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For the purposes of Cladding Remediation, an SBA is an assessment carried out by homeowners to determine the fire safety risk in buildings due to cladding. Duty of care for properties lies with the owners.

With regard to the safe collection and disposal of dead wild birds suspected of having been infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), current government disease control guidance is for carcases to be left in situ.

At present there is no scientific evidence that the removal of carcases significantly reduces the risk of onward spread of the current strain of HPAI H5N1 amongst wild birds. However, this matter continues to be under review, including currently being the topic of a veterinary risk assessment carried out by the Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC), commissioned by the Scottish Government.

Without such evidence, there is no animal disease control reason for the collection and disposal of wild bird carcases and, as such, no additional funds have been, or are planned to be, allocated. Collection and disposal of such carcases are carried out at the local council’s discretion.

We know that the global pandemic and the lockdowns implemented to restrict the spread of the virus have had significant impact on many people with learning disabilities who were unable to access the support and community connections that they usual rely upon.

Assessments were carried out before any measure were put in place, to ensure this was the appropriate action to save lives, and during and after the restriction period to assess the impact on people’s mental health.

We have been working with partners and those with lived experience to deliver our Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan, which was published in March 2021. This includes actions to shape supports, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of people with learning disabilities are respected and protected and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

We fund the Scottish Learning Disability Observatory (SLDO) to carry out research, including on the impact of the pandemic. We will continue to work closely with the SLDO to fully understand the actions required to address the research findings.

The Scottish Government and COSLA are engaging via a new leadership and engagement framework that puts people’s voices and experiences firmly at its heart. The first topic chosen by people with lived experience was mental health, following the impact of the pandemic. People with a learning disability have conducted their own peer research, including accounts of how the pandemic affected them and their families. They are currently progressing solutions and improvements based on their experiences.

We have also commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland to gather and provide insights into different approaches to the redesign of learning disability day services in recognition of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created. In October 2020, the New Models of Learning Disability Day Support Collaborative was launched. The collaborative works with Health and Social Care Partnerships to develop their current service provision in line with Keys to Life outcomes whilst taking into account learning from working through the pandemic.

Discussions with the UK Government on possible Investment Zones remain at an exploratory stage: but we have been clear that any Investment Zones in Scotland would have to be the right fit for Scotland’s economy, reflect our policy and governance landscape, and respect the devolution settlement, in particular in relation to planning and environmental protection. The UK Government is currently reviewing its policy, and we await further information.

One of the key pillars of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation is to strengthen Scotland’s position in new markets and industries to generate well-paid jobs and support a just transition to net-zero. The Strategy sets out a range of actions to deliver on this vision. We are now developing sectoral Just Transition Plans, which will identify relevant green industrial opportunities. Our first Just Transition Plan will be the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is intended for publication in due course.

Over the next year we will be developing Just Transition Plans to address the transport, buildings and construction, and agricultural sectors, as well as a standalone plan for the Grangemouth industrial cluster. Our Grangemouth Future Industry Board, established in acknowledgement of the significant role of the cluster in our energy system and our economy, has initiated and leads on the design of that Plan.

Our approach to Just Transition Plans builds on our world-first National Just Transition Planning Framework and sets out how we will be working with others on the economic and social impacts of transition. It has co-design at its heart, meaning that we will ensure that those who stand to be most impacted by the transition to net zero are given a voice in determining their future.

The decision not to procure Evusheld ® at this time has been taken based on clinical advice, rather cost.

The RAPID C-19 group is a collaborative UK-wide partnership between the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) and others. To date, the RAPID C-19 group and the COVID-19 UK expert panel have both considered a full range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro (in the laboratory) analysis and observational studies and have advised that there is insufficient evidence available at this time to support the procurement and deployment of Evusheld ® .

The Scottish Government continues to closely monitor the outcome of further research to ensure that any decisions to make Evusheld ® available to patients in Scotland in the future are based on the best available evidence.

We expect all NHS Boards to have robust governance arrangements in place, including those for risk assessment and business continuity; as informed by, and consistent with, national policies and frameworks. NHS Lanarkshire has confirmed that, as part of their routine winter planning work, they have been engaging with local planning partners to ensure all eventualities are carefully considered.

We recognise the importance of improving labour market outcomes for females and we monitor the influence of PACE support through a major survey every two years. The most recent 2022 PACE Client Experience Survey report was published in September 2022,

https://www.gov.scot/collections/partnership-action-for-continuing-employment-pace/

The report shows that female clients were more likely than males to have gone straight to paid work for an employer which may suggest a desire to get a job quickly rather than hold out for a ‘better job’. Female clients were also much more likely to go into part-time work which tends to be lower-paid and require fewer skills; also fewer females than males are actively looking for jobs with greater responsibility or higher skill levels, likely to be due to these jobs not tending to be available part-time or in the sectors within which they typically work.

PACE Advisers assist female clients by helping them to break down barriers to accessing better paid work/sectors. We will seek to ensure as many females as possible access this service and if appropriate are directed to the Women Returners programme. This programme provides one-to-one bespoke support, advice and access to opportunities for women aged 25 and over who have been out of the labour market for six months or more and want to restart their career journey.

A refreshed Fair Work Action Plan, due to be published in the next few months, will refresh and take forward our commitments in our Gender Pay Gap Action Plan making explicit that addressing gender pay gaps is a key element of Fair Work.

Thanks to the progress we have made with widespread vaccination and new Covid treatments, which have reduced the severe health harms of the virus, the purpose of testing has changed from population-wide testing to reduce transmission to targeted testing to support clinical care. As a result, most people in Scotland no longer need to test for Covid.

Some people do remain at higher risk – primarily people who are immunosuppressed. These people should continue to follow the advice of their GP or specialist clinician, who best know their health condition and individual circumstances. Those that have a health condition which means they’re eligible for Covid treatments can continue to access testing.

Since its introduction in June 2015, the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF) has received 120 project applications, with the Project Assessment Committee awarding funding to 52 projects delivered by a range of national organisations operating across a wide range of local authority areas in Scotland.

Therefore, it is not possible to provide an accurate distribution of funding across the authorities. On the outcome of KTIF funding rounds, the successful projects are put in the public domain and published on the Scottish Government website .