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We wrote to NHS Boards on the 10 December to set out measures intended to support NHS Scotland to manage the continuing pressures resulting from the pandemic and the emerging threats posed by Omicron. Services which were considered essential under this direction included primary care services, vaccination, urgent and unscheduled care and drug and alcohol services. It is for local Boards to determine how they apply this guidance.

Boards were advised to review their planned care activity in line with the Clinical Priority Framework to support the delivery of urgent care and urgent cancer care. Patient safety will always remain at the forefront of any decisions made related to service delivery.

The Scottish Government is engaging closely with COSLA and Heads of Planning Scotland to understand the pressures faced by the planning service and to promote a highly performing system which can deliver on the ambitions for planning set out in the emerging NPF4.

Consideration of capacity and skills in planning is informed by recent research commissioned by Skills Development Scotland, undertaken by EKOS and published by Partners in Planning, available at https://www.partnersinplanning.scot/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/23623/Skills-in-Planning-Research-Final-February-2021.pdf The research report provides an independent perspective on the challenges faced and a series of proposed actions. Scottish Government is working with the other partner members of Partners in Planning to take forward the proposed actions to help ensure the future pipeline of planners needed to deliver on our ambitions. This includes supporting a short project recently commissioned by Heads of Planning Scotland and the RTPI to explore options and set out proposals to help increase the numbers of people entering the planning profession.

Reviewing the planning performance and fee regime is a key part of our planning reform programme. We are currently progressing proposals to increase planning fees, following a public consultation carried out in 2019-2020. Although implementation of these proposals was postponed during the pandemic, this work has now recommenced and we will shortly lay regulations in the Scottish Parliament bringing the proposed fee increases into effect. The new regulations are expected to come into force in April 2022, subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The proposed measures would increase fees by between 25 and 50% in some cases, moving fees closer to covering authorities’ costs in determining the applications and providing substantial additional income to authorities.

Ministers will also shortly undertake recruitment and appointment of a new national planning improvement coordinator for Scotland. The core purpose of the coordinator’s role will be to support improvement within the Scottish planning system, by providing constructive input which promotes an outcomes-based approach.

The Red Rocks and Longay MPA which is located in the Inner Sound of Skye was designated as an Urgent MPA in March 2021, following discovery of the largest flapper skate nursery area in Scotland, with the site being deemed nationally important for the conservation of this critically endangered species. The protected area was further extended in December 2021 following survey work to establish the extent of the nursery. This MPA is being strictly managed using an urgent Marine Conservation Order.

An urgent MPA can only last for a maximum of two years, unless it is made permanent. In order to do this a public consultation needs to be undertaken. Today the Scottish Government will launch a consultation on proposals to make Red Rocks and Longay a permanent MPA with an associated Marine Conservation Order. The public consultation will seek views on the designation of the site and the management measures to be adopted. Following statutory advice from NatureScot that recreational and commercial hand diving for scallops do not impact on flapper skate, these activities will not be prohibited under the proposed permanent measures.

The public consultation will run for 12 weeks and can be responded to via https://consult.gov.scot/marine-conservation/red-rocks-longay-marine-protected-area

The Urgent Marine Conservation Order that is currently in place can only be in force for one year, unless extended for a maximum of one year. An Urgent Continuation Order, to ensure management measures for the Red Rocks and Longay urgent MPA remain in force whilst the public consultation is undertaken, will be laid in Parliament on Thursday 03 February 2022.

As NatureScot have advised that for flapper skate recreational diving and commercial hand diving for scallops are considered not likely to have an affect (other than insignificantly), the Scottish Government will take steps in due course to remove the prohibition of these activities under the Urgent Marine Conservation Order that is currently in force.

This means that the required protections for flapper skate and their eggs will remain in place at the Red Rocks and Longay Urgent Marine Protected area whilst the public consultation on the permanent site and final measures is undertaken. Following the public consultation, Ministers will make a final decision on the designation of the MPA and the adoption of measures to protect it through a Marine Conservation Order.

The Scottish Government has always been consistent in wanting to deliver a green port model which has a strong focus on a just transition to net zero and fair work. We have been in active discussion with UK Ministers on a joint approach that will deliver these, as well as a full package of reserved and devolved incentives to Scottish ports.

It is often the case that investors consider a number of locations before making a final decision on where to invest. Scotland continues to have a great track record in attracting inward investment. The EY Annual Attractiveness Survey for 2021 identified that Scotland has been the top performing region or nation of the UK, outside of London, for 8 out of the last 10 years and for the sixth year running.

The independent Office of Rail and Road has determined that the five year settlement in Control Period 6 (2019 – 2024) will be £2,245m; this represents a 16% increase compared to £1,925m in Control Period 5 (2014 to 2019). This determination is based on the work Network Rail expects to carry out within the entire funding period.

The overall planned rail infrastructure budget for Control Period 6 (2019 to 2024) remains £2,245m and is continuing to fund Network Rail fully in line with this.

In each year of any 5 year funding period, Network Rail programmes its workbank, which may increase or decrease from year to year, and this defines its in-year funding requirement from the ORR determination. This is why the entry in the Scottish Budget can show year on year increases or decreases.

In the 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to the introduction of a Human Rights Bill within this Parliamentary session.

The Human Rights Bill will incorporate into Scots law, as far as possible within devolved competence, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This includes a right to adequate food, as an essential part of the overall right to an adequate standard of living.

The Scottish Government has been clear since early in the pandemic that there should be where feasible a whole system response. This includes deployment of mutual aid between and across Health Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Local Authorities and the deployment of staff (including nurses) to care homes to meet shortages but also strengthen senior and experienced nursing in these settings.

We continue to take other measures to support the sector including workforce at this time. We recognise the pressures currently being experienced across the social care system. On 5 October, we announced a £300 million investment in health and social care as a direct response to winter planning and systems pressures. This includes £20m to enhance Multi-Disciplinary Teams, so that more social work assessments can be carried out, and to support joint working between health and social care.

We have made funding available to recruit up to 1,000 additional healthcare support staff by March 2022 to support patients in hospitals and in community health teams, including care homes. Funding of up to £15m is being provided to take forward recruitment to these posts.

Up to £48 million of funding has been made available to enable employers to update the hourly rate of Adult Social Care Staff offering direct care. This funding is critical to support retaining and recruiting staff in the sector and to alleviate the immediate pressures in Social Care and NHS/Community based health services. We have extended and will continue to raise awareness of the Disclosure Scotland Priority COVID Staff process to support the prompt recruitment and appointment of additional resource.

In Scotland, food insecurity questions were introduced into the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) from 2016. As of 2019, food security levels are measured for the whole of the UK, including Scotland, as part of the Family Resources Survey (FRS).

Despite differences in approach between the surveys, food insecurity levels in Scotland have been consistent since data collection started in 2016; around 8% or 9% of individuals, and 8% of households.

Food Insecurity Rates in Scotland:

We consulted on a draft of the Heat in Buildings Strategy in February 2021. 178 individuals and organisations responded. This consultation asked for views on the impact of the strategy on island and other remote communities. We have published the analysis of the consultation alongside the Strategy.

Alongside the consultation, we organised a series of 7 consultation workshops, including one on Place, one on Communities and one on Islands. These were open to all interested participants, aiming to communicate the vision and actions planned as part of the Strategy and collect feedback.

The consultation events were attended by 156 individuals in total, and included representatives of organisations, community groups, housing associations and local authorities located in rural and island areas of Scotland.

We have also published an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) drawing on the engagement and responses generated from the Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy consultation. Officials also met with islands representatives from Highlands and Islands Enterprise during the initial stages of the ICIA. Where possible negative impacts on island communities were identified, relevant mitigating actions were outlined. The ICIA also noted multiple positive impacts heat decarbonisation will bring to islands communities.

The Scottish Government has not sent such a letter. The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) proposes radically improved and significant new policies aimed at addressing the climate emergency, including a proposed new policy which states: ‘When considering all development proposals significant weight should be given to the Global Climate Emergency.’ Once adopted, NPF4 will form a part of the statutory development plan and will be a material planning consideration, requiring the policies and priorities set out in NPF4 to be influential factors in planning decisions.

The draft NPF4 is currently subject to Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny, alongside a public consultation, prior to a finalised version being presented for Scottish Parliament approval. We are working towards laying a final version of NPF4 in the Parliament for approval this summer, following which it will be adopted by the Scottish Ministers.

I also refer the member to the Scottish Government’s earlier answer on the issue of the climate emergency in planning decision making, given in the answer to question S6W-02155 on 6 September 2021. 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 .