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The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the elimination of hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland by the end of the 2024-25 financial year. However, we know that achieving elimination and meeting our target will take a concerted effort at national and local level.

As outlined in the Scottish Government’s recently published Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus (SHBBV) Action Plan 2023-26 , we will be reinstating SHBBV-focused visits to NHS Boards. This is part of our ongoing work to support boards on a case-by-case basis to understand their unique circumstances and help overcome barriers they may face to achieving HCV elimination and other SHBBV goals. We will also continue to work with the Hepatitis C Elimination Implementation Group to consider where support is most required.

The most recent surveillance report from Public Health Scotland (PHS) indicates that the number of people tested for HCV antibody in Scotland in 2022 had almost recovered to the level seen before the pandemic in 2019, however we know that further work is required to reach undiagnosed individuals living with HCV.

Current work includes ensuring that opt-out testing is proactively and consistently offered in key settings such as drug services and prisons, and we are also working with three Health Boards to pilot opt-out testing for HCV and other blood borne viruses (BBVs) in emergency department settings.

The Scottish Government has also funded research to identify the optimal approach to testing for BBVs for people at highest risk in Scotland, in order to reduce undiagnosed infections, increase linkage to care for those not in treatment, improve health and prevent BBV transmission. The findings will inform future testing strategies.

From Jan 2020 to Jan 2024, over £6 million has been paid in grants to smaller businesses through the LEZ Support Fund.

This funding has resulted in over 1,000 high polluting vehicles being taken off our roads, and over 400 taxis retrofitted to become LEZ compliant.

As outlined in the Pain management service delivery framework: implementation plan update , we are working with Public Health Scotland to improve how we capture and report national data on patients with chronic pain. The current focus is to review and improve waiting times data for first appointments.

Similar to other specialities, Chronic Pain services in Scotland are currently unable to gather electronic data on return appointments in a consistent manner. On completion of the current work around improving data collection for first appointments, we will begin to consider the feasibility: the costs, accuracy and utility of collecting and reporting national data on waits for return appointments.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Houses of Multiple Occupation, which includes purpose built student accommodation, are subject to the provisions in The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 which requires that duty holders carry out a fire safety risk assessment of relevant premises to identify any risks to the safety of persons caused by fire, including the risk posed by combustible cladding.

The Scottish Government has produced guidance for those who have responsibility under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 for ensuring fire safety in such buildings in Scotland: Fire safety - existing premises with sleeping accommodation: practical guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

It is for Education Authorities to determine what teaching and support staff are required to meet the support needs of their pupils, including those affected by deafness. The level of support from a qualified Teacher of the Deaf depends upon the individual needs of each pupil.

Spending on additional support for learning by authorities has reached a record high of £830m in 2021/22. We have continued to invest an additional £15m per year since 2019-20 and provide over £11m of funding to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and services to children and families.

All buildings within the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme are due to be on a Single Building Assessment pathway by Summer 2024, as set out in the First Minister's policy priority mandate letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice.

As of January 2024:

• 25 Single Building Assessments have commenced. This includes one development where the Fire Risk Assessment of the External Wall (FRAEW) has been completed and the development remediated.
• 3 where an SBA has not yet been commissioned but pre-assessment discussions have been held with factors and agreement secured that an SBA will be commenced through the direct procurement pathway.

It is the responsibility of Registered Social Landlords and Local Authorities to address potentially unsafe cladding however as the current pilot was initially established as being tenure neutral, out of 28 assessments that are currently live, 7 at time of entry were registered as social landlords or housing associations.

As set out in the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Ministers will specify the standards of the Single Building Assessment. Following a robust tendering process, we have appointed an independent contractor to develop an end-to-end Single Building Assessment. The specification will be informed by stakeholder engagement as well as drawing on experience from the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme.