Seòmar agus comataidhean

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of trans and non-binary people in Scotland. Trans people continue to suffer poorer outcomes relative to the wider population, and this needs to change.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people are supported in school and are able to reach their full potential, including transgender young people. We committed to develop guidance to support schools to do this and will publish guidance shortly.

The agreement announced recently between the Scottish Government and COSLA will see the Scottish Government provide funding in the 2021-22 academic year to allow current levels of provision in local authorities to be sustained at no cost to families.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities to establish a sustainable approach to the service and to funding for future years.

Table 1 provides information on average gross revenue expenditure in Scotland per pre-school registration, and primary and secondary pupil along with information on teaching allocations per college and university place (Average Teaching Grant Funding per FTE - including controlled SG funded places – expenditure on tuition fees and student support not included).

To understand the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines in preventing the development of long COVID, an individual first has to have had COVID-19 in the first place.

Therefore, the question really is effectiveness of vaccines in preventing the COVID-19 virus and subsequent long COVID. A study published by Public Health England on 22 May 2021, Vaccines highly effective against B.1.617.2 variant after 2 doses , demonstrates the high effectiveness levels of two doses of both AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines against the Delta variant.

Two doses offer good protection against the Delta variant at levels of 88% and 60% for Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines respectively after two weeks. This is compared to 93% and 66% against the Kent variant. One dose of either vaccine offers protection of 33% against Delta variant after three weeks, compared to 50% against the Kent variant.

This follows data published on 23 April 2021 by the University of Oxford and the Office for National Statistics which showed that one dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca cut coronavirus cases by nearly two-thirds and were 74% effective against symptomatic infection.

Clinical trials have found that vaccination against COVID-19 further reduces the likelihood contracting long COVID even if an individual develops COVID-19. A paper published by the Tony Blair Institute on 18 June 2021, The Hidden Pandemic: Long Covid , states ‘vaccination also provides additional protection against long COVID: even if a vaccinated individual goes on to contract Covid-19, that person’s chances of developing Long Covid are reduced by a further 30 per cent in the most at-risk age group.’

Additionally, the vaccines have shown to also relieve symptoms of long COVID in people that already developed COVID-19. Yale School of Medicine stated on 12 April 2021, Why Vaccines May Be Helping Some With Long COVID , ‘as many as 30 to 40 per cent of those who get the vaccine have reported improvements to their symptoms.’

However, analysis by Professor Karl Friston, of University College London, suggests that changes in people’s behaviour after being vaccinated have reduced the vaccines’ ability to prevent infection . People who have “let their guards down” by dramatically reducing social distancing and other safety measures have put themselves at much higher risk of contracting COVID -19 and potentially developing long COVID, believes Professor Friston, who publishes a weekly Covid-modelling report and sits on the influential independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies ( SAGE ).

Since my appointment to the role of Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills I have had a number of introductory discussions with the Chief Examining Officer to develop my understanding of matters pertaining to the alternative certification model and to discuss issues being raised by stakeholders.

The meeting of 24 May informed my understanding of the ACM and the approach to 2021 appeals.

On the phone call of 3 June I discussed my priorities and the upcoming publication of the OECD review ahead of my Parliamentary Statement that day.

At the meeting of 24 June SQA were invited to share thoughts on the Reform of SQA and Education Scotland.

These meetings were informal and as a result no minutes were taken.

While it is reassuring that, during a further national COVID-19 lockdown in Q1 2021, once a decision to treat was made, cancer patients in NHS Forth Valley waited on average four days for treatment. However, the 62 day standard remains challenged and while the overall aim is to recover cancer waiting times performance, our priority - as the NHS continues to remobilise - remains ensuring that vital services are delivered safely to patients based on their clinical priority.

To support the improvement of cancer waiting times, we are now releasing an additional £10 million non-recurring revenue funding across NHS Scotland, of which £545,000 has been made available to NHS Forth Valley.

Recovery and Redesign: An Action Plan for Cancer Services was published on 9 December 2020. The Plan will ensure patients have access to the best possible treatment and care and is monitored and overseen by the National Cancer Recovery Group.

The Scottish Government is in weekly contact with NHS Forth Valley to ensure that patients referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer are moved through the pathway as quickly as possible based on clinical priority and plans are underway to review the boards implementation of the Scottish Government Effective Cancer Management Framework.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with universities and colleges to support the safe return of students for the next academic year. Recovery of additional costs for the provision of quarantine facilities in student accommodation for international students from red-list countries is currently one of the matters being discussed.

Following agreement with the Improvement Service, the National Entitlement Card Programme Office and Young Scot, who are responsible for handling applications for and issuing the National Entitlement Cards on which the national concessionary travel schemes depend, we plan that young people should be able to travel under the new Young Persons Free Bus Scheme from 31 January 2022.

We have previously announced our intention to extend the scope of the scheme to include 19-21 year olds and committed to making as much progress on this as possible this financial year. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the legislation required to amend the age eligibility for the scheme, when the new scheme goes live it will do so for young people up to and including the age of 21.

In line with our Programme for Government commitment, the Fuel Poverty Strategy will be published by the end of this year. We will consult with a wide range of relevant stakeholders. The timescale for this consultation will be confirmed in due course.