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Energy policy and markets remain reserved to Westminster, as do the majority of tax levers. We have called repeatedly on the UK Government to consider all options to help those affected by increased utility bills, including a temporary cut in VAT on energy bills, but to no avail. However, we will continue to push for four-nations discussions to develop an effective response to energy bill increases and press for changes to help those in need, as well as calling for the devolution of the powers to make those changes ourselves if the UK Government refuses to act.

The Scottish Government operates a water and sewerage charges exemption scheme for eligible small charities. The charity must be registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator and have an income below £300,000. Charities should contact their licensed provider in order to apply for the scheme. Additionally, Business Energy Scotland will be delivered by Energy Saving Trust (EST) from 1 April, as part of EST’s extensive advice and support offerings delivered on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has committed to provide at least £465 million of funding over this parliamentary session to support fuel poor households. This figure was set with the aim to provide - at a minimum – a funding level for those in fuel poverty and least able to pay which at least maintains previous levels, with the flexibility to be responsive to the needs of those in fuel poverty so we can mitigate any detrimental impacts of the heat transition on fuel poverty and ensure no-one is left behind.

Our long-standing fuel poverty programmes have already supported over 150,000 households in or at risk of fuel poverty. In 2021-22, we allocated a considerably increased level of funding (£50m) for our Warmer Homes Scotland fuel poverty programme and in 2022-23 will further increase this to £55m. In 2022-23 we will also increase the level of funding individual fuel poor households could benefit from through the £64m local authority-led Area Based Schemes.

The Scottish Government’s investment has also helped to secure Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding and we would hope to continue to do so. ECO is a UK Government scheme that delivers energy efficiency measures to fuel poor households and is funded by energy suppliers through a levy on energy bills.

Scotland has benefitted from approximately £691 million since the scheme began in 2013. If Scotland maintains its current share of ECO delivery (9%), then we would expect to benefit from a further £360 million over the lifetime of the new ECO4 scheme (from April 2022 to March 2026).

We have not yet calculated the impact of the April 2022 rise of the fuel price cap on the cost of raising households to EPC C.

The Fuel Poverty Strategy Technical Annex ( Supporting documents - Tackling fuel poverty in Scotland: a strategic approach - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )published in December 2021 sets outs the estimated cost of retrofitting fuel poor households to meet EPC C under different scenarios.

Scottish Government analysis of the impact of the rise in the fuel price cap suggests that the proportion of households in fuel poverty in Scotland could increase to between 807,000 (32.3%) and 831,000 households (33.3%). The higher number of households in fuel poverty would therefore lead to an overall increase in the total cost for these households to reach EPC C.

Scottish Government is in the process of commissioning work which will consider revision to the EPC metrics and which in part will estimate the total cost of raising dwellings’ energy efficiency rating to meet energy efficiency targets.

Our Fuel Poverty Strategy contains a comprehensive range of actions addressing all four drivers of fuel poverty, We will keep progress towards the fuel poverty targets under review and will report every 3 years. If we consider that we need to change our approach to ensure that the targets are met, we will revise the Strategy.

To ensure that we meet our ambitious targets, we will continue to monitor rates of fuel poverty and, working with the independent Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, we will develop an outcomes framework to assess the impact of our work.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and person-centred.

While the NHS Recovery Plan is not condition specific, the aim is to effect whole system recovery and support prioritisation and planning. In that respect we would expect this to directly affect neurology services and the experience and outcomes for people with neurological condition, including MS.

There is a commitment to update on the progress of the plan on an annual basis and to review the strategic plan. Work on the first annual review will commence shortly and is expected to be published in the summer of 2022.

In 2019, we published a Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action . The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care services, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care for people with neurological conditions.

Through implementation of the framework, we have awarded £1.4m since October 2020 to fund innovative projects working to achieve better outcomes for people living with neurological conditions. Over £300,000 of this has been committed to projects which improve the health and wellbeing of people with MS in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have used the data from the 2019 Scottish House Condition Survey to estimate the likely impact of energy price increases since 2019 on fuel poverty. This has been done by increasing modelled fuel bills in line with increases in the Ofgem price cap for the average dual fuel bill. This was based on an increase of 71% over the weighted average price caps in 2019 of £1,170 to an anticipated price cap of £2,000 in April 2022.

The analysis indicates that between 807,000 (32.3%) and 831,000 households (33.3%) could now be in fuel poverty as a result of the April 2022 price cap.

The analysis accounts for the mitigations announced by the Scottish and UK Governments in response to the April 2022 price cap increase, namely the UK Government’s £200 energy bill rebate and the Scottish Government’s £150 council tax credit for those in council tax bands A to D or in receipt of council tax reduction. The range provided depends on whether the Scottish Government’s £150 council tax credit is treated as a reduction to fuel bills or an increase in incomes, which are calculated differently within the fuel poverty definition.

Whilst the Scottish Government is provided with management information on the scheduled capacity of the contact tracing element of Test and Protect only, the management of the workforce including all recruitment to the Test and Protect service throughout the pandemic has been managed by individual employers, not the Scottish Government directly.

External contractors who have supported the Test and Protect system consist of: those who have supplemented the core and fixed-term workforce and have been recruited by NHS National Services Scotland for the National Contact Centre; and those appointed by the UK Government to support contracts associated with testing. The Scottish Government was not directly involved in the process to recruit or manage either of these groups of contractors and therefore does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government is actively working with NHS Health Boards, Local Authorities and private employers to understand the exact current number of staff employed across Test and Protect which at the moment is more than 7,000. This exercise will allow us to ensure we maximise our support to each individual member of staff to sustain employment with their current employer to have access to support to move to other opportunities across the public or private sector.

In line with the timescales set out in the Test and Protect Transition Plan published on 15 March, we are in the process of engaging across the Test and Protect system to identify future resource needs.

Data on local authority debt are published as part of the annual Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics (SLGFS). The latest available data is from SLGFS 2020-21 which was published on 22 March 2022. Figures on General Fund debt by local authority at 31 March 2021, including figures per person, are provided in Table F of the 'Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics (SLGFS) 2020-21 - Additional Analysis - Capital' supporting excel file which can be downloaded at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-local-government-finance-statistics-slgfs-2020-21/documents/ .

From the 26 July to the 31 December 2021, there were 25 instances where a client submitted more than one application, accounting for 50 applications in total. Of these 50 applications, 20 have been withdrawn and five have been denied.

Scottish Government officials have had initial discussions with the UK Government, and other administrations regarding continued support for the survivors of Thalidomide in Scotland. Officials also continue to engage with the Thalidomide Trust to discuss future funding, with a further meeting scheduled next month.