Seòmar agus comataidhean

The pharmacy profession and provision of pharmaceutical care is regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, who assure and improve standards of care for people using pharmacy services. The Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care strategy, published in 2017, setting out the priorities, commitments, and actions for improving and integrating NHS pharmaceutical care in Scotland up to 2022. The strategy sets the direction for how pharmaceutical care would be delivered in Scotland and the crucial contribution of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, working together with other health and social care practitioners, to improve the health of the population and impact on health outcomes.

The Scottish Government provides baseline funding to NHS Boards and it is for Boards to determine how to use this funding to meet the healthcare needs of their resident population.

In 2021-22, Health funding exceeds £16 billion with £11.6 billion allocated to our frontline Health Boards. Our latest Budget takes funding for Health and Social Care to £18 billion for the first time, with £12.4 billion investment in our frontline health boards, representing additional investment of £387m (3.2%).

We continue to ensure that our health and care services receive the support that they need to address additional financial pressures resulting from Covid, including £862m provided to date in 2021-22.

Detail on how funding has been used specifically for diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial lung disease would require to be requested from NHS Boards.

We are working with owners and representatives to fund the Single Building Assessments in the pilot phase. All £97.1m received in consequentials will be spent on assessments and cladding remediation over the lifetime of the programme.

The Scottish Government funds Energy Saving Trust (EST) to deliver the EST E-bike Grant Fund. Grants provided to local authorities since 2018 are presented in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05094 on 5 January 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 lead investigators on the 9 projects funded through the long term effects of COVID-19 infection call were notified on 22nd December 2020 that their projects had been successful in obtaining funding.

Provisional funding letters were issued in January 2021, with the start of transfer of funds as per the payment profile dependent on the receipt by the Chief Scientist Office of a Start Certificate issued by the host institution Finance Office.

Start certificates were returned for all 9 projects, with confirmation of start dates for individual projects of between 01-02-21 and 01-05-2021.

Post award monitoring is through 6 and 12 month progress reports. In addition, a final report for each project is to be submitted on completion of the project. These final reports will be made publicly available on the Chief Scientist Office website.

The end dates for the 9 projects are:

COV/LTE/20/04 HUNT

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/06 PELL

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/08 SCULTHORPE

31.03.2023

COV/LTE/20/10 BERRY

31.01.2023

COV/LTE/20/15 SHEIKH

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/26 CARSON

31.03.2023

COV/LTE/20/28 LINDSAY

31.01.2023

COV/LTE/20/29 COOPER/DUNCAN

30.04.2023

COV/LTE/20/32 TORRANCE/GRANT

28.02.2023

For reference, details of the 9 above projects are available from the Chief Scientist Office website

Long Covid Call – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

We are working with operators to monitor the impact on service levels and changes in vacancy levels. My officials are also in regular contact with the Department for Transport regarding issues about delays to licence applications and driver testing, which have affected recruitment and training.

In addition, officials across the Scottish Government are working with the bus sector to facilitate solutions to workforce issues through the Labour and Skills Shortages Action Plan, and connecting Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) who are aware of opportunities in their areas with bus service operators (through the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT)).

Examples of good practice are being shared across the network of both LEPs and members of CPT to encourage more local level collaboration that matches the needs in each area. For example, all LEPs have been made aware of the successful recruitment fairs run for McGills/Xplore Dundee by Dundee LEP.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce – subject to consultation – regulations requiring Scotland’s homes and other buildings to meet EPC Band C equivalent, where that is technically feasible and cost effective. We also plan to regulate to ensure that buildings use zero emissions heating and cooling systems by 2045.

While the Strategy is clear that these regulations will apply to traditional and heritage buildings, we recognise that regulating and improving these buildings will present specific challenges and may require a bespoke approach. We will work with stakeholders including Historic Environment Scotland to consider what specific support and measures may be needed with respect to such buildings.

We plan to consult during 2022 on our proposals for regulating energy efficiency and zero emissions heating.

HIAL’s Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy (ATMS) is a long-term programme consisting of numerous different individual projects. Some of these projects include one or more procurement exercises. Across the programme as a whole some procurement exercises have concluded, some are ongoing and some have not started yet.

Following the announcement of the joint agreement between HIAL and Prospect to establish a new way forward, HIAL contacted those companies involved in the Remote Tower procurement to confirm that the tender exercise had been cancelled. HIAL felt it would be inappropriate and unfair to expect tenderers to remain engaged in the procurement process in circumstances where the timescale for, and scope and extent of possible future remote air traffic provision is unclear.

Whilst currently closed to new applications, Places for Everyone continues to fund over 250 projects as they progress through stages of development. Officials have met regularly with Sustrans to ensure these existing projects maintain momentum, and also plan for new projects. Sustrans has confirmed that they will re-open for new applications by Summer 2022.