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The Scottish Government did not set the ScotWind seabed lease Option Agreement fees. The advisory note prepared for the Scottish Government recommends that any new, higher, levels be appropriately justified. Crown Estate Scotland (“CES”) proceeded to satisfy those requirements through, in this case, appropriate consideration of externally procured advice. CES explained to SG the rationale for the pricing structure adopted. No further information is held relating to that recommendation.

The Super Sponsor scheme is designed to provide a quick and safe route for displaced people from Ukraine to come to a place of sanctuary by removing the need for applicants to be matched to an individual sponsor prior to being given permission to travel to the UK.

Once people have arrived, a national matching service, delivered by COSLA, will match those settling here with longer-term accommodation across Scotland.

Displaced people from Ukraine are asked to complete a short questionnaire that captures key information and preferences. This information is then used to find suitable longer-term accommodation, which will be offered as a choice.

All 32 of our local authorities are taking part in this programme, and hosts have offered up their homes right across the country. The national matching service will ensure that people are offered settlement opportunities across Scotland, recognising that people will have different preferences and available housing is limited in some local authorities.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with epilepsy are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Decisions on local staffing requirements are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards, such as NHS Western Isles which is reviewing its method of delivery for all people with neurological conditions, including epilepsy, across the island groups.

The Scottish Government and COSLA recently published a National Workforce Strategy on 11 March 2022. The Strategy commits to publishing new workforce projections in the autumn, once we have had the opportunity to consider Health Board and Health and Social Care Partnerships' three year workforce plans. The staffing needs for services and professional specialties across NHS Scotland will be, in partnership with stakeholders, factored into the development of those projections.

In 2019 we published a Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action 2020-25 , which sets out a vision to ensure everyone with a neurological condition, including epilepsy, can access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms. Since October 2020, we have invested £324,500 in funding via the Framework to projects which specifically improve the health and wellbeing of people with epilepsy in Scotland.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) continue to work with Health Boards to support their planning and the safe delivery of immunisation services.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HPV and teenage booster programmes were delayed due to school closures. Pupils who were not offered their vaccines or who missed the immunisation sessions at their school, were offered the vaccine during catch-up sessions arranged by their Health Board. Health Boards have confirmed that these catch-up sessions have now been fully completed.

Therefore, all Health Boards have returned to a routine vaccination schedule for HPV and teenage boosters for the 2021-22 academic year.

Public Health Scotland collate data on the HPV vaccination programme for the previous school year every autumn. Data for school year 2021-22 will be collated in autumn 2022 and published in December 2022.

The most recent PHS publications can be found online: Publications - Public Health Scotland

On 26 April the Scottish Information Commissioner issued a decision notice (048/2022) requiring the disclosure of certain information about legal advice on the topic of a second independence referendum. The information had been withheld by the Scottish Government in response to a Freedom of Information request as it considered that the Government should have been able to receive the advice in confidence under “legal professional privilege”. The Commissioner, in responding to an appeal from the requester, took a different view - that considerations favouring release in this case outweighed those for maintaining legal professional privilege.

The Scottish Government has considered the Commissioner’s decision carefully.

There is a longstanding convention, observed by Scottish, UK and other governments, that government does not disclose legal advice except in exceptional circumstances. This convention, which is reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code, is intended to ensure that full and frank legal advice can be taken by governments, just as other organisations and individuals can take legal advice in confidence and subject to legal professional privilege.

The convention is also reflected in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, section 36 of which makes such information exempt from release to the extent that the public interest in disclosing the information is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption. It is on the applicability of this section of the FOI legislation that the Commissioner has come to a different view from the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government considers that the convention on legal advice is important for ensuring good government. It disagrees strongly with the Commissioner’s reasoning in his decision and considers that there are good grounds for a successful appeal to the Court of Session to challenge the Commissioner’s ruling.

However, we have also taken account of the fact that the material covered by this Decision dates from 2020 and relates to proposed government actions that have since been taken forward and on which the legal position can therefore already be assumed. The Government has therefore concluded, on the particular circumstances of this case only, that the time and expense required for an appeal would not be merited, and that it will release and publish the information concerned.

It should be stressed, however, that the Scottish Government’s publication of the material in this case does not set any precedent for its position on releasing any other information that is subject to legal professional privilege, including in response to any other Freedom of Information request. Nor does the Information Commissioner Decision represent a binding legal precedent. The Government will therefore continue to apply the relevant exemptions, in line with the public interest test, as set out in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and to follow the Scottish Ministerial Code in relation to legal advice, including in relation to material related to a referendum. The Government also reserves the right to appeal future Information Commissioner decisions to the Court of Session if it considers that appropriate in the circumstances.

Independent Licensing Boards in Scotland can grant general extensions of licensed hours if they consider it appropriate to do so in connection with a special event of local or national significance – as was the case during the Queen’s 60 th Jubilee celebrations in 2012. Whilst these are matters for Licensing Boards in their areas, the Scottish Government is supportive of Licensing Boards having these powers. It is worth emphasising the local decision making powers in this area, the Scottish Ministers do not have a power to grant a general extension of licensed hours, unlike the Home Secretary under the England and Wales licensing regime.

In 2022, the National Events Programme, which has now closed for applications, would allow an eligible airshow to apply for EventScotland funding of up to £25,000. EventScotland are supporting the Largs Viking Festival (27 Aug – 4 Sept) and the Making Waves festival in Irvine (22-24 July). Both festivals include an air display as part of their event and are receiving funding via the National Events Programme.

For future years, the Resource Spending Review (RSR) published on 31 May provides a high level direction of travel and sets out Scottish Government priorities. The RSR delivers what certainty the Scottish Government can against the challenging context of the spiralling cost of living, Covid recovery and the Ukraine crisis and within the limits of the fiscal framework. The Scottish Government will work with the events sector and our public bodies on the detail of the spending review and what this means for budgets for individual programmes and projects.

In the period between 2012 and 2021 there have been 72,683 hernia mesh repairs. Rectopexy mesh analysis is not currently produced. Public Health Scotland are in the process of developing the correct codes to use for future analysis.

Now that the Public Inquiry is complete Scottish Ministers are considering the terms of the report received on 18 February 2022 and should be in a position to make a decision in due course.

Local authorities across Scotland have a range of approaches to the provision of technology in schools, including some councils who have undertaken to provide cohorts of their school population with devices using their own budgets.

The latest information we have from councils indicates that almost 280,000 devices have been, or are in the process of being, rolled out to learners across Scotland. This includes the 72,000 provided as a result of Scottish Government funding. We do not have additional information regarding device rollout in either South Ayrshire or East Ayrshire beyond that included in the answer to S6W-06933.