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Transport Scotland has produced extensive guidance on travelling safely for all forms of transport since the start of the pandemic and this is available via the following web links (for operators and passengers respectively).

https://www.transport.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/guidance-for-transport-operators/

https://www.transport.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/advice-on-how-to-travel-safely/

Transport Scotland has also worked closely with operators across all modes to help reinforce the messaging to transport users and staff.

Enforcement of the law remains the responsibility of Police Scotland and the British Transport Police. Officers can issue a fixed penalty notice to anyone 18 or over if they have reason to believe an offence has been committed. Throughout the pandemic, Police Scotland officers have continued to use the “4Es” approach (to engage, explain, encourage and only enforce as a last resort to protect public health).

One of the benefits of the Single Building Assessment approach is that the outputs will be made available for multiple purposes. We will work out the best way to do this, in partnership with others, while taking necessary steps to protect private information and sensitive data.

The lead investigators on the 9 projects funded through the long term effects of COVID-19 infection call were notified on 22nd December 2020 that their projects had been successful in obtaining funding.

Provisional funding letters were issued in January 2021, with the start of transfer of funds as per the payment profile dependent on the receipt by the Chief Scientist Office of a Start Certificate issued by the host institution Finance Office.

Start certificates were returned for all 9 projects, with confirmation of start dates for individual projects of between 01-02-21 and 01-05-2021.

Post award monitoring is through 6 and 12 month progress reports. In addition, a final report for each project is to be submitted on completion of the project. These final reports will be made publicly available on the Chief Scientist Office website.

The end dates for the 9 projects are:

COV/LTE/20/04 HUNT

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/06 PELL

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/08 SCULTHORPE

31.03.2023

COV/LTE/20/10 BERRY

31.01.2023

COV/LTE/20/15 SHEIKH

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/26 CARSON

31.03.2023

COV/LTE/20/28 LINDSAY

31.01.2023

COV/LTE/20/29 COOPER/DUNCAN

30.04.2023

COV/LTE/20/32 TORRANCE/GRANT

28.02.2023

For reference, details of the 9 above projects are available from the Chief Scientist Office website

Long Covid Call – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

The most recently published ten year percentage change tables show some upward incidence trends and downward mortality trends. This reflects improved survival.

We are committed to finding cancer early when the chance of survival and even cure is higher – this is reflected in our £44 million Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. Melanoma was added to the Programme in 2016 following a robust options appraisal exercise (this included reviewing a wealth of data from incidence and survival to mortality and staging).

Since then, over £400,000 has been invested across NHS Scotland to support skin cancer CNS workforce, enhance image capturing and sharing, provision of equipment for GPs/ANPs i.e. dermoscopes and the development and delivery of lesion training programmes.

The information requested regarding whether the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has invoked a Divisional Major Incident Response Plan, in relation to deaths due to hospital associated infection at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, is not centrally held by the Scottish Government.

Health and safety at work is a reserved matter. HSE has confirmed that the issues raised with them did not meet the criteria for a ‘Divisional Major Incident’ as outlined in their published response plans og-00076-appendix-4.pdf (hse.gov.uk) .

We do not expect the vast majority of buildings in Scotland to require remediation and the Single Building Assessment programme will give us the information to establish timescales for those that do.

HIAL’s Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy (ATMS) is a long-term programme consisting of numerous different individual projects. Some of these projects include one or more procurement exercises. Across the programme as a whole some procurement exercises have concluded, some are ongoing and some have not started yet.

Following the announcement of the joint agreement between HIAL and Prospect to establish a new way forward, HIAL contacted those companies involved in the Remote Tower procurement to confirm that the tender exercise had been cancelled. HIAL felt it would be inappropriate and unfair to expect tenderers to remain engaged in the procurement process in circumstances where the timescale for, and scope and extent of possible future remote air traffic provision is unclear.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce – subject to consultation – regulations requiring Scotland’s homes and other buildings to meet EPC Band C equivalent, where that is technically feasible and cost effective. We also plan to regulate to ensure that buildings use zero emissions heating and cooling systems by 2045.

While the Strategy is clear that these regulations will apply to traditional and heritage buildings, we recognise that regulating and improving these buildings will present specific challenges and may require a bespoke approach. We will work with stakeholders including Historic Environment Scotland to consider what specific support and measures may be needed with respect to such buildings.

We plan to consult during 2022 on our proposals for regulating energy efficiency and zero emissions heating.

The Scottish Government funds Energy Saving Trust (EST) to deliver the EST E-bike Grant Fund. Grants provided to local authorities since 2018 are presented in the following table:

We are working with owners and representatives to fund the Single Building Assessments in the pilot phase. All £97.1m received in consequentials will be spent on assessments and cladding remediation over the lifetime of the programme.