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The Scottish Government contract with the whistleblowing charity Protect, who provided the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line, ended on 31 October 2020. The final report is available to view on: https://www.gov.scot/collections/nhs-confidential-advice-and-information-line/

The Whistleblowing Standards and Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) for NHS Scotland launched on 1 April 2021. The INWO offers a mechanism for external review of how a Health Board, primary care or independent provider handles a whistleblowing case. Included in this service is a confidential advice and information line which has been in operation since 1 November 2020. This provides support and advice to staff and managers on the application of the Whistleblowing Standards and mechanisms in place to support whistleblowing and whistleblowers. As the INWO operates independently, the Scottish Government do not hold information on the number of cases reported through this service.

Figures published by Public Health Scotland about average numbers of close contacts are based on completed Test and Protect interviews and completed online tracing form data, where index cases identify their close contacts.

As of 19 September Test and Protect has been successful in reaching over 1 million unique contacts.

We have introduced a range of measures, including increased use of digital and SMS communications and shortened call scripts for index case interviews, to ensure the contact tracing system continues to trace the contacts of people with Coronavirus and ensure they are given the right public health advice as quickly as possible, even when case numbers rise substantially. All decisions in relation to operational delivery of the contact tracing system have made in line with public health advice, including the continued prioritisation of higher risk cases. A combination of these changes is likely to have affected the average number of close contacts reported per case.

Test and Protect relies on members of the public to report all of their close contacts, to enable public health advice to be issued to those that may have been exposed to the virus. The Scottish Government strongly encourages everyone to engage with Test and Protect when contacted and fully disclose all contacts whether contacted by phone or digitally.

The Scottish Government Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with them should they be separated.

The findings of the Cats Protection’s survey suggest that the owners of around 71% of cats have accepted that recommendation and voluntarily microchipped their pets.

The Scottish Government does not currently consider that microchipping should be made compulsory for cats but is aware of the Defra call for evidence and recent public consultation on the microchipping of cats. We will give full consideration to the results of this consultation when they are available.

The Scottish Government has been using our contact with the UK Government to strongly make the case that Scottish civil society groups should have their voice heard in the Civil Society Forum, including through adequate representation of all four nations in its membership. We are also currently engaging with civil society groups to understand what further support they would find helpful to achieve this aim.

The £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme delivered over 101,300 fibre connections in the West Scotland region with over 96,600 of those capable of delivering speeds of 24 Megabits per second (Mbps) and above. The Reaching 100% (R100) programme will build upon this work by ensuring all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband – including those in the constituencies of Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West, Renfrewshire South, and Strathkelvin and Bearsden. The £600 million R100 contracts will deliver a substantial number of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, and the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) will also ensure that anyone who wants a superfast connection of 30Mbps and above by the end of 2021 can have one.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of hatred or prejudice, including towards our Muslim communities. Scotland is a diverse, multi-cultural society and this diversity strengthens us as a nation. That is why we are determined to tackle all forms of prejudice and discrimination.

In June 2017, we published our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan in response to recommendations made by the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, Prejudice and Community Cohesion. We established a ministerial-led group to take this ambitious action plan forward. A report on implementation of these actions will be published and we will begin development of a new hate crime strategy in conjunction with key partners and stakeholders later this year. The new strategy will support implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

It is in all of our interests to eliminate prejudice in Scotland, regardless of race or religion, and we would like to reiterate our commitment to working collaboratively with you and the Cross Party Group on Islamophobia to do so, including offering engagement on the range of issues highlighted within the report of the public enquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland.

Further to the work of the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee in the previous session of Parliament, the Scottish Government has begun the process of reviewing the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”). Earlier this year we published a consultation on dog control measures, with a specific focus on the criminal offence of a dog being allowed to be dangerously out of control contained in the 1991 Act. The views offered in response to the consultation have been analysed and will help to inform and formulate policy as to what specific legislative changes and non-legislative action should be progressed by the Scottish Government through further consultation. This work will include consideration of how banned breeds legislation operates.

The Sectoral Marine Plan – Offshore Wind for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (“INTOG”) is at an early stage and the Scottish Government is currently consulting on the Areas of Search, areas where projects under this planning process may be located, and on the details of the Plan Specification. This includes the 100 MW cap for Innovation and Test and Demonstration projects. The consultation will close on 20 October and all views will be considered before the next stage of the planning process commences.

It is important to clarify that the INTOG plan allows for any scale of project to proceed, provided it meets the purpose of the plan – to decarbonise oil and gas infrastructure, through electrification of platforms. The 100 MW threshold applies only to smaller projects seeking to test and demonstrate new technology or innovative solutions in the real environment. The planning process allows for both categories of projects to proceed in a sustainable manner with minimal impact to the environment or other sea users.

The £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme delivered over 951,500 fibre connections across Scotland with over 841,600 of those capable of delivering superfast speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps), the vast majority of which were in rural areas. The Reaching 100% (R100) programme will build upon this by delivering universal access to superfast broadband, regardless of remoteness or rurality. However, the contracts we have signed with BT for all three lots (North, Central and South) – alongside greater than anticipated commercial build – will also go significantly beyond our superfast commitment by delivering a substantial amount of full-fibre connections, meaning many premises will be capable of accessing download speeds of up to 1 Gigabit (1,000 Megabits) per second.

The total number of deer shot on Scotland’s national forests and land in the last five years is as follows: