish Water for wholesale costs.

We have provided over £110 million through our Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) to enable communities to play their part and we will continue to support community-led climate action as a key part of our just transition to net zero.

We are building on the achievements of the CCF by developing networks of regional Community Climate Action hubs and Climate Action Towns. These initiatives will run alongside the recently launched Net Zero Nation campaign which aims to showcase and inspire climate action across Scotland, including in our communities, using COP26 as a catalyst.