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In January 2021, the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport accepted the NHS Lanarkshire’s recommendation of Wester Moffat as the preferred site option for a new University Hospital Monklands. NHS Lanarkshire is currently preparing an Outline Business Case which will then be submitted to Scottish Government for consideration.

The Scottish Government places great importance on public libraries and leisure facilities and believes everyone should have access to these services. The Scottish Government has produced safer workplace guidance for public libraries and sport and leisure facilities to allow these services to be restored safely, however as independent corporate bodies it is for local authorities to decide when and what will be offered, and it is for the locally elected representatives to make these decisions.

Scotland’s councils have been allocated an additional £1.5 billion in direct support through the local government finance settlement and councils have also been granted additional financial flexibilities to address the financial pressures caused by COVID-19.

Furthermore, the 2021-22 Local Government Settlement of almost £11.7 billion provides a cash increase in local government day to day spending for local revenue services of £375.6 million or 3.5 per cent.

The Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with COSLA and Local Authorities to ensure our communities receive the support and services that they expect and deserve. It is, however, the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including for the range of community services they deliver, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of local and national priorities.

In 2021-22, Glasgow City Council will receive a total funding package of almost
‎ £1.5 billion to support local services, which includes an extra £29.8 million to support vital day to day services, equivalent to an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to 2020-21. To date, the council has been allocated an additional £221.7 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the local government settlement - over and above their regular grant payments.

In addition, Glasgow City Council will receive their fair share of a further £137 million included in the original 2021-22 local government finance settlement which is currently undistributed. The Council will also receive their fair share of the subsequent 2021-22 funding that has been discussed and agreed with COSLA since the announcement of the settlement.

As Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, I retain responsibility for the Life Sciences sector. Mr Hepburn, Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training, has responsibility for other elements of science policy, including universities and research, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) across the education system, and public science engagement.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic National Records of Scotland (NRS) has placed significant amounts of information on care home deaths into the public domain. NRS analyses provides valuable information on characteristics of the deceased as well as presentation at Health Board and Local Authority level.

Following receipt of a FOI request for data at individual care home level, NRS carefully considered the potential public benefit of providing care home level data against the potential distress the public release of these data may cause families of the deceased, care home staff, residents and families of residents. NRS recognises that this is a complex issue and therefore welcomed the Scottish Information Commissioner's conclusion on how the balance of public benefit and potential distress should be considered. Following the decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner, NRS has complied with the instruction and now made this data available in line with the original FOI request.

All of our decision making in the approach to responding to Covid-19 is guided by the latest scientific evidence from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) , advice from Health Protection Scotland and our Chief Medical Officer. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provides advice on immunisation to all UK Health Departments, including on the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

Current JCVI advice does not cover vaccination in those under 18 years old, so far only 16 and 17 years olds in groups 1 -9 are covered.

Clinical trials are currently underway for vaccination of children and young people.

We will continue to engage with vaccine developers, and the JCVI so that if trials are successful we are ready to vaccinate younger age groups, if that is what the clinical and scientific evidence supports.

University entry requirements vary among universities and between subject, and also vary over time as demand for particular subjects and courses increases or decreases. As autonomous bodies universities are responsible for their own policies and procedures, including setting entry requirements for each course they offer.

Following exam changes in 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Scottish Funding Council to fund additional places in Scotland’s universities in AY 2020-21. These places will continue to be funded in AY 2021-22 along with further additional places for affected 2020 students starting their studies in AY 2021-22.

With the exception of the controlled subjects (i.e. medicine, pre-registration nursing and midwifery education, dentistry and initial teacher education), the Scottish Government does not direct individual institutions on the number of funded places to make available for eligible students.

Minimum entry requirements (access thresholds) for SIMD20 students have been set by all Scottish universities and were published for the very first time in 2019 (for AY 2020-21 entrants).

All of Scotland’s higher education institutions (excluding The Open University in Scotland as it has a different admissions system) have committed to guaranteeing an offer of an undergraduate place at university to care-experienced applicants who meet minimum entry requirements. This was effective from autumn 2019 for learners entering university in autumn 2020.

We remain absolutely committed to the principle that access to education should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay. Every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

The fact that Scotland’s own supply is secure, and its abundant generation of electricity via wind means that Scotland has long been a net exporter of electricity with Net Exports to England and Wales being 10,036 GWh in 2006 and 19,050 GWh in 2020. This is thanks to the record renewable generation so far in 2020, as recorded by the Scottish Energy Statistics Hub . The forecasts from National Grid’s Electricity Ten Year Statement and recently published Network Options Assessment indicate that Scotland's export capacity will increase over the next decade.

We are committed to carrying out an Islands Communities Impact Assessment for the new free bus travel scheme for young people prior to it coming into operation.

Following a consultation on free bus travel for young people late last year, officials are now consulting further with island communities. We expect to publish the Islands Communities Impact Assessment later this summer.

Ferry fares policy options are being considered through the ongoing review of concessionary travel arrangements across all modes for under 26 year olds and through the Islands Connectivity Plan.

According to Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Performance Data analysis for the year 2020-2021 the total number of dwelling fire fatalities stands at 46, with a further 7 in non-dwelling property types. As further information may yet come to light, for example from coroners reports, the figures are subject to change. SFRS Fire and Rescue Incident statistics are published annually and include figures on fire fatalities and trends. These can be found here https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about-us/fire-and-rescue-statistics.aspx .