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I have received a response from Chloe Smith, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, to my letter of 5 January 2022 on the delivery of the roll-out of the extension of Scottish Child Payment to 6-15 year olds. That response confirms the Department for Work and Pensions’ commitment to “an agreed approach to the provision of the data which supports [the Scottish Government’s] proposed delivery timeline”.

That timeline is that the extension of Scottish Child Payment to 6-15 year olds will begin from the end of 2022.

The strong preference of the Scottish Government has consistently been to extend the existing interfaces, which are currently in place to support delivery of the Scottish Child Payment for under 6s, but the DWP’s position is that we should build to align with their new strategic solution. This carries a higher degree of risk to our delivery timeline, as the DWP’s new strategic solution is still in the design phase, but we have an agreed joint plan in place to monitor and track that risk.

Our officials continue to work closely to ensure the implementation of the required technical approach and Ministers will meet in due course to review progress.

Once the new standard comes into force, the Scottish Government will collect data on fire alarms in Scottish homes in future iterations of the Scottish House Condition Survey. Following the Scottish Government’s mass media awareness campaign in 2021, we know there are high levels of awareness and home-owners will have taken steps to fit the necessary alarms.

Information on the number of homes that have interlinked fire alarms is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey. This standard has already applied to private rented homes and new build homes for over a decade. Social landlords also have a programme of works underway to ensure their tenants have the necessary alarms fitted.

ScotRail’s May 2022 timetable, benefiting from careful consideration of the consultation feedback, is significantly better than the May 2021 timetable, with 150 more services per day. The aim is to build weekday passenger capacity to more than 590,000 seats, ensuring ScotRail Trains Ltd operate a more sustainable and more robust financial footing.

The information requested is shown in the following table for 2018-19 to 2020-21, the latest complete financial year available.

Data for 2020-21 demonstrates that NHS Board allocations slightly exceeded the original planned budget, the balance of which was off-set by other mental health programme budgets.

The approach to face coverings for choirs is grounded in evidence and draws on the expert advice which reflects the unique features of the activity and the environments. This is because the virus spreads when an infected person talks, sings or even breathes heavily, and droplets and aerosols from their mouth or nose are launched into the air. At this stage of the pandemic many of the more intrusive restrictions have been lifted, but the virus and the harms that it causes have not gone away. We still continue to see hospital admissions and deaths as a result of COVID and the impacts of long COVID can be significant. That is why it remains important to maximise the use of the remaining measures such as face coverings.

Performers can of course temporarily remove their face covering in some limited indoor situations if other steps are taken. For example, when they are performing or rehearsing they can remove their face covering if they are separated from others by a distance of at least one metre or by a screen or partition.

Our interim experimental summary of COVID-19 business support funding paid by local authority between November 2020 and June 2021 shows businesses in Stirling have received approximately £36.4m in direct business support.

Prior to November 2020, an additional £24.7m was administered by Stirling Council to businesses in Stirling through the October Circuit breaker, Newly Self-employed Hardship Fund, Bed and Breakfast hardship fund, Small Business Grant Scheme and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grant Scheme. A further £4m was provided through the Pivotal Enterprises Resilience Fund and Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Fund. This brings the total provided to £65.1m, however it is important to note this does not cover all funding to date and as such the overall figure for business in Stirling will be higher. Further detail of funding is available on the Scottish Government website:

Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding interim experimental statistics - by local authority and scheme from November 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

o   Coronavirus (COVID-19) - business support funding: statistics (circuit breaker) – 29 January 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

o   Coronavirus (COVID-19): hardship and resilience funds statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

It is for Health Boards and GP practices to determine appropriate staffing levels in line with local population needs. GP - patient ratios will vary across practices depending on geography, population density and staff availability.

Patient and GP population data can be accessed via

General Practice | GP Workforce & Practice populations | Health Topics | ISD Scotland .

The Scottish Government does not recommend a GP-patient ratio. It is for Health Boards and GP practices to determine appropriate staffing levels.

There are more GPs per 100,000 population in Scotland than the rest of the UK, with 95 for every 100,000 people (Sep-21), compared with 78 in England (Sep-21), 76 in Wales (Sep-21) and 74 in Northern Ireland (Mar-21).

Flu vaccinations were paused in December 2021 to allow the NHS to address the immediate challenge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Local health boards are now offering flu vaccinations to those who are eligible, with uptake of flu vaccines among over 65s at 90.1%, which is already higher than the previous year.

Those who are aged 70 years or over will be contacted by their health board about their appointment by letter or telephone call. Those aged 65 to 69 years will be contacted by their health board by letter about their appointment.

Our focus remains on protecting people based on clinical need, medical advice, and evidence. On that basis, other healthy people aged 50 to 64 years generally will no longer receive the flu vaccine this season. Anyone unsure whether they are eligible should check with their local health board, and can find more information about flu vaccination on NHS Inform The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

Anyone who is eligible and would like to receive a flu vaccine can do so by checking How to get your flu vaccine | The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . If the appointment received is not suitable, individuals can rearrange their appointment at Rearrange your flu vaccine appointment | The flu vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise that those eligible can get vaccinated at participating NHS community pharmacies.

We will explore and consult, as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan, on pathways to zero/low emission ferry transport, learning from experience in other countries and on other modes.

In the short-term, there are possibilities for replacing smaller CalMac vessels operating on the shorter routes with low or zero emission vessels and this is being explored as part of the current Small Vessel Replacement Programme. Our current commitment is to have 30% of the fleet low or zero carbon by 2032.

However, the technology required for larger vessels has not yet reached a proven stage to allow it to be commercially available. We are however able to achieve greater efficiency through the delivery of new vessels with modern hull designs. For example on Islay this will deliver approximately 31% lower emissions than the MV Finlaggan currently operating on the route.