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Full electrification of the line between Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen is not an absolute prerequisite for achieving the decarbonisation of Scotland’s railway by 2035. As set out in the answer to question S6W-03041, however, it remains the expectation that the East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen will be fully electrified.

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

Transparent masks have the potential to bring significant benefits in aiding communication and the Scottish Government is supportive of their introduction where appropriate. We are aware that NHS England have previously trialled transparent masks in non-clinical settings.

Earlier this year, a new technical specification for the design and performance requirements of transparent masks was established. The UK Four Nations PPE Review Group has a role to review any products submitted for approval and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) is actively engaging in this process and working to ensure masks can be made available as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government is committed to ending our contribution to climate change within a generation. Our Programme for Government sets out our aim to generate 50% of Scotland’s overall energy consumption from renewable sources, and to have decarbonised our energy system almost completely by 2050.

Our vision and roadmap for the energy sector includes a Just Transition Plan for Energy at the heart of our refreshed Energy Strategy, publishing as one coherent document in spring 2022.

On our ambitions for offshore wind, we were clear in our policy statement published in 2020, that we have an ambition of up to 11GW of offshore wind by 2030. ScotWind bids are currently being assessed by Crown Estate Scotland with results of successful bidders known in early 2022 but this will provide us with a strong pipeline of projects. From that we want to ensure that economic benefits and supply chain opportunities are seized upon in Scotland.

This is why in August, the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) published its Strategic Infrastructure Assessment (SIA) for Offshore Wind. The report has five main recommendations which are directed at both the sector and government, and the primary recommendation focusses on bringing the manufacturing of floating offshore wind platforms to Scotland through creation of a Scottish Floating Offshore Wind Port Cluster, with ports acting in partnership to provide the required infrastructure area and capability needed to attract manufacturers to use Scottish ports and invest in Scotland.

I look forward to SOWEC taking forward next steps on the recommendations set out in the report.

The Scottish Government published a consultation on the Regulation of Electricians on 23 November 2020 which closed on 12 February 2021. An analysis of responses has been undertaken and report published on 23 March 2021. A link to the report, and submitted responses, where consent has been given to publish the response, can be found on the consultation webpage at http://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/a-consultation-on-the-regulation-of-electricians .

The Scottish Government is currently considering its response to the consultation and key stakeholders will be updated in due course.

More widely, working with officials, the Electrical Contractors' Association of Scotland (SELECT) and the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) have introduced a new Single Certificate of Construction designed to help simplify the process of electrical certification in Scotland. The new multi-page document now combines all relevant certificates of construction and electrical installation, confirming that associated building warrant electrical work undertaken is fully compliant with all aspects of Scottish building regulations. Such work aims to improve efficiency and productivity across the industry as well as encourage greater use of certification schemes in Scotland.

Under the National Health Service Pension Scheme (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2015, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 3 March 2015 with the consent of Her Majesty’s Treasury, members of the 1995 section of the NHS Superannuation Scheme (Scotland) who have connected service in the career average revalued earnings (CARE) scheme, will have their closed scheme benefits calculated on the best of their final three years’ pensionable pay, in line with the provisions of the 1995 section.

As previously stated, pharmaceuticals are considered ‘contaminants of emerging concern’, so research and monitoring to understand trends in the level and impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment - and form an evidence base for future policy including increasing public awareness - is still in the development phase.

In terms of current activity, to address incorrect disposal, members of the public are encouraged to always bring unused medications to their community pharmacy, where they will be collected and safely disposed of by NHSScotland. All community pharmacies offer this service.

From 2022 the “Keep Antibiotics Working” public awareness campaign (which runs in November-December each year to coincide with World Antibiotic Awareness Week) will be redesigned to emphasise the multi-sectoral approach to containing and controlling antimicrobial resistance, including how important it is to avoid the incorrect disposal of pharmaceuticals.

SEPA and Scottish Water are members of the One Health Breakthrough Partnership (OHBP), supported by Scottish Government, which is committed to minimising the presence and concentrations of human medicines in the environment through a variety of interventions in medicines use and disposal to prevent them from reaching the water system. OHBP has supported work to produce a baseline assessment of levels of pharmaceuticals in Scotland’s water environment (see https://www.crew.ac.uk/publication/pharmaceuticals-water-environment-baseline-assessment-and-recommendations ) and partners plan to use this work a starting point to develop a visualisation tool for pharmaceuticals in the water environment that will also include information on levels and patterns of medicine prescribing in Scotland.

OHBP are also working on the following areas with NHS Highland for future source control applications:

1. establishing a waste amnesty scheme and a pharmaceuticals in the environment education campaign around inappropriate medicine disposal;

2. scoping social prescribing initiatives in line with the Realistic Medicine agenda; and

3. informing development of the Single National Formulary. This activity aims to advocate sustainable alternatives to pharmaceutical prescribing and avoid the use of the most eco-toxicologically relevant medicines.

How local authorities manage market driven budgets are a matter for individual local authorities who are autonomous bodies, responsible for managing their own day to day business and answerable to their electorates. In view of this it would not be appropriate for the Scottish government to interfere in that local democratic process. Local authorities must use their resources as efficiently as possible and deliver services effectively to ensure taxpayers get the best possible value.

However, the Scottish Government continue to meet with COSLA and local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of topics, including current and future budget pressures.

The Scottish Government has committed to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to kick-start market growth in zero emissions heat and energy efficiency, and to support those least able to pay. Households in or at risk of fuel poverty can receive support through Warmer Homes Scotland and our local authority-led Area Based Schemes. In addition, through Home Energy Scotland we offer low and zero interest loans and cashback grants for energy efficiency and zero emissions heating systems.

We are working to develop an appropriate market framework to support consumers, and to secure further private investment to help meet the costs of the transition. We are establishing a Green Heat Finance Taskforce. We continue to work with the UK Government and press for measures to address market disincentives to switching to zero emissions heat.

Home Energy Scotland provide free, impartial advice and can be contacted on 0800 808 2282.

All data collected associated with deer culled on National Forests and Land (NFL) is recorded in FLS Wildlife Management System (WMS) database. The following table is derived from this database. This is managed by robust supervision of cullers and checks to match the juvenile GPS data to the adult female GPS data; however there are many factors that may influence the ratio demonstrated in the following below.

The Scottish Government has committed to bringing Free Personal and Nursing Care rates for those self-funding residential care into line with the National Care Home Contract. We are currently consulting on this as part of the National Care Service consultation, which runs until 2 November 2021.