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Scottish Government officials have been in contact with the UK Government to ensure that North Ayrshire Council and other stakeholders have the opportunity to discuss the decision taken to locate the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production programme at a West Burton site, in North Nottinghamshire.

We understand that the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, are conducting follow up sessions with each of the unsuccessful sites, including Ardeer.

Funding provided through the Youth Music Initiative Formula Fund by Creative Scotland, who deliver the initiative on behalf of the Scottish Government, was paused and then confirmed to all 32 local authorities and Jordanhill School. This was related to the management of the 2022-23 Scottish Budget. The Scottish Government’s Resource Spending Review in May 2022 related to future years’ spending.

The national standardised assessments are designed to be age and stage appropriate, and as inclusive as possible: there is no time limit for their completion; learners can undertake the assessments in more than one session; the system is compatible with a range of devices and assistive technologies; and teachers have the flexibility to decide how and when assessments are administered. As such, we expect most primary one learners to undertake the assessments, as has been the case in previous years*. As always, teachers’ presentation decisions should be made after considering the individual needs and wellbeing of children, the diagnostic purpose of national standardised assessment and the way in which teachers and schools intend to use information.

* 2019/20 exception, due to COVID-19 related school closures.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving elimination of Hepatitis C across the whole of Scotland by 2024.

This includes the prison population. However, we know that the health needs of those in prison can be complex and may need more targeted intervention.

Opt-out testing for blood borne viruses, including hepatitis C, is recommended in prisons and PHS published “Guidance to Support Opt-Out Blood Borne Virus (BBV) Testing in Scottish Prisons” in 2019. This guidance recommends that BBV testing should be offered to everyone within 7 days of entering custody. The guidance is due to be reviewed later this year and that review, in combination with the work underway to re-invigorate progress towards the wider elimination target, will ensure there remains a focus on eliminating hepatitis C in Scottish prisons.

Scottish Government officials are in regular communications with public partners including SEPA, South Ayrshire Council, and The King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer.

In addition to the regular communication, officials from Scottish Government have met representatives from SEPA, and South Ayrshire Council on the following occasions: 1 July 2020, 8 December 2020, 4 February 2021, 22 March 2021, 28 January 2022, 15 February 2022, 3 March 2022 and 29 June 2022. Further meetings will also be held shortly.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the 2024 target of eliminating Hepatitis C in Scotland, whilst recognising the impact that the covid-19 pandemic has had on all our health services.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) recently published a report entitled ‘Surveillance of Hepatitis C in Scotland’ and the findings from that report indicate that major progress has been made regarding a number of Hepatitis C (HCV) elimination targets in Scotland, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. By 2021, 80% of individuals diagnosed with chronic HCV infection in Scotland had been initiated on HCV treatment, meaning that Scotland had met the World Health Organisation Target on treatment.

PHS are also currently undertaking a piece of work to determine incidence levels across Scotland and we expect to receive that data by the end of the year. This will support decision-making on the extent and location of required interventions and resources.

The Scottish Government is working with wider public partners to consider all possible avenues for the long-term management of the site. This includes the consideration of any private sector interest in the site.

Public Health Scotland produced the “Surveillance of Hepatitis C in Scotland” report earlier this month and the report indicated that major progress in Scotland has been made. By 2021, 80% of individuals diagnosed with chronic HCV infection in Scotland had been initiated on HCV treatment, meaning that Scotland had met the World Health Organisation Target on treatment.

While this is encouraging, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted progress towards the elimination target, and particularly challenged our ability to gather data needed to guide interventions. Additional prevalence data is expected before the end of this year. This will support decision-making on the extent and location of required interventions and resources.

The Scottish Government publishes quarterly National Statistics on crimes recorded by the police. This includes recorded crimes of 'Theft of a motor vehicle' which covers both cars and other motor vehicle types. These have fallen substantially over the longer term, with a 69% reduction from 15,000 in 2006-07 to 4,691 in the year ending June 2022. In terms of the last five years, levels have remained fairly constant, except for a significant fall in the year ending June 2021, that may have been a consequence of pandemic-related restrictions. The number of crimes recorded in each of the last five years for the year ending in June is set out in the following table.

Grants towards the cost of flood resilient repairs and/or protection measures for individual homes are available from some local authorities. For example, the Scottish Borders Council make flood protection products available through a discount scheme. Further details are available through the attached link FINAL_Subsidised_Flood_Protection_Products_June_2021 (1).pdf or from the Council.

The Scottish Flood Forum, a charity funded by the Scottish Government, can provide households with informed impartial help and guidance in making the best choice of property flood protection. They can arrange a community Property Flood Protection Exhibition to show householders what options are available to help them reduce flood risks at homes and can arrange to carry out assessments of individual homes on request.

In recognition of the importance of reducing flood risk the Scottish Government has provided, since 2008, a total of £42 million a year through the General Capital Grant to local authorities to allow them to invest in flood protection measures. In addition the 2020 Programme for Government committed an additional £150 million over the course of this Parliament for flood risk management actions.