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The Scottish Government is committed to accepting the majority of recommendations in the Dame Elish Angiolini review, many as specifically set out, but with scope to explore options where other routes or mechanisms may achieve the desired outcome. We will consult on recommendations which will, or are likely to, require legislation this year including that there should be a statutory duty of candour.

‎ As published in the most recent thematic progress report in December 2021, initial discussions with operational partners and staff associations have taken place on this recommendation ahead of the full public consultation. We will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout the consultation period and will provide updates through the thematic progress report, with the next due to be published in June 2022.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Public Health Scotland is not currently able to report accurately on waiting times to this level of detail. More detailed information on the procedure(s) that are planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Boards. We would therefore advise contacting NHS Boards to obtain this data.

PHS continues to work in collaboration with the Scottish Government, NHS Boards and key stakeholders to improve waiting times information. Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for Inpatient or Day Case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 December 2021 in the following link.

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11657/ipdc_feb22.xlsx

The cost to the regulator is estimated based on the number of businesses to be regulated; it is therefore unaffected by any increase in the number of containers.

The cost increases within the model are not proportional increases. There may be additional collections but there is also additional capacity within the system.

We introduced temporary Special Leave measures at the beginning of the pandemic to support our NHS colleagues and help the service manage infection levels.

Since March 2020, NHS Staff who have been absent due to COVID have been paid in full as if they had been at work.

Prior to any changes made in the future as we move towards living with Covid, we will engage with both NHS Scotland Employers and Staff Side representatives to ensure an effective and smooth transition back to standard Sickness Absence terms and conditions .

The Scottish Government has made a commitment to reduce the disability employment gap – the difference between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people - by at least half, by 2038. We set out this ambition as part of our wider disability employment strategy, “ A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan ”. To halve the disability employment gap by 2038 will require around a 1 percentage point reduction in the gap every year.

Table 1 shows the disability employment gap for January 2016 – December 2016 to January 2021 – December 2021, sourced from the Annual Population Survey.

In 2016, our baseline year, the disability employment gap was estimated to be 37.4 percentage points. It is estimated to have reduced by 6.3 percentage points over the five years between 2016 and 2021, to 31.0 percentage points in 2021 – which is, on average, more than a 1 percentage point reduction each year. Based on performance and the labour market context to date, this suggests that we are on track to achieve our ambition to halve the gap by 2038. The reduction in the disability employment gap over this period was due to a larger rise in the employment rate of disabled people relative to the increase in the employment rate of non-disabled people.

Table 1: Disability Employment Gap, 2016 – 2021, Scotland

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07711 on 19 April 2022. 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 refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07563 on 22 April 2022. 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.

The identification, assessment and management of people with long-term effects of COVID-19 in Scotland is guided by the UK-wide clinical guideline developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of GPs.

This guideline is clear that there is no requirement to prove previous COVID infection via a positive test in order to access an assessment or be considered for referral for further investigations or specialist input.

The Scottish Government is actively supporting the implementation of the clinical guideline in Scotland, including through our long COVID ‘Implementation Support Note’ and our collaboration with SIGN on its online ‘Decision Support Tool’ on managing the long term effects of COVID-19.

The Scottish Government is not a reporting agency for cyber attacks in Scotland. When notified of a cyber incident under the Scottish Public Sector Notifiable Cyber Incident Procedure and Policy, the Scottish Government together with other relevant partners supports organisations with immediate cyber incident management and response, rather than their long-term recovery.

Public sector bodies generally manage their recovery processes themselves, dependant on their own circumstances. The Scottish Government does not collate information on the costs to the Scottish public bodies incurred as a result of cyber attacks.