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Scottish Government is committed to improving health and tackling inequalities, working together with partners to ensure that inclusion strategies strengthen efforts to reach those at higher risk or from under-served communities.

The national flu Programme and Health Boards continue to recognise and support the needs of minority ethnic communities in planning and delivering the programme. Support includes translated resources in a wide range of languages, outreach clinics in community venues and collaborative working with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) mobile vaccination units to reach those who experience barriers to uptake.

The Scottish Government has published a Financial Memorandum for the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill which includes information on the range of costs linked to the assessment and remediation of buildings in scope of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Financial Memorandum accessible (parliament.scot) We are working with Homes for Scotland and developers to identify their buildings within scope of the Programme.

The Scottish Government intends to consult on the policy design of a devolved Building Safety Levy once an agreement has been reached with the UK Government on the transfer of legislative competence.

In line with our New Deal for Business and Framework for Tax, we will work collaboratively with those operating in the residential development sector and other stakeholders to ensure that the design and delivery of the Levy is informed by the widest possible range of views.

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance (DFM) has written to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and other UK Government Ministers to formally request the devolution of the requisite power under section 80B of the Scotland Act 1998 (“Power to add new devolved taxes”).

We remain in discussion with the UK Government on the process and timelines through which powers can be devolved. The DFM will provide an update to Parliament once agreement on these matters has been reached.

The Programme for Government 2023-24 committed to the implementation of an infrastructure levy by spring 2026. Preliminary work to inform the preparation of regulations under Part 5 of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 will commence later this financial year. Formal stakeholder engagement and discussions have not yet taken place.

The primary objective of a devolved Building Safety Levy is to raise revenue to support the funding of cladding remediation for multi residential properties where cladding may present a risk to life. This will also ensure that homeowners and residents do not have to meet those significant costs themselves, directly.

The Scottish Government will balance this objective with minimising the impact on housing supply. We will also work with stakeholders and across the public sector to understand the cumulative impact of existing costs and regulations on the residential property and construction sectors.

The Scottish Cancer Registry does not capture whether a cancer was detected following presentation at an Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. The details in the Scottish Cancer Registry and the lack of clinical information included in the A&E attendance data leaves the relationship between cancer diagnosis and A&E attendance uncertain.

Public Health Scotland completed a study to describe emergency and non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on whether to include an expanded list of cancers in the emergency vs. non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis reporting will be made ahead of a planned publication in March 2024. However, this would be using the emergency/non-emergency definitions and so presentation at A&E would not specifically be defined as a route to diagnosis.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes incidence and mortality data on leukaemias, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma annually.

PHS previously published survival data on these same cancers. However in the 2023 release, a different approach was taken to assess the short-term impact of COVID-19 on cancer survival for a select few cancers. It utilised a much smaller cohort than the usual methodology which meant an estimate of survival for rarer cancers could not be calculated. Some estimates for blood cancers are available for the 2016-2020 cohort upon request to PHS.

In future cancer survival publications, these same blood cancers will be included again, as survival publications will revert back to previous methodology.

The building regulations in Scotland require that the materials used must be durable, and fit for their intended purpose. The regulations and supporting guidance also restrict the use of highly combustible materials depending on where the products are used in the building. More detailed information is provided in the Technical Handbooks available on the Scottish Government website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.gov.scot/policies/building-standards/monitoring-improving-building-regulations/ .

Construction products regulation is a matter reserved to the UK Government. Insulation products are generally tested and certified to relevant British and / or harmonised European tests, including being tested for reaction to fire properties.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have published ‘Spray foam insulation: a clear, impartial guide’, to inform surveyors and building owners on application and risks when used in existing buildings. The guide is available on the RICS website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.rics.org/news-insights/rics-release-new-spray-foam-consumer-guide.

Revenues from the UK Government’s Building Safety Levy in England will be small in relation to UK GDP and so the Levy is not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impact. As set out in the 2023-24 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government intends for a devolved Building Safety Levy to apply in equivalence to the Levy that is being introduced in England and so it does not expect the macroeconomic impact to be materially different in Scotland.