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To date, Scottish Ministers have had no formal discussions with the survivors or stakeholders involved in the allegations of abuse at Fornethy House Residential School. The abuse of children in all circumstances and settings is wrong, and the Scottish Government takes this abuse very seriously.

Scottish Government officials have exchanged correspondence with a number of members of the Fornethy House Residential School Survivors Group in relation to the eligibility criteria of Scotland’s Redress Scheme. As the circumstances in which individuals came to be at Fornethy may vary, it is not possible to determine eligibility for the group as a whole.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all survivors of childhood abuse. Through the Scottish Government’s Survivors of Childhood Abuse Support (SOCAS) Fund, 29 organisations across Scotland are funded to provide support to adult survivors of childhood abuse including (but not exclusive to) those who have been abused in care.

The safety of all vaccines and medicines is monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on a UK-wide basis. This includes reports from the Yellow Card Scheme which allows health professionals and patients across the UK to flag up suspected adverse reactions to any vaccine or medicine, as well as reports from worldwide use and on-going scientific evidence.

The MHRA has a range of resources and technology to support the safety monitoring of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. The use of artificial intelligence is one element of that and helps to reduce the amount of manual coding for each report to the Yellow Card Scheme on COVID-19 vaccines, thereby saving resource in processing cases and ensuring they are more rapidly available for scientific analysis. The tool is not used for assessment of data, but to help ensure that all information from reports is well structured to support analysis and is subject to robust quality assessment.

Concerns over the safety of vaccines are not taken lightly. Please be assured that the MHRA keep the safety of all vaccines under close and continual review, and would take appropriate regulatory action if new evidence emerged which called into question the safety of any vaccines currently in use in Scotland.

Expert advice from bodies including SAGE and the Health and Safety Executive indicates that air cleaning/filtration devices, such as HEPA filters, are not a substitute for efforts to improve ventilation in order to mitigate against the risks of COVID. Our guidance for schools reflects this advice, and makes clear that air cleaning/filtration devices should not be used as a substitute for natural or mechanical ventilation (including the opening of windows and doors).

Our updated guidance for schools does, however, make clear that air cleaning/filtration devices may be used as a temporary mitigation in exceptional circumstances when no other mitigations are achievable, while working to achieve a more sustainable solution.

The Scottish Government keeps its guidance under regular review in light of the latest expert advice, and will consider any necessary updates as research and evidence evolve.

Proof of recovery status was added to the international page of the Covid Status app on 9 January. This is the easiest way for someone to demonstrate they have had Covid in the previous 180 days when travelling to countries where certification is required.

In the absence of the app, the text or email message the person received from test and protect when they tested positive can be used as an alternative way of demonstrating the date they tested positive for Covid.

We are currently exploring other non-digital alternatives for proof of recovery certification for those unable to use the app.

Each country has its own guidance and requirements in relation to proof of Covid-19 status and vaccinations and we would urge people to refer to the relevant countries’ guidance on gov.uk before travelling.

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact the necessary public health restrictions has had on businesses, including tanning salon operators.

We recently announced £375m of support for businesses impacted by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron and have provided details on how £266m of this will be allocated. This includes £19m for close contact businesses.

This £19m for close contact businesses is targeted at those who have been the most affected by the updated public health guidance introduced from 9 December 2021 to 24 January 2022. Beauty services, hairdressers and wellness services that provide spray and application tanning are eligible, however retail businesses utilising sunbeds are not in scope at this stage.

Decisions on the allocation of the remaining funds will be confirmed following further analysis and consultation with affected sectors on how it can best be targeted.

We have been proactive in our approach to minimising carbon emissions associated with the City Region and Growth Deals programme, taking expert advice from industry on the latest national and international best practice. We have now rolled out our innovative carbon management guidance across all 12 Deals. This is an ongoing and proactive carbon management process, facilitated by our dedicated Deals Sustainable Development Manager. Support and training is being provided to all regional partners to ensure the guidance is correctly applied, and that carbon emissions are minimised in accordance with best practice.

The purpose of setting a six week period is to balance the need to ensure that decisions can be dealt with as quickly as possible, with providing applicant’s sufficient time to seek supporting information, or to request help from Social Security Scotland to obtain this information. It also means that there is an up-to-date record of the individual’s care and mobility needs, which Social Security Scotland might not otherwise have if the application is not completed until a much later date.

It is clear on the application form, in our communications and guidance that if an applicant has any difficulty completing the application within the six week period, they should tell Social Security Scotland. If the applicant has good reason for not meeting the deadline, Social Security Scotland can extend this time period for up to 52 weeks. If Social Security Scotland does not accept the reasons for the late completion, the individual has the right to request a re-determination in relation to the start date of assistance.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes monthly statistics relating to the number of cancelled planned operations at health board level, a summary of which is available the following link:

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/

The latest statistics published cover the period up to 30 November 2021 and the percentage of planned operations that were cancelled each month from March 2020 onwards can be found within the tab ‘Publication table (%)’ in the table below

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/11000/2022-01-11-cancellations.xlsx

These statistics are sourced from local theatre systems and only includes cancellations that were cancelled the day before, or on the day the patient was due to be treated. PHS does not collect information on cancellations that occur prior to this.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is reserved to the UK Government. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes an estimate of ESA and other income-related benefits every six months, at a UK-wide level only. The latest figures published (covering 2018-2019) show that 94% of the total amount of Income Support or Income-related ESA that could have been claimed was claimed. On 8 July 2021 the DWP published their final update on cases that were potentially affected by underpayments of Employment and Support Allowance on transition from Incapacity Benefit. This information is also at UK-wide level, and shows that the UK Government has paid £613 million to those affected by the move from Incapacity Benefit to ESA.

The Scottish Government will bring forward a prospectus for an independent Scotland, including the arrangements for a central bank, in good time before the independence referendum to allow people to make an informed choice over their future.