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We continue to keep all measures under close review. Live background music is currently permitted at wedding receptions operating at 1 metre physical distancing from level 2, but full live band entertainment is only permitted in settings operating under performing arts or events guidance at 2 metre physical distancing from level 2 at this time. Dancing is not permitted at this time, except for the first dance by the marrying couple and the parents of the marrying couple where they reside in the same household. Physical distancing requirements are a key factor in determining when these activities can fully return to wedding receptions and as the First Minister confirmed in the statement to Parliament on 11 May, a review of this is currently underway and will report back shortly.

Hourly rates of pay for Agenda for Change Staff are published online . Bank staff participating in the programme who do not also hold contracts of employment with the host health board are paid at the grade and pay band as specified in their bank contract, relating to the role profile pursuant to which they have been deployed.

The Scottish Government has set sessional rates of £230 and £231 for independent contractors (GPs, dentists, optometrists and pharmacists) taking part in the COVID-19 vaccination programme. These rates, which cover a 3.5 hour session, reflect both the market conditions for hiring these professionals and the roles being filled in the programme.

The number of people who have been rejected for Home Energy Scotland loans as a result of poor credit scores is 886 out of a total of 9335 applications since 2017.

Transport Scotland continues to work collaboratively with ScotRail to increase the number of cycle spaces on board passenger services on Scotland’s Railway.

Details of when the planned increase in cycle capacity on ScotRail trains will take place, broken down by route and train class is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 62443).

The Scottish Government greatly values the need for adhering to commercial sensitivity on this area of public policy.

All information on supply volumes – except data that is currently published – is commercially sensitive. There was agreement between Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy( BEIS) and the Scottish Government on specific pieces of information that could be published.

See Daily Data under Vaccinations:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/

Total doses allocated and doses delivered are published once weekly. Received = administered data which is published daily.

The definitions of allocated and delivered are included under the published figures and should be included. A key reason for the difference between allocated and delivered volumes is that a proportion of stock is held centrally until it is required at Health Board level.

Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of workers, other than frontline health and social care workers. We are inviting those of working age in all sectors for vaccination, in line with advice on clinical risk of severe disease and hospitalisation.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority lists represents 99% of the preventable mortality from COVID-19 and throughout the delivery of the vaccination programme. The JCVI advice is that an age-based approach is the best way to quickly protect those who have not yet had the vaccine but who are at increased risk due to occupation or other factors.

The Scottish Government has met its target to offer all of those in JCVI groups 1 to 9 an initial dose of COVID vaccine, with over 99 per cent of those aged over 50 having received their first dose. Those aged over 40 are now in the process of being invited for vaccination. Beyond that we will aim, supplies permitting, to have offered first doses to the entire adult population by end July, rather than September as previously anticipated.

We have no current plans to provide further support to Nightclubs and Soft Play centres. In October 2020, the first phase of the Business Contingency Fund provided grants of up to £50,000 to eligible Nightclubs and Soft Play centres, depending on the rateable value of the business property. From November they were also eligible for Strategic Framework Business Fund grants every four weeks of either £2000 or £3000, again depending on the rateable value of the business property, and a linked top-up award for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Further support was provided through one-off Restart Grant payments in April of up to £19,500.

To date, we have required travellers to use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel.

The purpose of these tests is to identify any positive cases as quickly as possible so that contact tracing and genomic sequencing can be carried out and minimise the chances of delays and the risk of community transmission of the virus.

A robust and fast flow of data from laboratories to Public Health Scotland is therefore essential, and we have had concerns that private sector tests would not be able to meet these requirements.

However, we fully understand how difficult the restrictions on international travel are, both for the sector and for individuals who are keen to travel to see family, as well as for other important reasons. We are therefore exploring options to allow private sector testing to be used for people arriving in Scotland, provided we can ensure the swift and accurate flow of data to Public Health Scotland.

Our desire to protect as much of Scotland’s population as quickly as possible has necessitated the deployment of all available resources, and the rate of progress we have seen would not have been possible without the mobilisation at pace of a large, capable and diverse workforce. We have worked to ensure nobody is placed at detriment as a result of their participation in the programme as a vaccinator.

It is our expectation that reliance on the temporary measures currently in place will reduce as Health Boards continue with efforts to recruit a sustainable vaccinator workforce.

Early medical abortion at home and the changes adopted in March 2020 to enable women to take the first abortion drug, mifepristone, at home where this was felt to be clinically appropriate for them and where the patient wished to do so has been an important measure to ensure abortion services continued to be delivered throughout the pandemic, without delays. The ‘Pills by Post’ service is an English service, which is not provided in Scotland. While many NHS Boards in Scotland are following similar arrangements, medication is in most cases delivered or collected from a clinic, rather than being sent by post.

The Scottish Government launched a public consultation on the future arrangements for early medical abortion at home on 30 September 2020, which closed on 5 January 2021. Responses to the consultation have been published on the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space website. The future arrangements for early medical abortion at home are being considered in light of the findings from the consultation and other available evidence and the Scottish Government plans to confirm our approach this summer.