Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07564 on 22 April 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07562 on 19 April 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 .

The cost to the regulator is estimated based on the number of businesses to be regulated; it is therefore unaffected by any increase in the number of containers.

The cost increases within the model are not proportional increases. There may be additional collections but there is also additional capacity within the system.

The Food Security and Supply Taskforce met for the third time on 20 April and continues its work to monitor, identify and respond to any potential disruption to the food and drink supply chain resulting from to the impact of the war in Ukraine. The Taskforce plans to publish details of its work in the near future.

The Scottish Government is committed to accepting the majority of recommendations in the Dame Elish Angiolini review, many as specifically set out, but with scope to explore options where other routes or mechanisms may achieve the desired outcome. We will consult on recommendations which will, or are likely to, require legislation this year including that there should be a statutory duty of candour.

‎ As published in the most recent thematic progress report in December 2021, initial discussions with operational partners and staff associations have taken place on this recommendation ahead of the full public consultation. We will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout the consultation period and will provide updates through the thematic progress report, with the next due to be published in June 2022.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is determined everyone with long COVID gets the care and support that is most appropriate for them - regardless of their gender. NHS Scotland is already providing support and care across the full range of NHS services, including primary care teams and community-based rehabilitation services with referrals to secondary care where necessary.

We understand many unpaid carers have required extra support balancing work and care during the pandemic and we have made it very clear that employers should use carer’s leave flexibly in these circumstances. We are promoting awareness and flexibility for unpaid carers in the workplace through the Carer Positive initiative.

Flexible working practices are another way to support women in the workplace and is especially important for those with health concerns and those with caring responsibilities– particularly women, to whom the balance of caring still too often falls.

The Scottish Government funded Flexibility Works in 2021-22 with £94,850 to support and promote the development of flexible and family friendly workplaces. We are developing a programme of further support this year which will include offering vital advice and support to business and organisations on the benefits of flexible working practices such as working from home, hybrid and remote working.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government also introduced new criteria in its Fair Work First approach, asking employers who are receiving public sector grants and delivering public contracts to commit to offering flexible and family friendly working practices – helping people to balance work and family life.

We have worked in partnership with NHS 24 to develop a long COVID information resource on NHS Inform, in order to provide people living with long COVID with clear and accessible guidance about self-management. This resource includes specific advice on navigating a return to work.

In delivering the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care, we worked in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders across Health and Social Care including the CoSLA as co-producers to agree the scope and content.

This included on-going engagement with representatives of the allied health professions via relevant senior professional advisers seconded to the Scottish Government, and through our staff and trades union partnership working.

On 8 February 2022 a draft of the Strategy was presented to the Professional Advisory Group, Chaired by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer with members representing Optometry and Audiology. Feedback from professionals at that meeting was subsequently incorporated into the draft Strategy, in anticipation of its subsequent publication.

Further stakeholder engagement will take place as we plan to publish yearly updates to the National Workforce Strategy. These will take into account progress and new developments, in support of its long-term ambition to deliver recovery, growth and service transformation.

The Scottish Government’s approach to zero emissions heat technologies is based on a wide range of evidence, including modelling of the suitability of different technologies across the whole Scottish housing stock, and consideration of wider energy system interactions.

We maintain an active Heat in Buildings Research Programme to identify gaps in our knowledge base and produce high-quality research to understand the challenges and solutions in the heat transition.

We have commissioned research to examine the potential of energy storage technologies to reduce running costs for households using zero emissions heat. The research considers how bill savings can be made by pairing storage technologies with onsite generation, and by storing off-peak electricity for later use. This research will be published in 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07563 on 22 April 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.