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Local authorities in Scotland can choose the type of vaccination location that is on offer to the local community. The Scottish Government holds information on location (for example whether a GP practice or a mass vaccination centre) but does not have a breakdown on whether these locations are considered designated drive-through facilities.

People who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) encompass a wide range of individuals with degrees of severity, so it’s important that the vaccine priority list focuses in on the specific groups who are at the highest risk. Some of those with IBS will fall into the priority groups below, like the clinically vulnerable priority group (the 6th category in the list below, under ‘underlying health conditions’), but this does depend on each individual’s circumstances.

Some individuals with IBS will also be prioritised due to their age and / or additional underlying health conditions.

The full JCVI priority list is currently:

• residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

• all those 80 years of age and over, and frontline health and social care workers

• all those 75 years of age and over

• all those 70 years of age and over, and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

• all those 65 years of age and over

• all those aged 16 to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

• all those 60 years of age and over

• all those 55 years of age and over

• all those 50 years of age and over

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance confirmed in the Scottish Budget 21-22 that the ceiling of the nil rate band for residential property transactions will return, as planned, to £145,000 for transactions with an effective date from 1 April 2021.

I am pleased to report that ahead of this new benefit’s official launch on 15 February, 85,000 applications had already been received, many of which claim entitlement for multiple children. The Scottish Government has been proactive in promoting this benefit, prior to launch we wrote to everyone on the Universal Credit and HMRC tax credit databases who may be eligible, inviting them to apply for Scottish Child Payment.

Maximising the take-up of benefits and tackling child poverty are both moral imperatives and fundamental priorities for the Scottish Government. To drive take-up of Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods, we will launch a multi-media campaign next month, targeting parents through TV and digital advertising.

This campaign builds on the work already undertaken to raise awareness of the Scottish Child Payment, including the promotion of the benefit on commercial radio in November and December, a toolkit of marketing materials distributed through a number of key channels and 18 online Scottish Child Payment Stakeholder Roadshows held in late 2020 attended by over 1,600 individuals representing the third sector and local authorities.

The Scottish Child Payment will also be a central feature of our second Benefit Take-Up Strategy, which we will publish in the autumn.

Following the 66.5% reduction in Financial Transactions from the UK Government in 2021-22, the Scottish Government has prioritised support for first-time buyer support schemes, including the First Home Fund and Open Market Shared Equity. These schemes have higher additionality than Help to Buy (Scotland). We will continue to support small and medium-sized developers next year through our Help to Buy Smaller Developers Scheme.

Evaluations of the First Home Fund and the other shared equity schemes can be found at First Home Fund Evaluation Synthesis of Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) & Shared equity schemes: evaluation reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

There has been a significant cut of 66.5% to the total Scottish Government Financial Transactions budget in 2021-22 arising from the UK Government’s Spending Review in late November. This amounts to a reduction of £412 million. The Scottish Government has mitigated this as far as possible by agreeing with the UK Government that £41.5 million Financial Transactions, that came as late consequentials in 2020-21, could be spent in 2021-22, and drawing down £200 million from the Scottish Reserve. However, the funding cut from UK Government led to difficult choices about use of the allocation in 2021-22, and resulted in a reduction in the First Home Fund budget.

The latest data shows that the Scottish housing market is performing strongly, with transaction volumes increasing by 10.7% year-on-year in January 2021 (Revenue Scotland data). House prices rose by 8.4% in December 2020 (ONS House Price Index data).

The evaluation of the First Home Fund considers the impact of the scheme on the wider housing market First Home Fund Evaluation Synthesis of Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government is provided with the supply forecasts from the NHS NSS on a weekly basis which are refined each week, which can make forward operational planning challenging. These reports forecast up to 4 weeks in advance. The UK vaccines taskforce provides a longer range forecast but this is subject to change.

The Scottish Government has been very clear from day one that the pace of our national vaccine programme is dependent on vaccine supply and delivery timescales and we continue to work closely across the 4 nations to ensure this is as smooth as possible.

We are working to ensure everyone is fully informed regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. A national door drop arrived with households on the week starting January 4th, as well as our digital and social media campaigns, which went live on this date.

Our outdoors advertising campaign Started from 11th of January and a TV and radio campaign began on January the 21st.

The Scottish COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline (0800 030 8013) is now open, to make sure those who are called forward for the vaccine can get the information they need.

Health Boards have set out in their vaccination delivery plans the services that they will provide to meet the needs of their local communities. COVID-19 vaccinations may not take place at all GP practices, however, NHS Scotland will confirm local arrangements. NHS Scotland will invite those on the priority list by phone or letter for an appointment. The Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 0800 0308013 is now open to answer any questions, or provide further information about the coronavirus vaccine and its delivery. Website can be accessed at NHS Inform .

The First Home Fund will reopen on 1 April 2020 with a budget of £60 million. If more Financial Transactions become available as a result of the UK Budget, the Scottish Government will consider how to best deploy these, given all of the pressures and priorities across Government.