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While the Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, NHS Boards are responsible for delivering safe, effective, person-centred care at a local level.

The Scottish Government published the National Personal Footcare Guidance https://www.gov.scot/publications/personal-footcare-guidance/ , which sets out clearly the difference between personal footcare and clinical podiatry in NHS Scotland and offers help and support to individuals, carers and families in the provision of personal footcare, including older and at-risk people.

People with the most urgent clinical need are seen by a registered podiatrist to ensure they are prioritised for treatment, and those that require personal footcare are advised how to self-manage their footcare or are signposted to other more appropriate services. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, those with the most essential or urgent clinical podiatry needs continue to be seen. We are working with NHS Boards to remobilise and reform services, including the development of services across Scotland to support future service sustainability and addressing the backlog of treatment.

Michael Russell, the then Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs met with Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs on 14 January 2021 to discuss the Scotland Bilateral Review. Culture was one element of this meeting.

Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture met with Catherine Martin, Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on 8 March 2022.

Scottish Ministers attended the 36 th British Irish Council (BIC) Summit hosted by Welsh Government which had the theme of Indigenous Minority and Lesser-Used Languages. Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, attended a virtual work sector meeting on 17 November 2021, and Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister and Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy attended the Summit on 19 November, when Ms Forbes gave her update on economic recovery to the pandemic in Gaelic.

It is important, in line with the principle of healthcare being free at the point of use, that lateral flow device (LFD) tests should remain free of charge for any circumstance in which testing is required as part of clinical care.

The COVID-19 Strategic Framework Update, published on 22 February, sought input from public health specialists who support a move to focus on protecting those at highest clinical risk, supporting patient care and responding to outbreaks, as we move towards the endemic phase.

A transition plan setting out the next steps for Test and Protect in Scotland will be published later this month.

COVID-19 vaccines are procured on a four nations basis via the UK Vaccines Taskforce. As Scotland is not a member of the COVAX scheme, we are not in a position to share vaccines with our international development partner countries. We will continue to engage with the UK government on this matter.

On 8 December, the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister to urge the UK government to end its opposition at the World Trade Organisation and to join over 100 countries who are now supportive of a temporary Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights waiver.

We have also provided international development support to our partner countries to support their COVID-19 responses, including vaccine preparedness. This includes the following examples of relevant recent funding.

In December 2020, we provided £2 million to UNICEF to help vaccine distribution, roll-out and online healthcare education in our partner countries of Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia.

In September 2021, we provided £250,000 from our International Development Fund to leverage the provision to our partner countries of £11.2 million worth of PPE - our single biggest ever donation - to aid COVID-19 responses as part of our strategic response.

In February 2022, we provided £1.5 million to UNICEF to support equal access to COVID-19 vaccines in our partner countries. The funds will support vaccination programmes in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia, their provision of safe oxygen supplies, and help the agency deliver equipment, resources and technical support in response to the pandemic.

I have had regular discussions with the Chief Executive, NHS Lothian but have not specifically met with the Chief Officer, East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership to discuss the Edington Hospital in North Berwick.

On 17 January, I met with delegates from East Lothian and listened to their concerns about Edington Hospital and underlined that decisions about local provision are best made locally. The decision when to re-open Edington Hospital is to be made by NHS Lothian and East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership.

However, I expect any decision that is made to take into account the needs of the local population, and ensure an appropriate level of service are in place to meet those needs.

The Scottish Government meet with NHS 24 on a regular basis to ensure that it delivers its functions in accordance with Ministers’ policies and priorities; to provide strategic leadership; to ensure financial stewardship; and to hold Chief Executives, senior management team and Board to account.

The Scottish Government review all monthly Board papers to keep appraised of Board business and also hold Annual and Mid-year review meetings with NHS 24. Due to the increasing pressures Covid-19 has had on the Service, regular sponsorship engagement has increased significantly with daily and weekly discussions now taking place with the Boards Chief Executive along with regular performance reporting from NHS 24 which allows us to maintain a focus on performance against their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Yes.

This example scenario was developed with input from the Scottish Futures Trust, and drew on the costings that had already been developed for the Business Ventilation Fund with input from the expert Covid-19 Ventilation Short Life Working Group.

An undercut of a door was only one element of an example scenario set out in my letter to the Education, Children and Young People Committee, used to illustrate the appropriate level of overall additional funding that might be needed to tackle problematic spaces.

Inclusion of the potential for a door undercut in the example is fully in line with expert advice. This makes clear that undercuts (small gaps at the bottom of a door) allow air pressure to be equalised on each side of the door, to ensure that additional force on one side does not make the door difficult to open. This includes cases where the pressure increase caused by mechanical ventilation systems – another key element of the example scenario – could impair the normal safe operation of a door.

Scottish Government supports creating a sustainable quality culture across construction sector and protection of consumers is important. Although mandatory licensing is a reserved matter this is an issue we will raise with the construction sector to understand what the options in this area may be. We have also taken forward actions where we can to help consumers avoid rogue traders.

Although the regulation of consumer protection is the responsibility of the UK Government, under the Scotland Act 2016 the Scottish Government has acquired responsibility for consumer advice and advocacy. We are determined to do all we can to reduce impact from rogue traders on people living in Scotland, within the scope of our devolved powers. The Scottish Government has provided funding to the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to develop and promote an Approved Trader Directory which allows consumers anywhere in Scotland to find if there are any local authority vetted or checked traders in their area.

We understand the threat of rogue traders within the industry and would also point you towards the Strategic Framework within Scotland’s Scams Prevention, Awareness and Enforcement Strategy, published in 19 March 2021, which focusses on prevention, disruption, awareness, education and enforcement. This is intended to help all consumers with practical steps they can take to recognise common scam tactics and avoid the risk posed by this criminal activity.

Further advice can be obtained from consumeradvice.scot which is a free consumer helpline funded by the Scottish Government.

In addition, through the work of the Construction Leadership Forum, Scottish Government is also keen to see renewed focus on construction quality, including regulatory compliance, which will improve life-cycle value to clients and productivity of the industry.

The Scottish Government published Coronavirus (COVID-19): face covering and masks guidance which provides information on the requirement to wear face coverings (unless exempt) including enforcement measures.

Enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions is a matter for Police Scotland and any breaches of these regulations can be reported to Police Scotland directly.

The police have enforcement powers to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60 (halving to £30 if paid within 28 days) if members of the public do not comply with this law without a reasonable excuse. Officers have been asked to Engage, Explain, and Encourage with Enforcement only as a last resort.

We continue to keep the regulations and guidance under regular review.