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(a) The latest Scottish Government Growth Sectors Statistics for the Creative Industries, published in December 2020, show that the music sector contributed £19.8 million to the Scottish economy in 2019 (Source: Growth sector statistics - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot ).

UK Music estimates that the number of full-time equivalent jobs sustained by music tourism in Scotland was 2019 was 4,757. It estimates that in 2019 1.3 million tourists attended live events across Scotland (up from 1.1 million in 2017) and the total amount of spend generated by music tourists in Scotland in 2019 was £453 million (Source: Music by Numbers 2020 - UK Music ).

(b) Scotland’s music sector has a significant cultural impact domestically and internationally. Scottish musicians excel in every genre, including classical, contemporary classical (new), folk, trad, rock, pop, indie, electronic, hip hop, and jazz, which all combine to create a vibrant music scene that is recognised across the globe. Our music sector supports our vibrant oral and music cultures and traditions, including those relating to Gaelic and Scots, as well as traditional arts, and contributes to Scotland as a creative and cultural nation through festivals, live music and performances as well as providing music networks across communities.

(i) and (ii) The Scottish Government supports the music sector and Scotland-based recording artists primarily through Creative Scotland, which awards funding through its Regularly Funded Organisations (RFO) programme and its Open Project Funding (OPF). In 2018-21 it awarded £11.45m of RFO funding to music organisations, including the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA). In 2019-21 it awarded £2,408,805 of OPF to 121 projects, ranging from funding for touring, for individual artists and support for sector organisations.

Creative Scotland also provides a range of other support to the music sector and recording artists through initiatives which can support artists throughout their careers such as the development of new work by composers, through initiatives such as Create: Inclusion, its international showcasing at Womex, the world music expo; the annual Classical: NEXT event in Rotterdam,Showcase Scotland; and the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Awards, funded through the SMIA.

Creative Scotland’s support for the music sector and recording artists is set out in its annual report. (Source: Creative Scotland annual report 2019-20 ).

The Scottish Government directly funds and promotes the National performing companies the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting unpaid carers in recognition of the vital role they play, and we have already improved the social security support available to unpaid carers in Scotland, through our Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Young Carer Grant.

On 17 March we issued a discussion paper to stakeholders setting out proposed aims for Scottish Carer’s Assistance, our replacement for Carer’s Allowance. The aims are based on what we have heard from carers, and the organisations who support them, about how the existing support could be improved. The paper has been designed to inform consultation with carers and stakeholders to develop final aims for this support and also sets out our intended process for making decisions on proposals for Scottish Carer’s Assistance. It recognises that some proposals may be capable of being put in place from the launch of the new assistance but others could only be taken forward over the longer term.

The Scottish Government follows the advice of the Joint committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) as they continue to monitor all aspects of data and evidence of vaccine effect in different groups, and have considered this data in people with cancer. At this time, the JCVI have not recommended any change in the approach to vaccination of this group. We are continuing to monitor evidence and will adapt their advice only if this becomes necessary. The CMO letter published on 9 March advises that clinicians may propose a shorter schedule if they think it’s needed in individual cases.

As of Monday 1 March 2021 the total number of doses allocated was 2,138,450. The total number of doses allocated refers to the number of doses that have been made available by Public Health England to the Scottish Government for ordering, and is the cumulative amount allocated up to 11:55 1 March 2021.

The Scottish Government has been very clear from day one that the pace of our national vaccine programme is dependent on vaccine supply and delivery timescales and we continue to work closely across the 4 nations to ensure this is as smooth as possible .

Our modelling contained within the Scottish Government’s Vaccine Deployment Plan took a deliberately cautious approach. Based on the information provided by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) we set our expectations of delivery based on our expectations of available supply, using an assumption of 5% wastage.

Some wastage is unavoidable for a variety of reasons based on the characteristics of the vaccine, logistical issues with cold chain supply, storage failure and/or specific clinical situations such as a breakout of COVID-19 in a care home.

To date, our latest management information indicates a wastage rate of around only 1.8% - well below our planning assumption of 5%, which is a precautionary approach for worst case scenarios and in line with global best practice.

All of our decisions in response to COVID-19 have been guided by the latest evidence and advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, Health Protection Scotland, our Chief Medical Officer, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI advises all UK Health Departments on immunisation, including the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

Senior clinicians do not support the prioritisation of foster carers in cohort 2 as the JCVI prioritisation list is based on the objective of the COVID-19 immunisation programme being to protect those who are at highest risk from serious illness or death. Currently prioritisation for staff is based primarily on the vulnerability of the group that a carer is working with rather than their own role, and children and young people are not deemed to be high-risk.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the Scottish Singles Chart to Scotland’s music scene, in helping to bring artists to wider audiences and boosting their profile. The chart has played an important role in showing what the people of Scotland are listening to and buying, and often reflected different trends when compared to UK charts.

The Scottish Government has spoken to the Official Charts Company to understand why the chart has been withdrawn. We are continuing to engage with the Official Charts Company along with Creative Scotland, the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) and representatives from Scottish radio stations to explore options to bring about the return of the Scottish Singles Chart, and to consider any further opportunities to support Scottish artists in reaching wider audiences.

The Scottish Government is working with faith based, third sector and community groups to reach out to more people from deprived communities to increase the vaccine uptake.

We have put in place financial and practical support to ensure all parts of our community have the knowledge and confidence to participate in this vaccination programme and to remove any practical barriers.

We have introduced webinars for the social care staff and continue to dispel any misinformation regarding Covid-19 through our proactive community engagement.

All Covid-19 related information is available in on NHS Inform ; in British Sign Language (BSL), audio, Easy Read and large print formats.

The translation of Covid-19 related material is available in more than 20 foreign languages.

Further work is also underway to ensure we can reach other groups including those who are homeless and those who suffer from addiction issues.

Our planning assumption was based on 80% vaccine take up as set out in the Deployment Plan published on the 14th of January 2021.