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Ministers are not notified of every patient death by suspected hospital acquired infection. However, Ministers are routinely notified of incidents of hospital infection outbreaks (involving two or more patients) with management information regarding the organism of infection, number of patients involved in the outbreak, investigations and any suspected deaths associated with the outbreak.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01104 on
‎ 13 July 2021 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/ormain.aspx

The Scottish Government are in contact with Ferguson Marine and CMAL on a regular basis regarding the delivery timetable and completion dates for MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802.

Tim Hair, Turnaround Director of Ferguson Marine, updated the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee on the delivery timetable and budget for vessels MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802 in March 2021 as requested by the committee in their report on ferry procurement. The latest quarterly update on progress, was submitted to the newly formed Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 24 June 2021.

If an individual has specific concerns arising from the results of a test they have taken, including related to their immunological response following vaccination, they should consult their primary clinician, who can determine whether further investigation is necessary.

There is a clear pattern between vaccination and testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies but the detection of antibodies alone is not a precise measure of the immunity protection given by vaccination.

It is not yet known how having detectable antibodies, now or at some time in the past, affects the chance of getting COVID-19 again as other parts of the immune system (T cell response) will offer protection. Antibody positivity is defined by a fixed amount of antibodies in the blood. A negative test result will occur if there are no antibodies or if antibody levels are too low to reach this threshold.

It is important to draw the distinction between testing positive for antibodies and having immunity. Following infection or vaccination, antibody levels can vary and sometimes increase but are still below the level identified as “positive” in this test, and other tests. This does not mean that a person has no protection against coronavirus (COVID-19) since an immune response does not rely on the presence of antibodies alone. We also do not yet know exactly how much antibodies need to rise to give protection. A person’s ‘T cell’ response will provide protection but is not detected by blood tests for antibodies. A person's immune response is affected by a number of factors, including health conditions and age. Additional information on the link between antibodies and immunity and the vaccine programme can be found in the latest ONS blog .

I chair the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) that meets monthly with trade union, construction industry and government representatives collaborating on driving progress on the Construction Recovery Plan, which contains a range of practical actions to support the sector. The trade union representative is a positive, and active, member of the group. The CLF and I am committed to supporting the sector as best I can.

We are focused on delivering the maximum support for businesses and the economy as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have directly benefitted from more than £3.7bn in support – more than a third of total COVID-19 funding – £2.8bn in grants and £965m in COVID-19 non-domestic rates reliefs.

The Scottish Government supports measures to ensure that individuals and businesses pay a fair amount of tax. However, IR35 and VAT are both areas of policy fully reserved to the UK Government.

Live music performers should follow the performing arts guidance, available here . This was developed with a wide range of performing arts practitioners and looked ahead to outline details for the eventual resumption of live public performances. This guidance was last updated on 19 July. This update confirmed the move from 2 metre physical distancing to 1 metre in all indoor settings including in performing arts venues.

Separate guidance is available for live music performances which take place in hospitality settings. This reflects the different considerations that need to make in hospitality settings. The guidance for live entertainment in hospitality was updated on 16 July. The main purpose of the update was to indicate that live entertainment would be possible in general hospitality from 19 July.

With regards to live performances in events and stadia settings, the First Minister’s statement on 13 July confirmed maximum attendances as 2,000 in seated outdoor settings and 1,000 in standing outdoor settings, and indoors to 400. Organisers can apply to local authorities for higher attendance capacities.

To assist event organisers the Scottish Government has developed guidance for the sector, last update on 20 July: Coronavirus (COVID-19): events sector guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The next review of restrictions will be in the week before 9 August when we hope to be able to move beyond Level 0 with baseline mitigations in place. We have consulted with the live performance sector widely on these mitigations to ensure we understand the impact they will have on businesses and their likely effectiveness.

This Scottish Government is committed to concluding the Local Governance Review within this parliament. During the first phase of the Review, the Scottish Government, COSLA and the community sector undertook a highly inclusive engagement process called Democracy Matters. People from diverse backgrounds overwhelmingly wanted to see bold changes to how power is shared. Further extensive engagement with communities - of place and interest - will be an important part of understanding how best to respond to people’s aspirations for genuine control over those decisions which affect them the most.

Since May 2020 the Scottish Government has published projections of infections, hospitalisations and ICU admissions in its weekly publication Modelling the Epidemic in Scotland Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . These projections also feed into internal Scottish Government models on the demand of the Test and Protect system, including the tracing workforce, to enable operational planning.

The path of the pandemic has been highly complex and uncertain over the last 16 months and this is reflected in the complexity and uncertainty of the modelling. We make the best judgements we can on the data in front of us and the advice we have. Right now, as often in the past, our judgement is that the best path for us in Scotland is to make progress carefully and cautiously, and that is what we are doing.

The contact tracing system has not changed its approach regarding the time frame used to identify close contacts.

Those testing positive who have attended a complex or high-risk setting during their infectious period, or who have travelled in the last 14 days, are contact traced and then referred to their local Health Board, who will make a risk-based decision on whether ‘backwards’ contact tracing is appropriate to enable Test and Protect to identify where the index case might have contracted the virus. This ‘pre-infectious period’ covers the 5 days prior to the infectious period.

Separately, the timeframe of 48 hours before symptom onset or a positive test, plus the 10 days after, relates to the infectious period of a positive person. This is based on clinical advice and has been the position since Test and Protect was launched in May 2020. Close contacts identified during this timeframe are offered public health advice by Test and Protect to prevent potential onward spread of the virus.

The bowel, breast and cervical screening programmes were paused in March last year, and restarted last summer with the initial focus on higher-risk screening participants and those whose appointments were affected by the pause.

The bowel screening programme is currently sending home test kits at the same rate as before the pandemic, and no one is waiting for an invitation.

The breast screening programme is recovering, although infection control measures, including physical distancing and personal protective equipment, mean there are considerable capacity challenges. At this time, we do not have data on the number of people affected by the pause; however, we do know that slippage varies across health boards. The National Screening Oversight, the Scottish Screening Committee and the Breast Screening Programme Board continue to work with health boards to increase the number of breast screening appointments available.

Covid-19 also continues to present challenges in the cervical screening programme. However, prompts and reminders are being issued at pre-Covid rates. Estimates suggest that 5,786 invitations have not yet issued to people affected by the pause, but it should be stressed that this will be for a range of reasons, including participants being excluded from the programme after it restarted, or taking the opportunity to be screened at their GP ahead of their scheduled prompt to make an appointment.

It is a matter for local authorities to consider/assess individual applications on spectator proposals having considered particular circumstances of the current regulations and latest guidance.

This requires Event organisers to apply in line with the requirements of the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 as amended and provide the Local Authority with an application in writing (can be email) along with the minimum of:

• A description of the type of event (or events) proposed,
• An event plan for the event (or events) proposed, and
• A risk assessment for the event (or events) proposed, including what measures are proposed relating to the prevention or minimisation of the risk of the incidence and spread of coronavirus arising from the event (or events).