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The public health surveillance system for drug harms will be fully operational by 31 March 2022 and led by Public Health Scotland. An early warning system is in development and structures are in place to ensure evidence based approaches to reducing drug harms are implemented.

The system collates and analyses a range of information relating to drug harms made available through organisations such as Police Scotland, Health Boards Scottish Prison Services, Local Authorities, the third sector and people with lived and living experience.

The emergence of new drugs is regularly monitored by Public Health Scotland and, following the alert from Public Health England in 2021, work is underway to incorporate screening for isotonitazene into toxicology procedures for both drug-related deaths and police seizures in Scotland.

In relation to detection of substances, unfortunately we do not hold information broken down to the level of detail requested. Scottish Government publish statistics on the number of drug possession and supply crimes and the quantities seized. These statistics relate to drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The full report can be accessed via this link:

Drug seizures and Offender Characteristics, 2018-2019 and 2019-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 made it an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess with intent to supply, possess on custodial premises, import or export psychoactive substances. The number of crimes of production, supply or possession in custody of a psychoactive substance was 2 in 2018-19, 10 in 2019-20 and 8 in 2020-21 (source: annex of the above noted report).

The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce has funded a project through Stirling University to research and develop the key components required to implement Drug Checking facilities in three areas in Scotland (Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen). Research began in January 2021 and will conclude with an evaluation report in January 2023. The project will also include a parallel programme of implementation.

The project team has committed to submitting applications to the Home Office in early 2022. Assuming support from the Home Office is forthcoming, we expect services to be established in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow in 2022.

We have highlighted our desire to introduce these facilities to the Home Office as any activity which involves the possession of controlled drugs would require a Home Office licence. Kit Malthouse, the UK Government Minister for Policing, has indicated that he is open to discussing this with the Scottish Government and conversations have taken place between Scottish and UK officials to progress this.

Our Fuel Poverty Strategy, published on 23 December, details how we aim to meet our statutory fuel poverty targets, as set out in the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019 ("the 2019 Act"). The 2019 Act requires us to meet our 2040 targets both nationwide and within each local authority area, so we recognise that local authorities will be key partners in our efforts to achieve our fuel poverty goals.

Local authority fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty rates are used to determine the funding allocations for our Area Based energy efficiency schemes (ABS), which are delivered in partnership with local authorities, ensuring money is distributed according to need.

Local authorities are currently required to set out their plans for how to tackle fuel poverty in their Local Housing Strategies (LHS). We will be refreshing our guidance on the fuel poverty requirements of the LHS to reflect the approach taken in our Fuel Poverty Strategy. In future local authorities will also be required to produce Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), within which they will set out how poor energy efficiency will be removed as a driver of fuel poverty.

Unfortunately, we do not hold the information requested.

National Records of Scotland produce an annual National Statistics publication each year on drug-related deaths in Scotland. The most recent year for which this drug death information is available is 2020. The next report, covering drug-related deaths during 2021, is due to be published in summer 2022.

Public Health Scotland information on hospital activity relating to illicit drug use in Scotland does not identify the substances specified - heroin and methadone are the only opioids with specific ICD-10 diagnostic codes (ICD-10 refers to ‘International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, health management purposes and clinical use).

The Scottish Government currently provides the most generous non-domestic rates regime for renewable energy generation in the UK. Under the Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (Scotland) Regulations 2000, solar panels, wind turbines and storage batteries are already exempt from rating where they are used for the generation, storage, transformation or transmission of power, where the power is mainly or exclusively ‘for distribution for sale to consumers’.

The Scottish Budget 2022-23 will expand the Business Growth Accelerator relief for property improvements to include the installation of solar panels as a qualifying improvement. The Business Growth Accelerator is unique in the UK and provides 100% relief on new builds for up to 12 months after first occupation and no rates increases for 12 months after a qualifying property improvement.

The Scottish Government’s investments in private companies are made in line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM), supported by a clear economic and commercial rationale and have represented value for money at the time of the investment. While these investments are not without commercial risk, our interventions have protected hundreds of jobs and delivered a national economic return by safeguarding vital businesses and supply chains.

We are working closely with Audit Scotland to strengthen the framework for decisions on future investments in private companies. The SPFM will be updated in January 2022 following feedback from Audit Scotland on planned enhancements to our approach.

Scotland will continue to use the pound sterling at the point of independence, establishing an independent Scottish currency as soon as practicable through a careful, managed and responsible transition when an independent Scottish parliament chooses to do so.

The SNP Growth Commission recommended a transition to a separate Scottish currency after six economic tests were met:

• Fiscal sustainability;
• Central Bank credibility and stability of debt issuance;
• Financial requirements of Scottish residents and businesses;
• Sufficiency of foreign exchange and financial reserves;
• Fit to trade and investment patterns;
• Correlation of economic and trade cycle.

Local authorities and Police have a range of powers under the current Coronavirus regulations, including the power to issue notices and directions on businesses to take specific actions. Similar powers have been in place under previous regulations. Enforcement action is the last step of the 4 Es approach (Engage, Explain, Encourage and Enforce).

No Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued to hospitality businesses by local authority officers under these regulations. Local authorities have sought to resolve any issues with businesses without resorting to formal enforcement, and where this has been necessary direction powers and improvement notices are the tools that have been used. Engagement and enforcement of the regulations on business premises has been led by the local authorities, rather than Police Scotland. Police Scotland do not publish data on FPNs issued.

We recognise the pandemic’s impact on the economy and businesses across a wide range of sectors. So far, the Scottish Government has provided £79.3 million directly to taxi and private hire drivers and operators in response to the pandemic. Further support of up to £28 million was announced on 5 January 2022 from within the £375 million package of funding announced on 21 December 2021, bringing total support for the sector to over £107 million. We will work closely with delivery partners to make payments to eligible businesses at the earliest opportunity, which is of course our established approach. Eligibility criteria will be published shortly.