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The UK Government has secured a further 4.25m patient courses of antiviral treatments to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant across the UK. This includes 2.5 million patient courses of Paxlovid (PF-07321332+ritonavir (co-packaged)) from Pfizer and 1.75 million patient courses of molnupiravir from Merck Sharp and Dohme.

This is in addition to the 730,000 patient courses of these COVID-19 antivirals already secured - 480,000 courses of molnupiravir and 250,000 courses of PF-07321332+ritonavir (co-packaged), as announced on 20 October 2021. These treatments are a further measure to protect against COVID-19, in addition to vaccinations, which remain our best defence against this virus.

The UK Government takes initial receipt of stock, with proportionate supplies distributed to the four UK nations. In Scotland, NHS National Procurement allocates supplies to Health Boards depending on local need. There is sufficient supply to meet this current deployment, in line with need.

The latest published Official Statistics on the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland are for the year to 31 March 2021. In the period from 1 January to 31 March 2021, the Police recorded 14,782 incidents of domestic abuse.

Figures showing police recorded domestic abuse incidents are also published in the monthly data reports on how the pandemic has affected the Justice system in Scotland. In the period from 1 April to 30 June 2021 the police recorded 15,749 incidents of domestic abuse. This data is based on management information provided each month by Police Scotland, based on their administrative data available at that time and will in due course be incorporated into the 2021-22 Official Statistics.

In the period 1 January to 30 June 2021, 16,395 domestic abuse charges were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). These are reported charges with a domestic abuse identifier. During the same period, 15,096 domestic abuse charges were prosecuted.

It should be noted that information on police recorded incidents of domestic abuse and cases prosecuted by COPFS are not strictly comparable as there is no direct relationship between the number of incidents (and the crimes they involve) recorded by the police and the number of follow-up actions taken by other agencies within the criminal justice system. For example, some incidents of domestic abuse do not involve any crimes or offences being recorded, whereas others may involve multiple crimes which lead to more than one prosecution. There are other comparability issues in that incidents recorded by the police may not be processed by COPFS or the courts in the same period they were recorded.

The Scottish Government Council House Build Programme was introduced in April 2009, the aim being to incentivise local authorities to build new homes. This was the first such central government support to councils in a generation.

Our allocation through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) is not specific to council house building but for all social landlords across the council area. The following table, however, does show the actual funding spent by North Lanarkshire Council from the AHSP for council house building between 2009/10 and 2020/21.

Incidents of hate crime on public transport will be recorded by either Police Scotland or, if they occur on the railways (on trains or at stations), the British Transport Police.

Table 1 presents information provided by the British Transport Police on hate crime offences recorded in Scotland, by type of hate category, since 2017-18. The 2021-22 reporting year is partially complete as it will run up to the end of March 2022. The total number of crimes recorded each year is less than the summation of the separate hate categories, as some crimes include more than one type of prejudice.

Information is not held centrally on the number of hate crimes recorded in other public transport settings. Some analysis is available from a study into the characteristics of police recorded Hate Crime , published by the Scottish Government in February 2021. This report was based on a review of just over one-third of all hate crimes recorded by Police Scotland in 2018-19, and findings were presented separately depending on whether the victim was a police officer in the line of duty. For those cases that didn’t involve a police officer as the victim (estimated to be 4,620), table 2 below shows the percentage that occurred on public transport (both on the mode of transport and at stations/stops). This information is also available in Table 11 of the report, which breaks down hate crimes by types of location. The equivalent data on public transport-based hate crimes with police officers as victims cannot be estimated due to the very low number found within the study.

A second study into the characteristics of hate crime recorded by Police Scotland is due to be published later this year. This will provide the same type of disaggregated data and information for the year 2020-21.

Table 1: The number of hate crime offences recorded on railway Network in Scotland by crime, 2017-18 to 2021-22 a

It is for local authorities to exercise their statutory responsibilities and deliver a safe environment for all school users. It is also for local authorities to determine what remedial action is required in their schools, in line with guidance.

The recently announced funding of up to £5 million is in addition to previous funding of £10 million to address issues around ventilation and CO2 monitoring, and on top of £90m of COVID-19 logistics funding.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce – subject to consultation later this year – regulations requiring Scotland’s homes and other buildings to meet EPC Band C equivalent by 2033, where that is technically feasible and cost effective. This key proposal from the Heat in Buildings Strategy aligns with our commitment in Tackling Fuel Poverty Strategy in Scotland: Strategic Approach, of addressing poor energy efficiency and fuel poverty in homes.

We have previously consulted in December 2019 on proposals for introducing minimum energy efficiency standards in owner occupied housing, which included potential options for defining cost effectiveness and technical feasibility. We are further developing these definitions ahead of the planned consultation later this year.

The COVID-19 statistical report which is published weekly includes a section for COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalisations, and Deaths by Vaccine Status. These can be found at this link. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20580

This reports on the total number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 related acute hospital admissions and confirmed COVID-19 deaths by their vaccination status and covers the period from December 2020 to present.

The Draft Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) was laid in Parliament on 10 November 2021. The draft sets out that ‘Local development plans should identify and protect locally, regionally, nationally and internationally valued natural assets, landscapes, species and habitats’. In addition to the parliamentary scrutiny of the draft, a public consultation runs until 31 March 2022 and the Scottish Government welcomes responses and comments being provided to support the production of a finalised NPF4. Further information is available from: www.transformingplanning.scot .

The Scottish Government is in regular discussion with the UK Government about the Independent Review into the health impact of potential bias in medical devices, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care on 21 November 2021.

The primary purpose of the Independent Review is to make recommendations to tackle any health impact on patients due to their ethnic origin in relation to medical devices currently in use in the UK. The UK Government plans a further announcement about the Independent Review.

Ahead of the wider Independent Review, two DHSC led rapid reviews are underway to identify potential areas of immediate concern with medical devices currently on the market in the UK, and will conclude by the end of January – one is specifically on Pulse Oximeters, and one on other medical devices currently in use in the UK. The Pulse Oximeter review will involve a roundtable with representation from experts in the field from across the UK including NHS Scotland, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England. The rapid reviews will help inform priority areas of the Independent Review.

It is intended that the Independent Review and DHSC led rapid reviews will result in recommendations to ensure medical devices are safe and effective for all. The Scottish Government will consider recommendations relevant to the NHS in Scotland.