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We have not undertaken any recent assessment of the costs to individuals or the economy of using reusable nappies compared to single-use nappies. However, in line with the waste hierarchy, the Scottish Government’s focus is on measures to promote reusable alternatives, like the reusable nappy vouchers in the Baby Box.

My officials are currently reviewing the operational and delivery arrangements for the Home Owners Support Fund to consider what improvements can be made, including capital and equity arrangements for the scheme.

We are helping public bodies and providers engage in the new and changing responsibilities ahead of establishing a National Care Service (NCS). In December 2021, Scottish Procurement Policy Note (SPPN 7/2021) advised Integration Joint Boards and public bodies to review their Strategic Commissioning plans, social care procurements and contracts to identify opportunities to align with ethical commissioning and procurement principles. We fund the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland to help organisations wishing to improve in this area. The NCS will ensure enhanced pay and conditions for workers through the introduction of national pay bargaining for this sector.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05286 on 10 January 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

A set of data tables for the most recent Chronic Pain Waiting Times publication, which was released on 8 March 2022, can be found at https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/chronic-pain-waiting-times/chronic-pain-waiting-times-quarter-ending-31-december-2021

Data is available from the quarter ending 31 December 2015 to the quarter ending 31 December 2021.

From the £12 million we made available to support the wellbeing of the health, social work and social care workforce in 2021-22, we:

• Used £3.5 million to assist in the continuation of our national wellbeing resources
• Allocated £2 million to Health and Social Care Partnerships to provide evidence-based support to meet the needs of those working in primary and social care
• Allocated £2 million to Health and Social Care Partnerships to be used by Chief Officers of Integration Authorities (IA's) to support staff wellbeing during the winter pressures
• Allocated £2 million to Health Boards to support NHS staff wellbeing during the winter pressures
• Allocated £1.5 million to Health Boards to provide additional practical support that staff needed due to increased pressure from the Omicron variant
• Made £1 million available to support wellbeing projects for staff working in Adult Social Work and Social Care

The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of FIVEXMORE’s [The] Black Maternity Experiences Survey – a Nationwide Study of Black Women’s Experiences of Maternity Services in the United Kingdom , published on 24 May 2022, and we are considering its findings carefully, alongside the actions and recommendations from all audit reports and the MBRRACE-UK confidential enquiries. Our expectation remains clear: that mothers and babies receive high-quality, person-centred maternity care at all times, tailored to their needs, with quality and safety central to decision-making.

We are participating in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Race Equality Taskforce . The Scottish Government’s Senior Medical Officer for Maternity and Women’s Health is a member of the Taskforce, which will make recommendations for actions in maternity services to tackle the inequity in outcomes for pregnant women and babies from minority ethnic communities.

The Scottish Government and its agencies collaborate closely with their counterparts in Wales and England on the control of INNS. Scottish Government officials have played an active role with their counterparts in drafting the 2022-2030 Great Britain Invasive Non- Native Species Strategy. This key document sets out our agreed, collaborative approach to preventing invasive non-native species reaching our shores, through surveillance, early detection and rapid response provisions and long terms management and control of species already established. The provisions in the Strategy will be implemented in Scotland through the Non-native Species Action Group, and similar partnerships, which has representatives from the public and voluntary sectors.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government announced £250,000 from the Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) for Afghanistan. However, given the acute need and deteriorating conditions, this was subsequently increased to £360,000. £120,000 was awarded to Tearfund while £240,000 was awarded jointly to Christian Aid and Islamic Relief. These projects have now concluded and a report on their outcomes and results will be made publicly available in due course.

The Scottish Government subsequently awarded a further £240,000 from the HEF to the Disasters Emergency Committee for their Afghanistan appeal launched on 15 December, bringing our total commitment to Afghanistan to £600,000.

Through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme, over this parliamentary session, we will make available over £156 million of funding for the South Lanarkshire Council area to support delivery of social and affordable homes. Details of the resource planning assumptions for this period can be accessed on our webpage – Affordable housing: resource planning assumptions to councils 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

This funding will support the delivery of projects identified as strategic affordable housing priorities to the area, as set out in the Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), and will be administered through our Scottish Government More Homes local area team, working with delivery partners across the local authority area. A copy of the South Lanarkshire Council SHIP should be available online and is updated annually.

Based on the 2022-27 SHIP, it is estimated that over 3,000 affordable homes could be delivered across South Lanarkshire in this parliamentary term including over 700 in East Kilbride. It should be noted that the SHIP is a moveable document and planned figures are subject to change throughout the course of a financial year.

The Scottish Government and its agencies collaborate closely with their counterparts in Wales and England on the control of INNS. Scottish Government officials have played an active role with their counterparts in drafting the 2022-2030 Great Britain Invasive Non- Native Species Strategy. This key document sets out our agreed, collaborative approach to preventing invasive non-native species reaching our shores, through surveillance, early detection and rapid response provisions and long terms management and control of species already established. The provisions in the Strategy will be implemented in Scotland through the Non-native Species Action Group, and similar partnerships, which has representatives from the public and voluntary sectors.