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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 and regional 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 draft form in autumn 2022.

Work is also underway to strengthen our supply chains in the renewables energy sector. We're aware, for example, that Scotland’s developing hydrogen economy will require a strong domestic supply chain.

That's why the Scottish Government has announced a Hydrogen Supply Chain Event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 22 September to help build on and explore the opportunities that exist within this emerging sector.

For Offshore Wind, applicants to the ScotWind leasing round were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) that sets out the level and location of supply chain impact throughout the lifetime of projects. These commitments amount to billions of pounds of investment to the Scottish supply chain. Initial projections show an average spend of £1.5bn in Scotland per project.

Dr Church, the independent chair of the review, has advised that he intends to launch another round of stakeholder engagement for stakeholders by the end of July, running through to August or early September, during which he will be both seeking responses to specific questions and open to any further representations stakeholder may wish to make. This is in addition to the engagement already undertaken through the Call for Evidence for the review.

ScotRail’s Safety and Security team has been developing options relating to the current ban on consumption of alcohol on trains. I understand that the ScotRail Trains Ltd Board will consider these options shortly and will take account of the range of stakeholder views, including those of Trade Unions and any further representations that are made. I will then consider any recommendation ScotRail provides, giving due cognisance to staff and passenger safety.

We are committed to supporting patients to deal with the emotional and physical effects of cancer. We are currently working in partnership with Macmillan to improve the service we offer cancer patients through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC). This joint partnership with Macmillan is worth £18 million, and is the first of its kind in the UK. The programme looks to ensure that every cancer patient in Scotland has access to specialist key support worker, who can provide emotional, financial and practical support to those who need it most. This partnership is the first of its kind in the UK.

To ensure vital services of support for patients continued throughout the pandemic we established the third sector resilience fund and the wellbeing fund as part of a £350 million support fund announced on 18 March 2020. The £15 million Adult Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund was announced on 15 October 2021. This is the first year of a two year Fund to support mental health and wellbeing in communities across Scotland.

As part of our Cancer Recovery Plan, a new National Framework has been developed to support people affected by cancer. Launching in Spring 2022, the Framework not only sets out general principles for high quality holistic care, but also incorporates a number of tools that will aid implementation across Scotland. The Framework highlights the four levels of psychological care and support which are supported through expert evidence, and presents two models for implementation that are applicable across sectors, including health, care and the third-sector.

Cancer prehabilitation can support patients with the mental and physical challenges of living with cancer. A Cancer Prehabilitation Implementation Steering Group was convened in April 2021 to support and oversee the implementation and evaluation of comprehensive prehabilitation and evaluation whilst three subgroups look to: develop a digital resource that will improve access to education and training, improve access to psychological care and support and develop and implement a nutrition framework for prehabilitation.

From the outset, the Scottish Government’s decision-making on the COVID-19 vaccination programme has been guided by the expert advice provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and senior clinicians.

Spring 2022 Booster

On 21 February 2022, the JCVI advised that a spring booster dose be offered to the following groups:

adults aged 75 years and over

residents in care homes for older adults

individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed

Those who qualify as immunosuppressed as defined in chapter 14a of the Green book COVID-19 Greenbook chapter 14a (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Autumn Booster

On 19 May 2022 the JCVI issued interim advice regarding the autumn 2022 COVID-19 boosters. The JCVI interim advice is to offer the autumn 2022 vaccination to the following groups:

Residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults;

Frontline health and social care workers;

All those 65 years of age and over; and

Adults aged 16 to 65 years in a clinical risk group.

The JCVI will announce its final plans for the autumn programme, including further detail on the definitions of clinical risk groups, in due course and we stand ready to implement any further decisions on eligibility made by the JCVI.

There is a clinical referral route available for clinicians to refer anyone who they identify as requiring additional dose(s) of vaccine or a different dosing schedule for clinical reasons (in keeping with eligibility as recommended by JCVI), on a case by-case-basis.

Upon arrival of Ukrainian Displaced People at Welcome Hubs, communication needs are assessed to ensure that information is provided in a format that meets their needs. This may include easy to read documents in community languages and interpretation services for those who experience language barriers.

ESOL provision is offered by a range of providers including Community Learning and Development services through local authority partnerships, colleges, schools, voluntary organisations, universities and private language providers. Scottish Government ESOL funding is currently provided through colleges as part of the grant allocated to the Scottish Funding Council. Colleges are instructed to work with Community Planning Partnerships to determine the level of need for provision and agree with partners how this need can be met.

An implementation timetable for the Health & Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 has been published. Implementation will be a collaborative and iterative process with frontline staff, taking account of the learning from the pandemic whilst recognising the new environment within which services will now operate. The timetable sets out an intended full implementation date of April 2024.

The number of vacant posts in each NHS Board can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) website: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

To ensure all Health Boards including NHS Fife have sufficient capacity planning guidance has been issued to support the production of new Three Year Workforce Plans, supported by local systems’ workforce data.

As part of this all Health Boards must consider local population health needs and projected service demand, using that information to assess current staffing capacity and any relevant staffing gaps.

At national level, we will use this intelligence to inform new staffing projections for health and social care, which will be published in the coming year as part of the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care.

As referred to in response to PQs S6W-08593 and S6W-08594 on 1 June 2022, we were pleased to receive the report and recommendations from the National Partnership for Culture on 28 February 2022. Scottish Government officials are working together across portfolios to review the recommendations. Our response to the National Partnership for Culture recommendations will be published shortly.

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

For 2021-22 and 2022-23, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08999 on 20 June 2022. 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

Future year’s planned expenditure will be determined and set out in each year’s Scottish Budget.