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From 6 September 2021, the Scottish Government funded support schemes Warmer Homes Scotland, Area Based Schemes or Home Energy Scotland Loans have no longer been accepting new applications for oil and LPG boilers. All committed offers for these schemes signed prior to 6 September 2021 will be honoured and receive their installations/loans. Households eligible for assistance under Warmer Homes Scotland will be offered low-carbon alternatives, where these are technically appropriate for the property. These include High Heat Retention Heating Systems, Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Micro-hydro and Micro-wind systems. Since April 2021 our Area Based Schemes have included additional funding to provide low carbon and micro-generation measures as part of a whole house approach.

The Scottish Government is committed to phasing out the need to install new or replacement fossil fuel boilers, in off gas areas from 2025 and in on gas areas from 2030, subject to technological developments and decisions by the UK Government in reserved areas. We will introduce primary legislation, subject to consultation and to limits on devolved competence, that will provide the regulatory framework for the zero emissions heating systems which will replace fossil fuel boilers, with all buildings needing to meet this standard no later than 2045. That proposed legislation will be accompanied by required impact assessments and allow for proper parliamentary scrutiny of these impacts.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy was accompanied by a series of impact assessments. As we take forward the actions within the Heat in Buildings Strategy, we will ensure the issues highlighted through impact assessments are considered in the design of delivery programmes and development of further policy and regulation.

In line with Scottish Government guidance, any legislation or further policy development required to fulfil the actions within the Strategy will be subject to a range of further impact assessments. We will consult on our proposals to regulate for zero emissions heat later in 2022.

On 2 September 2021 the Scottish Government published the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland. This non-statutory guidance describes the responsibilities and expectations of everyone who works with, or comes into contact with children and young people, families and carers in Scotland. The key role of the education workforce in protecting children is affirmed and strengthened by the inclusion of education staff in all references to multi-agency arrangements.

Following publication, local authority schools, Grant Aided Special Schools and independent schools will review and update their procedures in line with the national guidance.

A National Child Protection Guidance Implementation Group has been established to support implementation over the next 18-24 months. Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland are both represented on the group, which will also engage with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools to support all schools with implementation of the guidance over the coming months.

Whilst the use of powered transporters and decisions around their introduction and associated legislative changes are primarily a matter for the UK Government, additional legislation and associated guidance would be required in Scotland to allow trials to take place.

This was not factored in to the timescale for the trials programme originally set by the Department for Transport (DfT), and as a result the trials currently taking place in England could not be hosted by Scottish local authorities.

The UK Government has signalled its intention to publish proposals in 2022 for potential further legalisation of e-scooters beyond the current trials. The Scottish Government is engaged with the DfT policy team responsible for the e-scooter trial and once more is known, we will consider any such proposals and continue to monitor trends as a matter of course in order to inform future policy on e-scooters.

The 2021-22 Programme for Government committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children, and start to pilot this provision. In order to effectively deliver this universal breakfast offer we need to better understand the extent of current breakfast provision across local authorities, including a mixed model of in-school, private and voluntary provision of breakfast, often delivered alongside early morning childcare. The priority this year will be to map existing breakfast provision and plan what delivery of a future breakfast offer should look like to best meet the needs of children and families in Scotland. It will be important to combine the provision of breakfast with the provision of childcare – where it is appropriate to do so – recognising the importance of accessible childcare at the beginning of the day to enable parents and carers to enter and sustain employment. To understand this need, we will ask our People Panel for school age childcare what children and families want and need from a breakfast offer combined with childcare and consider how this can best be delivered.

Electric scooters (e-scooters) are illegal to ride on streets and in other public places across Scotland due to a number of pieces of UK-wide and Scottish legislation. E-scooters can only be ridden legally on private land with the owner’s permission.

The UK Government has signalled its intention to publish proposals in 2022 for potential further legalisation of e-scooters beyond the current trials in England. The Scottish Government is engaged with the UK Government in this regard and once more is known, we will consider any such proposals in order to inform future policy on e-scooters.

Enforcement of the law is a matter for Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with the General Teaching Council for Scotland on a wide range of topics, including child protection and safeguarding. I also refer the member to the answer given to S6W-05202 on 17 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

Bus service providers and passenger representatives regularly inform us about the additional pressures placed on the bus industry by the COVID-19 pandemic which are compounded by the ongoing consequences of EU EXIT.

We also receive data on driver shortages in Scotland from ongoing Department for Transport bus operator surveys and Transport Scotland is conducting its own monitoring exercise to gather information specifically on COVID-related absences.

We have provided support to the aviation sector within the powers available to us. We are providing 100% non-domestic rates relief for the sector for 2021-22. As the owner of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) we continue to provide HIAL with the funding required to maintain operations while their commercial revenue recovers.

Scotland’s chemicals, oil refining and manufacturing sectors - to which the Grangemouth region is the main contributor - employs c.7,000 people and contributes an annual GVA of over £800m. However, with that economic strength also comes 30% of all Scottish industrial emissions. A specific focus on Grangemouth is therefore key to achieving a net-zero economy by 2045, and getting this right will be crucial if we are to deliver a Just Transition, not only for the region, but for Scotland as a whole. Futureproofing this vital industrial hub will help support a long-term, sustainable future for Grangemouth.

The Grangemouth Future Industry Board, of which Falkirk Council is a key partner, was established in 2020 in recognition of this. The Board brings together public sector leaders in order to unlock potential investment that boosts the economic development, innovation, and competitiveness of the site, with decarbonisation and just transition at the heart of everything it does. Just Transition has been a topic of Board discussions during the last year, and minutes of these meetings can be found on the Scottish Government’s website.

The Board’s focus has been on the best ways to support the delivery of a Just Transition for the industrial cluster as a whole. Delivering a successful Just Transition will require the input of all who will be affected. The Grangemouth Future Industry Board will be engaging with both industry and wider interest groups across the coming year to understand how to support the delivery of a Just Transition for the industrial cluster in a way that positively benefits all of those involved.

Our current advice on vitamin D supplementation is based on the consensus of the scientific evidence, as presented to all UK nations by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).

On 19 June 2021, SACN published a paper summarising the monitoring of recent evidence on nutrition and COVID-19. It is available at

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/992875/SACN_Process_for_monitoring_evidence_on_nutrition_and_COVID-19__June21_.pdf.

SACN concluded that, to date, the monitoring exercise had not identified any new trials in relation to vitamin D and COVID-19 that would change current dietary advice or require the re-review of the rapid guideline published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Public Health England and SACN on 17 December 2020. The rapid guideline states:

• people should continue to follow existing advice on vitamin D supplementation to maintain bone and muscle health
• there is currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely to prevent or treat COVID-19

The rapid guideline is available at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG187

The UK COVID-19 Therapeutic Advisory Panel (UK C-TAP) is continuing to monitor ongoing COVID-19 related Vitamin D trials. I understand the SACN secretariat is in contact with the NICE surveillance team and officials supporting UK C-TAP to ensure complementary approaches. Evidence on vitamin D in relation to COVID-19 is also being monitored by the multi-agency initiative ‘Research to Access Pathway for Investigational Drugs in COVID-19’.

We will continue to look to NICE and others who are closely monitoring this evidence base.