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The Scottish Government has been working collaboratively with public and third sector partners to create and disseminate COVID-19-related information to asylum seekers and refugees in relevant languages and accessible formats. Given the fast-moving nature of coronavirus-related guidance, we took into consideration the lead time with translations and the danger of out-of-date messages being shared and distributed, and focused on working in partnership to create and distribute key coronavirus information to benefit the wider community.

1. The Scottish Government works closely with NHS 24 and Public Health Scotland to ensure key public health information on COVID-19 is available in 17 languages and accessible formats via the NHS Inform website, which is Scotland’s central repository for public health information.

2. In July 2021 Dari and Pashto translations were added to NHS Inform in response to the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.

3. In addition to NHS Inform, the COVID helpline provides interpreter services to support engagement with people whose first language is not English.

4. COVID-19 National Door Drops that have been sent to all homes in Scotland for Covid-19, Test and Protect and COVID-19 Vaccines and Right Care Right Place were created in key languages for asylum seekers and refugees as identified by partners.

5. We have been working in partnership with NHS Scotland and Public Health Scotland to spread the message of available translations and formats. Organisations reached include: Scottish Refugee Council; BEMIS (the national umbrella body supporting the development of the Ethnic Minorities Voluntary Sector in Scotland); NHS Lothian Minority Ethnic Inclusion Service (MEHIS); British Red Cross; Inclusion Scotland; Scottish Independent Living Coalition (SILC); Progress in Dialogue; Article 12.

6. SG and PHS have engaged with various organisations including the Scottish Refugee Council to get feedback on how to maximise COVID-19 vaccine uptake with asylum seekers and refugees, and in response to identified needs, videos, a Statement of Facts sheet and informed consent information have been developed in relevant languages to provide information about issues identified as concerns across a range of population groups in Scotland.

Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. Asylum accommodation is delivered under Home Office contracts, with Mears Group holding the contract for Scotland. Responsibility under that contract includes meeting standards for undertaking any necessary repairs in accommodation.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with Mears Group, COSLA and Glasgow City Council across a range of asylum matters.

The draft National Planning Framework (NPF4) includes a strengthened planning policy position that seeks to proactively enable the reuse of vacant and derelict land and buildings and which notes that demolition should be regarded as the least preferred option. Re-use of vacant and derelict land and buildings has multiple benefits, including contributing to climate change targets.

The draft NPF4 was laid in the Scottish Parliament in November 2021 for a period of scrutiny through to next spring. A public consultation on the draft is running until the end of March 2022 and responses are invited to help inform the final NPF4 which will form part of the development plan and therefore inform priorities in local development plans and day to day planning decision making.

Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. Provision of Wi-Fi is not included as a requirement in the Home Office asylum accommodation contract with Mears Group. Scottish Ministers have repeatedly pressed the Home Office to include consideration of digital access as part of asylum support provision.

As part of efforts to ensure everyone living in our communities could access the support they need, the Scottish Government provided over £550,000 to third sector organisations for projects supporting people subject to No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) including people seeking asylum during the pandemic. The projects supported through Immediate Priority funding focused on basic needs, including digital access.

As advised in the answer to question S6W-02445 on 13 September 2021, the Scottish Government has committed to extend the Connecting Scotland programme over the course of this Parliament to reach a total of 300,000 people. Work is underway to scope the future service, including how best to reach priority groups who we know are most likely to be digitally excluded, including refugees and asylum seekers.

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 .

Scotland is committed to supporting refugees, asylum seekers and our communities through the pioneering and collaborative approach of the New Scots refugee integration strategy. The New Scots strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors. The second New Scots strategy was published in January 2018 and runs until December 2022. Partners have begun discussions on arrangements to develop the third strategy, with the aim of publishing this in 2023.

In 2020 the New Scots partnership secured EU funding for a project to enhance delivery of the New Scots strategy. In August 2021 we announced the award of £2.8 million in grants to refugee projects which support New Scots. In total, 56 projects are receiving funding to deliver initiatives designed to help New Scots settle in their new communities by promoting employability, education, health and social and cultural connections.

The Scottish Government is also providing funding of £940,058 in 2021-22 from the Connected Communities budget to organisations working with refugees and asylum seekers.

The Scottish Government continues to closely monitor all emerging evidence on the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments and their clinical effectiveness. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is now assessing Paxlovid’s safety and effectiveness, and I cautiously welcome analysis of the final clinical trial results from Pfizer (which are yet to be published or verified) which show that Paxlovid cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by approximately 89% in high risk, non-hospitalised adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. If approved by the MHRA, this will represent another significant pharmaceutical option in our response to COVID-19.

On 20th October, the UK Government announced that 250,000 treatment courses of Paxlovid had been ordered, pending regulatory approval. On 22nd December, the UK Government announced that a further 2.5 million treatment courses had been ordered as part of efforts to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant across the UK. If authorised by the MHRA, the intention is to initially deploy antivirals such as Paxlovid to individuals through a UK-wide national study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The University of Oxford has been selected to lead the study . This will enable collection of additional data to address limitations in the company-sponsored trials, for example the effectiveness of the treatments in vaccinated patients, as participants in the company trials were unvaccinated.

In the summer of 2020, the Scottish Government undertook a Capital Spending Review of its capital budgets against the backdrop of Covid-19, which necessitated a review of rail enhancements priorities.

Following the 2020 review, amid significant financial pressures on the available rail enhancements capital budget, the North Hanover Street development was deferred. Against a backdrop of rising costs and pressures on the rail enhancements budget, Network Rail was instructed to return to Transport Scotland with a proposal to progress the development, with options for alternative funding.

Transport Scotland await a revised proposal from Network Rail. Officials continue to remain engaged in regular meetings with key stakeholders such as Glasgow City Council, Network Rail and Scottish Futures Trust aimed at keeping each other updated in respect of developments in and around the Queen Street station area.

Our Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan requires a rolling programme of electrification to meet its target date of 2035. We continue to make good progress, including the current electrification work on the Barrhead and East Kilbride routes. Early development work for further routes is currently underway as part of our project pipeline approach and we will make further announcements on these at an appropriate stage of development.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04734 on 13 December 2021 . 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