Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10431 on
‎ 6 September 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

To date Giardia has not been found in any beavers in Scotland, though targeted testing has been carried out on both live animals and carcasses in Tayside as well as in Knapdale.

Although beavers can carry this parasite the EPIC report published in 2017 points to other sources of environmental contamination being equally or more likely to be a source of Giardia infection. Humans, livestock and wild animals are all potential sources of Giardia. EPIC conclude ‘the reintroduction of beavers is likely to present a very small additional risk as the number of beavers excreting these organisms will be likely to be small relative to the large number of wild, domestic and livestock animals and humans which contribute to existing public health risk’.

NatureScot continue to carry out general health screening to ensure that beavers released under licence from NatureScot are not acting as a source of disease prior to any translocations.

We have no plans to introduce a regulatory body to provide guidelines to the operators and/or owners of retirement villages. Existing regulatory frameworks for property factors, planning, building standards already exist. Providers of housing and housing services in the private sector, including operators of retirement villages, are expected to comply with these regulations.

Table 1 – deaths from liver disease (K70 – K77) by SIMD Quintile 2019-2021

A Single Building Assessment will deliver a full assessment of fire risks on a building by building basis to highlight any issues related to fire safety including, but not limited to underground car parks and charging points.

The Cladding Remediation Unit was set up in June 2021 in the Local Government and Communities Directorate. The expenditure on staff whose primary role is to support the programme is:

a)

Core Scottish Government: 2021 - £241,280.00

Core Scottish Government: 2022 (until July) - £113,635.44

Interim contractors 2021 - £52,938.90

Interim contractors 2022 (until July) - £105,369.00

b) Since the start of the Single Building Assessment programme in June 2021 we have grant funded £432,613.63 to support 12 buildings who are currently undergoing assessment. We have a further £510,553 in committed spend to finish these buildings assessments and support 3 additional buildings in starting their assessments through the grant funding model. We have an additional 29 buildings where we will use procurement functions to hire fire engineers and access contractors to begin assessments.

Zero Waste Scotland strategy is to maximise the impact of investment in the circular economy and to partner across private and public sectors. This aims to leverage funding opportunities, and to increase co-investment and partnership models to support and to continue to deliver value across circular economy initiatives.

ZWS is also undertaking multi-party engagement with Scottish Government and Scottish Business Climate Collaboration (SBCC) which is 50:50 funded by public funds and SBCC and is working with several businesses to develop business cases for circular initiatives that will then be funded and delivered by companies themselves. In addition co-investment models have been developed with Social Investment Scotland to create a Net Zero Transition Fund for third sector organisations.

The Scottish Government works closely with the NHS to minimise vaccine wastage and reviews wastage statistics regularly. COVID-19 vaccine wastage data for Scotland is published by Public Health Scotland via both the COVID-19 Statistical Report and online dashboard which is updated on a monthly basis with the latest available information.

The published data includes a breakdown of vaccine doses wasted per month, the total number of doses administered, and additional analysis on the reasons behind this.

Since 1 September 2018, the Scottish Government has paid £344,825 to Communities Housing Trust to administer the national Self Build Loan Fund.

The Scottish Government remains committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030, working in partnership with Local Authorities, The Promise Scotland, third sector, health boards and importantly the care community.

On 30 March 2022 the Scottish Government published the Keeping The Promise Implementation Plan , setting out how it will Keep The Promise by 2030. The Plan contains over 80 actions which span over a range of areas including education, health, justice and child poverty.

The Plan sets out how we will work with care experienced people in our design, delivery and evaluation of Keeping The Promise. We will continue work with stakeholders and care experienced people on our journey to Keeping The Promise by 2030.