Seòmar agus comataidhean

Questions included in the census are intended to provide a snapshot of the population on census day, 20 March 2022.

The online census questionnaire allows you to change your previous answers right up until you submit your questionnaire. Further changes cannot be made after a person submits a response.

Paper questionnaires can be amended by blocking out incorrect answers using black ink. A correct answer can then be written in the rest of the boxes. Once a paper questionnaire has been sent, changes cannot be made.

National Records of Scotland consulted a range of groups and organisations across Scotland to help decide what topics to cover and what questions to ask in Scotland’s Census 2022.

In order to be considered for inclusion topics must meet a significant and clearly-demonstrated user need. More information about the question development process can be found here . The question set was agreed as appropriate by the Scottish Parliament.

Scotland’s Census 2022 has also benefitted from an extensive programme of internal and independent assurance activity, including independent assessment of Statistical standards, through the UK Office of Statistics Regulation. This is to ensure that Census statistics will meet the high quality bar of being “official statistics.” Information on the Statistical Quality Assurance process can be found here .

The aim for the census is to deliver a set of questions and associated guidance that enables all of Scotland’s people to access, understand and complete the census. Whilst every household in Scotland has a legal obligation to complete a census return either online or by paper, we have ensured that people are supported to do so.

Protecting Scotland’s marine environment is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government. I am aware of the recent trials conducted by the Danish Navy into the deflagration method of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) disposal, and look forward to the data analysis.

The Scottish Government has recently signed a joint interim position statement together with other regulators and statutory nature conservation bodies. This statement sets out the Scottish Government's support for the use of lower noise alternatives to UXO disposal, and the expectation that licensees applying for a marine licence and European Protected Species Licence should prioritise low noise alternatives.

The collection of high quality data, including that from the trials conducted by the Danish Navy, will enable the Scottish Government, with support from NatureScot, to make evidence based decisions and recommendations around the use of alternative technologies.

Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government. Following the severe disruption caused by recent storms across Scotland the Scottish Government has fed in to independent reviews undertaken by BEIS and Ofgem.

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is clear that new, and alterations to existing buildings, infrastructure and spaces should be designed to be adaptable to future impacts of climate change. The draft acknowledges risks from climate change including those from extreme weather. Furthermore it supports in principle development proposals for enabling works for transmission and distribution infrastructure and energy storage including battery storage.

The draft NPF4 is currently subject to Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny, alongside a public consultation, prior to a finalised version being presented for Scottish Parliament approval. We are working towards laying a final version of NPF4 in the Parliament for approval this summer, following which it will be adopted by the Scottish Ministers.

Resilience of the Electricity Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Both BEIS and Ofgem have published their post-incident reviews/interim reports on Storm Arwen. The UK Government interim report on Storm Arwen review considers the issue of underground cables on p.10 and Ofgems Review into the networks’ response to Storm Arwen – Interim Report on page 16.

The Scottish Government contributed to both these reviews and will carefully consider the findings to understand where improvements could be made. We will continue to track progress against these recommendations.

We will also continue to press the UK Government, industry and the regulator for assurance that increased resilience of the electricity networks in Scotland is a priority.

Marine Scotland Directorate's– Licensing Operations Team (“MS-LOT”) are currently consulting with NatureScot on the written report by Seagreen Wind Energy Limited in respect of unexploded ordnance clearance activities. MS-LOT intend to publish this report on its website (marine.gov.scot) once the consultation is complete.

Regulation 10(5)(b) (the course of justice) was invoked when this document was requested under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as the late submission of the report was at that point being investigated as an instance of non-compliance with statutory timelines.

We recognise that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in Scotland are likely to continue to increase due to climate change. As a nation we need to prepare for the associated impacts, including through the resilience of our buildings.

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is clear that new, and alterations to existing buildings, infrastructure and spaces should be designed to be adaptable to future impacts of climate change. The draft acknowledges risks from climate change including those from extreme weather.

The draft NPF4 is currently subject to Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny, alongside a public consultation, prior to a finalised version being presented for Scottish Parliament approval. We are working towards laying a final version of NPF4 in the Parliament for approval this summer, following which it will be adopted by the Scottish Ministers.

Building regulations address a range of topics on the resilience of buildings including structural performance, resistance to wind and rain and flood resilience. These regulations apply to new buildings and new building work and are not applied retrospectively to existing buildings. The standards are periodically reviewed, to give assurance that they remain fit for purpose and consider, where practicable, predicted future climate in Scotland. Review is also underway at present to provide greater assurance that compliance with these standards is achieved.

I refer the member to the answer given in S6W-05977.

We know since the initial introduction of the Distance Aware initiative, uptake has been good and we have therefore ordered more badges and lanyards and considered additional ways to distribute.

As such we will offer Local Authorities badges and lanyards to distribute on a flexible basis, based on local need. It will be for Local Authorities to decide on distribution channels, but could include testing centres and council buildings, as well as any local community facilities, hubs or stores in rural communities.

In rural, remote and island locations, lateral flow device (LFD) tests can be ordered online or collected from test sites, pharmacies and dispensing GPs. Beyond this, local partners are responsible for choosing where to establish additional LFD community collect points.

In NHS Highland, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles examples of community collect sites have included vaccination centres, libraries and transport hubs including airports, mainland ferry terminals, bus and railway stations. Partners maintain an up-to-date list of their community collect sites on their websites, which can be found via gov.scot.

Brain and Central Nervous System cancer waiting times were part of the extending tumour site audit and were introduced into Cancer Waiting Times reporting for 2013 only. Since then, boards have not been required to submit these data. NHS boards may hold this data locally, PHS does not hold the data centrally.

The Scottish Government welcomes the survey undertaken by Cerebral Palsy Scotland in November 2021 and notes the findings.

Scottish Government officials recently met with Cerebral Palsy Scotland to further discuss the care and support available to people with this condition. We will continue to work with NHS, third sector partners and people with Cerebral Palsy to drive up standards of care and service development.

In December 2019, we published a Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action . We are investing £4.5 million of funding over five years to implement the Framework’s 17 commitments.

The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care for people with neurological conditions, such as Cerebral Palsy.