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The number of appointments available at clinics are based on the number of staff available on a given date. For example, if there are three vaccinators available at a clinic at 9am on a specific date then 3 appointments would be available to allocate for that time slot.

Throughout the pandemic we have refined the COVID-19 and flu appointment scheduling system, working directly with Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to incorporate their feedback and improve processes.

We have increased the number of training sessions with scheduling staff, developed comprehensive online guidance that can be referred to at any time and we continue to work closely with Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships where specific issues arise. A dedicated review process is in place for this and any learning is then disseminated to other Boards as required.

The Scottish Government is currently in the process of establishing a Short Life Working Group to be tasked with refreshing the Personal Footcare Guidance for publication in early 2023.

In instances where staff are sick absences may occur at short notice which cannot be foreseen, and bank cover staff are not always available at short notice to replace staff. Every effort is made to ensure there is sufficient vaccinators on site, however, as appointments are created and scheduled weeks in advance therefore local issues may arise.

Greater Glasgow and Clyde has put measures in place to try and reduce wait times and queues at its clinics by ensuring appropriate measures are in place to manage queues safely and effectively. For example, advising members of the public to arrive as close to their scheduled appointment time as possible to avoid queues.

Work is underway on a new approach to pandemic PPE through a joined-up public sector procurement arrangement, led by NHS National Services Scotland. We anticipate that we will transition to these new arrangements over the course of the next financial year.

NRS will publish the first census outputs approximately one year after conclusion of the census data collection phases.

NRS will consult with data users over the coming months to ensure that census outputs are accessible and provided in a format which meets the needs of census data users.

Audit Scotland’s briefing on PPE in June 2021 told us we need to learn from experience and to address a range of PPE issues for the future, and the Scottish Government was happy to agree to that recommendation.

Work continues to consult on and implement a new approach to pandemic PPE through a joined-up public sector procurement arrangement, led by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). This aims to provide a more resilient supply across Health, Social Care and the wider public sector for the long term, with due priority given to the need for robust supply chains and reductions in environmental impact.

The Scottish Government has already provided funding to run the first phase of a Small Business Research Initiative at NHS Tayside to help develop prototypes of reusable mask solutions. This first phase has provided an opportunity for companies to secure funding to undertake appropriate research and development of their prospective solutions.

The Scottish Government has not provided direct funding to third sector organisations to provide footcare services for vulnerable and older people.

Funding is provided to third sector organisations, including those that support vulnerable and older people, from across Scottish Government portfolios and is not collated centrally.

The Scottish Government is supported by both commercial and legal experts in its ongoing management of the Scottish Government Guarantee with the GFG Alliance.

It is not possible for the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to mandate the provision of community benefits through energy regulation because the relevant powers are reserved to the UK Government. Through our existing guidance for onshore renewable developments, we continue to promote community benefits of the value equivalent to £5,000 per installed megawatt per annum, index linked for the operational lifetime of the project.

The Scottish Government is in the process of reviewing its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments. We will consult on revised draft guidance in Spring 2023, and as part of this process we will gather evidence to help inform the need for further updates to our Good Practice Principles for: Community Benefits from, and Shared Ownership of Onshore Renewable Energy Developments.