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This was one of the most fiscally challenging Scottish Budgets to date, with efficiencies having to be found across a number of portfolios. The budget allocation to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) should be seen in that context.

The SDS budget allocation includes Grant in-Aid for programme delivery and programme liabilities, which fluctuate depending on the numbers of people in training. The allocation also covers operational and staffing costs.

In 2021-22, the SDS budget allocation included around £8m for the continued delivery of programmes created as a response to COVID-19 which we do not expect will be continuing at the same levels in 2022/23.

We are working with SDS to finalise the details of their budget approach in 2022-23. This will ensure continued provision against Ministerial priorities and prioritise the delivery of training and learning opportunities.

We recognise that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our NHS including diabetes services. We took the opportunity to reflect on these challenges as we determined the priorities for our Diabetes Improvement Plan refresh, which was published in February 2021.

On 25 August 2021 we launched our NHS Recovery Plan which is backed by more than £1bn of investment over the next five years. The plan takes forward our aim of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% as quickly as possible in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs for people across the country.

We know this is a difficult time for travel agents and we have had to make tough decisions to target funding to sectors immediately impacted by the updated public health guidance.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefitted from more than £4.4bn in support from the Scottish Government. This includes support for travel agents who benefited from sectoral grants of up to £25,000 per premises this year in addition to other support including the Strategic Framework Business Fund grants, Restart Grants, Contingency Fund, Non-Domestic Rates relief and furlough payments for staff.

We recently announced £375m of support for businesses impacted by the necessary public health measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron and have provided details on how £276 million of this will be allocated. Decisions on the allocation of the remaining funds will be confirmed following further consultation with affected sectors on how it can best be targeted.

The Scottish Government used a range of sources of evidence when determining the latest isolation policy changes including data on various key aspects of the pandemic including vaccination rates; clinical advice from senior clinicians including the Chief Medical Officer, PHS public health clinicians, the National Incident Management Team and UKHSA analysis.

In addition, the Scottish Government considered the effects on key workforces and service, including health and social care, of retaining the same isolation policy.

Operation Wingspan, a Police Scotland led partnership operation which ran from October 2020 – October 2021, was a year-long commitment to raising awareness of wildlife crime priorities, including hare coursing. Police Scotland also contributed to Operation Galileo in 2021, a UK wide hare coursing operation.

In the summer and autumn months of 2021, Police Scotland wildlife crime operations focused on hare coursing and poaching. This included a social media campaign, work with key stakeholders and awareness raising with local police stations.

Police Scotland is providing relevant training to 60 existing police officers which will enable them to undertake Wildlife Crime Officer duties on a part-time basis, ancillary to their core role.

A number of actions were taken in the Mid Scotland and Fife region including information on hare coursing being distributed to the farming community encouraging members to report incidents of hare coursing and advising them how to note key evidence in a safe manner. Wildlife crime officers and roads policing officers also conducted intelligence-led stops of vehicles and proactive patrols of hare coursing hot spots.

The Scottish Government provides a range of centrally funded procurement best practice tools that are continually updated to reflect changes in legislation (such as VAT), introduction of new policy outcomes (such as Climate Change, Fair Work, Innovation and Prompt Payment) and improvements across procurement processes and procedures (such as Contract and Supplier management). Both the Procurement Journey and the Supplier Journey have been refreshed after wide consultation with public sector buyers and suppliers and are extensively used, not only by public sector buyers and suppliers across Scotland, but across the rest of the UK and internationally. The Procurement and Commercial Improvement Plan (PCIP), which assesses public sector bodies procurement capability and capacity, has been through an extensive review phase, with public sector buyers, to ensure that it includes enhanced support and guidance that promotes best practice procurement standards.

The Scottish Government has announced £375m of business support to support businesses in the sectors most affected by the restrictions and guidance to control the spread of Omicron. This includes £6m for the most directly affected businesses in the tourism sector including inbound tour operators, day tour operators, coach operators, hostels, visitor attractions and marine/outdoor. Guidance on this funding and other funds is available on Financial support for businesses - News | VisitScotland.org and findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

We have had to make tough decisions to target funding to sectors immediately impacted by the updated public health guidance. Decisions on the allocation of the remaining funds will be confirmed following further consultation with affected sectors on how it can best be targeted.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has not yet made a recommendation on the use of self-sampling in the national cervical screening programme. However the UK NSC continues to gather and evaluate evidence on the matter. Scotland is playing an active part in evaluating the benefits of self-sampling, through a study in NHS Dumfries and Galloway. We are taking the necessary steps to ensure that we can roll it out as soon as possible once a recommendation is made. Patient safety is our top priority and we will not act until we are assured it is safe to do so.

Marine Scotland – Licensing Operations Team (“MS-LOT”) has recently received the written report from Seagreen Wind Energy Limited in respect of unexploded ordnance clearance activities. MS-LOT is currently conducting a review of the report and will publish on its website (marine.gov.scot) once this review is complete.

As part of a Transportation Noise Action Plan, five soundproofing barriers were constructed in 2020 at priority areas for noise management. We are currently developing proposals for further barriers where practicable at noise management areas on the network. This includes locations on the M8 such as Riddrie, where the next step is to complete environmental investigations.

Transport Scotland has also engaged extensively with Glasgow City Council’s consultants on proposals to cover the M8 between Junctions 17 and 19. The level difference between the M8 and adjacent roads varies significantly due to the M8 crossing the railway near Charing Cross Station. The Council’s proposal was for a cover to be constructed at the same level as the adjacent roads; however, for the majority of the section there is insufficient headroom. Transport Scotland will continue to participate in discussions regarding this section of the M8, both on the feasibility of proposed solutions and how the desired outcomes would contribute to shared objectives.