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The Scottish Government has not held discussions with port operators about accessing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Government has consistently failed to engage meaningfully with the Devolved Nations on the Fund. It remains unclear how much Scotland will receive or on what basis our allocation will be decided. This is clearly not conducive to a smooth introduction of the Fund in Scotland.

It is extremely disappointing that the UK Government has again decided to use the powers it has given itself in the Internal Market Act to introduce a scheme which bypasses the Scottish Government and stakeholders.

Information on cancelled planned operations are published by Public Health Scotland on a monthly basis. These details can be found at Cancelled planned operations 1 June 2021 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

This information shows the number of cancelled scheduled operations by NHS Board and the reasons for these cancellations.

The Scottish Government welcomes the work of the European Stroke Organisation and we agree that it is vital to ensure improvements are made to stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care.

Through our Programme for Government commitments and the Stroke Improvement Plan, we are already reflecting the aims of the European Stroke Organisation’s appeal targets.

We will continue to implement our Stroke Improvement Plan which sets out our priorities for improving diagnosis, treatment and care for those affected by stroke alongside the ongoing work to deliver the Programme for Government stroke commitments. We are expecting a report on progressive stroke services by the end of December 2021. This will set the intention for our future actions to improve care for people with stroke.

Vaccination data in Scotland are collated by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and published daily. Data on vaccination take-up may be cross referenced by Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Priority Group, NHS Board, Local Authority, age group, and sex. These data are accessible on the vaccinations tab of the PHS COVID-19 Daily Dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/profile/phs.covid.19#!/

The vaccination data published are subject to continual review, development and quality assurance.

There are arrangements in place to allow travellers to travel without pre-payment of the Managed Quarantine Hotel/Testing Package who are claiming Hardship. The Scottish Government have agreed to accept the costs of Scottish residents on Low Income benefits. The list of agreed benefits is:

• Universal Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Council Tax Reduction
• Working Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Carers Allowance

Our inclusive approach to the COVID-19 vaccination is outlined in the letter to Mr Choudhury dated 8 th June. Our approach is constantly adapting in response to data, feedback from stakeholders and other evidence sources.

Equality data  COVID-19 statistical report 2 June 2021 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has provided detailed information on this year’s appeals process on its website that includes Frequently Asked Questions, an interactive chatbot and a flowchart of how the process will work this year. Further details are available at: sqa.org.uk/appeals .

In addition, a leaflet is being sent out to every learner in Scotland with details of the process, along with learner support information. If young people have any questions on appeals that are not answered through these resources they can contact SQA’s customer support team at: sqa.org.uk/enquiry . Support for young people will continue to be available through the summer.

SQA has previously used podcasts and Question and Answer sessions to engage with young people and are actively looking at these for the appeals service.

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was launched on 10 February 2019 with a total of up to £10 million available to help accelerate the commercial deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters.

Following a process of evaluation and due diligence, two projects were supported under the Fund, with total funding of up to £4.945 million being awarded. A total of £4,604,882 has been paid to the two projects to date. The Fund closed for applications on 6 December 2019.

We are committed to learning lessons on every aspect of the response to Covid-19 and are currently exploring the interplay between the UK inquiry and any Scottish inquiry. We will update Parliament on plans as soon as possible.

Following the publication of the recommendations from the Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding, we invited property owners living in buildings where safety concerns had been determined to submit an Expression of Interest in participating in the first phase of the Single Building Assessment. Over 300 Expressions of Interest were submitted. The selection of the buildings to be included in the first phase has been completed and building owners will be notified of the outcome this week.

The Single Building Assessment is a safety assessment on buildings with flatted properties with external wall cladding and will provide us with the clear evidence on the total need for remediation. All flatted properties will be covered; that’s around 770 high-rise buildings and many more at lower heights.

This approach will allow us to identify buildings that are at risk and if there are no problems identified, it will release people from safety and mortgage lending concerns. It will also save homeowners the hundreds of pounds they may otherwise have faced through paying for an individual EWS1. The costs of Single Building Assessment will be met by the Scottish Government.

Once the Single Building Assessment programme has been established we will target remediation at the buildings at most risk.