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I know that many rural households, living in off gas grid areas and reliant on heating oil, are likely to be facing difficulties as the price of kerosene has soared in recent months. We are doing all we can within our powers to assist those worst affected and have recently allocated a further £10 million to our Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF). The FIF is delivered through trusted third sector partners including the Fuel Bank Foundation and Advice Direct Scotland, who administer our Home Heating Support Fund. Both these organisations are able to provide direct assistance to households who rely upon solid, or liquid fuels such as kerosene, for their heating.

Following on from recent discussions with the heating oil trade body, UKIFDA, my officials have engaged with the UK Government to raise concerns about the recent unprecedented rises in heating fuel costs for off-gas-grid customers in parts of Scotland. However the UK Government has indicated that there are no plans to regulate the sector.

Our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is an important part of our response to the global climate emergency and the member is right that our scheme will be ambitious by international standards. The implementation date of 16 August 2023 was determined after extensive industry engagement and based on feedback from an independent Gateway Review and we consider it to strike the right balance between being stretching and also being deliverable .

Our best and final estimate of the number of reverse vending machines (RVMs) that will be required to operate Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is 3,021, as set out in Table 2 of the amended final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) published on 15 December 2021. At the time of drafting the amended final BRIA, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) confirmed that this matched their estimate.

We have had no further discussions with CSL regarding any estimated numbers of RVMs since that time and do not recognise the figure of around 5,000. Although it is entirely appropriate for CSL to continue to update its own assumptions regarding key parameters for DRS, our best and final estimate prior to implementation remains unchanged and we have no intention to further revisit the amended final BRIA.

A directors letter (DL) was issued by Chief Nursing Officer on 31 March regarding the de-escalation of enhanced IPC measures as we now observe that harms associated with reduced elective services within NHS Scotland are now outweighing COVID-19 harms. The DL outlined the removal of guidance on physical distancing and car sharing as well as changes to the types of COVID-19 tests that are available for patient use.

NSS ARHAI Scotland are also undertaking a gap analysis across the current Scottish Winter (21/22), Respiratory Infections in Health and Care Settings Addendum and the National Infection, Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM). This analysis will highlight which COVID-19 specific aspects of the winter respiratory guidance, require to be retained and carried over into the NIPCM. This work is envisaged to be completed in early May.

On 11 March we published the National Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy.

As part of the strategy, we have committed to taking forward specific actions to improve how we gather, use and assess NHS Workforce data. This includes taking steps to improve the demographic data we collect and the analysis we undertake of data obtained at different geographic levels within our health and social care system.

The strategy further commits us to taking forward complementary actions to improve workforce planning capacity and capability within our health boards and health and social care partnerships (HSCPs).

New guidance has already been communicated to health boards and HSCPs to support the production of demand-led 3-year workforce plans, supported by local systems’ workforce data. Later this year we will also publish new staffing projections for health and social care.

Complementary data systems and data improvement work is taking place, as part of the Implementation Programme being established to support delivery of the Workforce Strategy. We have undertaken to publish annual updates outlining progress with the strategy’s implementation, in support of our tri-partite ambition to achieve long-term workforce sustainability through recovery, growth and service transformation.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the wider physical and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through the following initiatives:

? Scottish Health Survey - This survey monitors physical and mental health in the Scottish population. The latest published results are based on the telephone survey conducted in 2020. The results of the 2021 survey will be published in November 2022.

? Scottish COVID-19 Mental Health Tracker Study - This study measured the mental health and wellbeing impacts of the pandemic on Scottish adults. The latest phase, covering Summer 2021, was published on 24 February 2022.

? COVID-19 wider impacts on the healthcare system - This dashboard, published by Public Health Scotland, shows activity trends across areas of the healthcare system including Cardiovascular, Cancer and Mental Health services.

? YouGov online polling - Opinion polling continues on Scottish adults around once a month. Throughout the pandemic questions have been asked regarding concerns about mental health and loneliness.

? COVID-19 burden of disease - The Scottish burden of disease study looks to estimate the overall impact, and inequalities in the impact, of COVID-19 on public health measures.

Public Health Scotland also continue to publish on their website a wide range of research and statistics which will help to monitor areas of physical and mental health as time progresses.

Over the next few years each project will go through project development and consenting processes, respond to geographical and technological requirements, and find a route to market. There are several variables to be considered across these processes, including aspects such as grid connection and the impact of offshore wind developments on various environmental receptors.

To add to my response of 31 March 2022, it is not possible at this stage to predict how long each of the 17 ScotWind projects awarded lease options will take to pass through the project development and consenting process, achieve connections to the onshore grid network and subsequently to undergo construction. For each project this is a complex and multi-faceted process involving a number of variables, including the iterative review of offshore wind planning assumptions, impacts arising from environmental assessments, consultative processes, investment decisions with regard to supporting supply chain activity, success in securing power supply agreements though the Contracts for Difference regime, and potential challenges to be addressed in design and construction with regard to physical conditions and the application of innovative floating wind technologies being pioneered at GW scale in a number of projects. These variables are dynamic and are capable of affecting the size and nature of projects as well as the speed at which they will progress. Their impact cannot be predicted with accuracy at this stage.

Forward planning with regard to potential generating capacity, which may be expected from ScotWind and other offshore renewables developments, informs our thinking and is continually reviewed. This type of forward planning will next be reflected in the Government’s Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan due to be published for consultation this autumn.

On 17 March Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) announced their plan to close a number of back-office sites across the UK and collocate others. The Scottish Government was not consulted prior to the announcement, however, have subsequently contacted DWP to gain an understanding of the impact of this change. DWP outlined they do not intend to reduce staff headcount through this change process. Should the situation change, the Scottish Government stands ready to provide the support necessary including through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, (PACE), which provides individual skills development and employability support.

( a) The information requested is not held centrally.

(b) The Scottish Government recognises that accurate data on long COVID prevalence and symptoms is needed to forecast and plan for the need for healthcare services arising from long COVID. Public Health Scotland will lead on surveillance of long COVID. It is currently anticipated that this surveillance will be undertaken via the EAVE II study, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh ( About EAVE II | The University of Edinburgh ). Funded by the Medical Research Council, the EAVE II study has used a pseudonymised patient dataset to track the COVID-19 pandemic across Scotland. In a separate project funded by the Chief Scientist Office, the EAVE II dataset will be used to create a tool to identify people at greatest risk of developing long COVID. The findings will in due course provide information about the number of people diagnosed with long COVID and their use of health services, including among residents of care homes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07984 on 29 April 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