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The Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022, to offer sanctuary in Scotland to displaced people from Ukraine. It works within the UK Government’s Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and provides a fast and safe alternative to private sponsorship, meaning people can travel immediately and be provided with temporary accommodation, meals and a range of support, from assessing medical needs to applying for benefits. The Scottish Government is extremely thankful for the generosity of everyone right across Scotland who has expressed an interest in hosting, or who has offered their support to people displaced by the current conflict.

Statistics published on 7 July by the UK Government show that, as at 5 July, 22,451 confirmed applications sponsored by the Scottish Government had been made under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and 17,377 Scottish Government sponsored visas had been issued. Scotland has to date welcomed 7286 displaced people from Ukraine – 11.5% of all arrivals in the UK – 4666 of whom arrived under the super sponsor scheme. Scotland has welcomed the highest number of applications, visas issued and arrivals per head of population of the four nations of the UK.

The rate of visa applications, visas issued and arrivals in Scotland under the super sponsor scheme continues to rise. As at 5 July, visa applications listing the Scottish Government as sponsor were up 21% on the previous week, with visas issued up 27% and arrivals under the super sponsor scheme up 20%. Based on applications submitted already, we could see between 9,000 and 18,000 additional arrivals in the coming weeks and months.

As set out in a policy position paper published today, the Scottish Government’s priority is to provide safe, comfortable accommodation and a wraparound support offer to the displaced people from Ukraine who have arrived in Scotland, and to those who will arrive in the weeks ahead, having applied for visas already.

In order to achieve that objective, the Scottish Government has taken the decision to pause the super sponsor scheme from 9:00am on Wednesday 13 July for a period of 3 months. This will allow us ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who will shortly be travelling to Scotland, are able to stay in appropriate temporary accommodation and get the right support ahead of moving into safe, sustainable longer-term accommodation.

The pause on new applications will not affect anyone who has already made an application or had their visa granted.

We will review our position in three months, but of course if circumstances change during that time we will bring that date forward.

This is a humanitarian crisis requiring a whole of Scotland response, and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local councils and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who have applied and are granted permission to travel, will be safe, secure and supported for as long as they need, after the dangers they have faced at home.

The delivery of Keep Well health checks are no longer centrally overseen by the Scottish Government. It is up to local NHS Health Boards with their area practices to decide on administering these checks. The Community Links Worker programme has now been rolled out to practices particularly in deprived areas and offers support to individuals experiencing for example financial, housing and social isolation concerns. The Links Workers can refer back to GPs for a clinical assessment including for liver disease should any concerns arise.

Public Health Scotland produce an Annual Statistical Report on Acute Hospital Activity and NHS Beds Information , including data on hospital stays with a diagnosis of sepsis by NHS Board and local authority area at tables 5 and 6.

PHS also monitor sepsis prevalence by maintaining a sepsis clinical data profile within their performance management and benchmarking database, based on patients receiving care in general acute specialties. This data is for use by NHS Boards, local authorities, health and social care partnerships and the Scottish Government. It is updated quarterly – the most recent profile update was made in May 2022 and includes data up to December 2021.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, has been supporting clinical teams to improve their recognition of sepsis and to deliver six simple interventions (the “sepsis six”) which, when delivered within an hour of recognition, will improve survival for these patients. This response is kept under constant review and updated in line with new guidance as it emerges, such as the recent Academy of Medical Royal Colleges guidance on Sepsis management.

Building on this successful work, SPSP launched a revised deteriorating patient driver diagram and change package in September 2021. Sepsis forms a core part of this change package. The SIGN Deteriorating Patient Guideline, currently under review, will also include an updated section on sepsis.

Amongst other matters, the bail provisions in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill provide for a new bail test to be used by the court when assessing whether to grant bail to an accused person or remand them in custody. As the decision in any given case will continue to remain with the court and in light of the various uncertain factors that influence the court's decision-making e.g. levels of crime, types of crime committed, previous history of those accused of offences etc, it is not possible to provide an analysis of how the proportion of people charged with a crime who are granted bail might change as a result of the Bill's provisions.

The financial memorandum for the Bill outlines the estimated impact of all the provisions contained in the Bill. In particular, pages 2 to 14 provides details of the Scottish Government's estimates as to the financial impact of the bail provisions in the Bill.

Although responsibility for forensic testing falls within the remit of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the Scottish Government continues to work closely with SPA and other partners in the criminal justice system to ensure that testing capacity is resilient and able to meet demand in the longer term. To assist with the development of a longer term solution, Craig Naylor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), has agreed to undertake an urgent review, which will concentrate on the end to end processes for obtaining, analysing and reporting drug driving blood sample results - and identify solutions to capacity in the longer term. We would expect its findings to also consider any investment that will be needed to meet future demand. HMICS plan to complete the review by the end of the year.

The Scottish Government fully supports the enforcement efforts of Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in tackling the scourge of drug driving to help make Scotland’s roads safer. However, it is for the Procurator Fiscal’s office to confirm the position on any other crimes which are being impacted by capacity issues in forensic testing.

With regard to testing for drug driving, while this falls within the remit of the SPA, it should be noted that more than 5,600 drug driving tests have been conducted in Scotland since new legislation was introduced in 2019. We have sought and received assurance that urgent action is underway to address the capacity issues in relation to drug driving in both the immediate and longer-term.

The answer to question S6O-01292 does not directly reference any data on heat pumps. However, the answer to the supplementary question does:

"the experience that we have and the comparable data that we have from countries that already have a long history of using heat pumps and heat networks show that they will be effective in Scotland"

The research being referenced here was commissioned by the Scottish Government through ClimateXChange and was published under the title “Heat pump use in Scotland - an evidence review” in October 2021. The paper can be found here:

https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/research/projects/heat-pump-use-in-scotland-an-evidence-review/

The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland statistics publication for 2021-22 will be published on 24 August 2022.

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme allows EU citizens visiting Scotland, including volunteers, to access immediately necessary NHS healthcare at no charge, other than for certain dental and ophthalmic treatments in common with the general population. The EHIC scheme also makes provision for the treatment of long term conditions, such as kidney dialysis or oxygen therapy, which can be arranged with NHS Boards in advance of travelling to Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the great value of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, and the impact which this celebrated international recognition can offer to both individual sites, as well as to the wider national natural, culture and heritage sectors. Through our sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, advice and guidance is delivered to support many local organisations and groups across the country, to develop and deliver appropriate maintenance plans and sustainable business models for a wide variety of sites.

When the UK Government decided to review and invite new applications to the UK’s World Heritage tentative list, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Constitution and External Affairs wrote to Nigel Huddleston MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that there would be representation from all UK nations on the independent panel of heritage experts who will be reviewing the applications.

Expressions of interest were due to be submitted by 6 May, with a full application form due by 15 July so that the expert panel can fully assess each application for suitability for inclusion.