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The present state of the pandemic has been transformed by science, moving away from population level restrictions to strong programmes of vaccination and therapeutics.

As part of our enhanced surveillance systems, we continue to monitor, assess and be ready to respond to COVID-19 and other health threats. Any response including change to guidance on use of face coverings or face masks will be driven by the data and evidence gathered as well as expert advice as illustrated in the answer to question S6W-18103 on 31 May 2023 from Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour.

A risk-based approach to face coverings and face masks is in place across all settings with respect for those who may be unable to or wish to wear a face covering.

There are currently no general Covid-19 restrictions in place but the advice remains the same – please take up the offer of vaccination when invited, and try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection. If you have symptoms but do need to go out, wear a well-fitting face covering if possible.

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

I have portfolio responsibility for hospital arranged post mortem examinations. These are undertaken for deaths in hospitals to establish the medical cause of death and require consent from the individual or the family.

Separately, post mortems can be carried out under the direction of the Lord Advocate as part of an investigation into a death. These are a matter for the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Government does not comment on or get involved in these.

The comprehensive review of Patient Travel Guidance is a substantial exercise for the Scottish Government and NHS Boards, and, regrettably, a start date is not confirmed at this time.

As we continue to prioritise the recovery of services, this important review will take full account of the matters raised by Members and will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Financial support for travel remains available for patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account of individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions.

We are grateful to all those who responded to the Government’s consultation on electoral reform. We are considering the responses to the consultation and the analysis and will publish a formal response in due course. The responses were independently analysed, and the analysis of the consultation can be found on the Scottish Government website.

As noted, a Bill on electoral reform was announced in the Programme for Government 2023-24. We anticipate that this will be introduced to Parliament by spring 2024.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published by UK government in June 2023, sets out funding in England of £2.4 billion between‎ 2024-25 and 2028-29. This funding is expected to be subject to the Barnett formula, however final budget allocations are currently unknown and will be subject to future UK budgets. No additional funding has been received in 2023-24.

There has been no specific assessment and it is important to note that these data only reflect Considerate Contractor members.

Scottish Government monitor the market dynamics through our data dashboard which was developed by the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) and can be viewed on the CLF website https://www.constructionforum.scot/ .

We work closely with the construction industry through the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF), chaired by myself, which is the main forum for Scottish Government/Industry interaction and meets every two months.

Since 2000-2001, the Scottish Government has funded a total of £4,785,000 of hardship rates relief. The Scottish Government funds 75% of the value of hardship relief, with the remaining 25% funded by councils. For properties affected by the Glasgow School of Art fire, the Scottish Government’s contribution was increased to 95% to reflect the exceptional circumstances.

We are unable to reliably estimate the number of awards granted; numbers of properties receiving any relief are derived from the annual Billing System Snapshot, and due to the nature of hardship relief, the final number awarded per year is not well reflected in snapshot data. The latest non-domestic rates relief statistics, derived from snapshot data, can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2022/ .

Hardship relief is a discretionary relief provided for in section 25A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966 which specifies that a council can award Hardship relief if it is satisfied that the relief applicant would sustain hardship if the council did not award the relief, and if it is reasonable for the council to do so, having regard to the interests of persons liable to pay council tax set by them. It is for councils to determine the criteria to ensure these requirements are met when awarding Hardship relief.

The Scottish Government cannot mandate that a proportion of GP surgeries offer enhanced services: GP practices are contracted to provide essential services with any enhanced services provided over and above that carried out on an optional basis. Practices which provide enhanced services are paid agreed rates for doing so in addition to their funding for essential services. These services are determined locally by Health Boards so that service planning reflects local needs and circumstances and makes the best use of GPs and other clinicians.

The Scottish Government does not intend to change this model.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing Health Board expenditure on drug treatment enhanced services by GPs to determine whether the existing funding arrangements for enhanced services are sufficiently prioritising drug treatment services.

The Scottish Government’s Fair Work Action Plan sets out actions to promote fair and inclusive workplaces across Scotland. We are committed to using all levers at our disposal to extend Fair Work conditionality with clear standards and minimum requirements to cover all forms of Scottish Government support within the limits of devolved competence. The action to consider including the use of reliefs and licensing powers is an investigatory action, and not a definitive position on if and how these can be used. Officials will continue to monitor implementation of Fair Work conditions to ensure the approach remains fair and proportionate.

Non-domestic rates are levied on the private, public and charitable sectors and on a very diverse array of properties, from shops and offices to telephone masts, railways lines, harbours, bothies and advertising boards. Certain properties may have no employees linked with them, or properties may be operated by individuals rather than businesses, and therefore may not have any employees, and we will therefore need to consider carefully the potential role of fair work conditionality in the non-domestic rates system, within the limits of devolved competence.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly meet with local politicians, council Chief Executives and Directors of Finance to discuss national priorities and local issues. In those meetings, in parallel with ongoing engagement with COSLA Leaders and Spokespeople, Councils routinely identify policy challenges and financial pressures locally.

Despite a decade of UK Government austerity measures, the Accounts Commission, who are responsible for holding councils and other local government bodies in Scotland to account, have confirmed that local government revenue funding is 2.6% higher in real terms than it was in 2013-14.

Scottish councils have therefore been treated fairly throughout UK imposed austerity but we recognise the challenging environment they face, alongside the rest of the public sector, and that is why we are committed to a Fiscal Framework as part of our New Deal with Local Government in order to ensure the sustainability of local services.