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The Scottish Government obtains information which informs how we identify and advise people at highest risk of becoming severely ill or dying from Covid-19 from a variety of reliable UK and international sources. While that evidence is published and readily available, it is not always easy for people at highest risk to understand or to translate into informed choices about individual behaviours. We are therefore planning to publish a summary of the current evidence that underpins our advice in a form that people find accessible this autumn.

The following table shows, in relation to deaths in prison where the deceased was aged 25 or younger, the average and longest time taken to conclude an FAI in each of the last five years. Days are calculated from the date of death to the date evidence at the FAI was concluded.

There is a range of projections as to how far heat pump costs can be brought down, set out in various recent publications by BEIS and the Climate Change Committee.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the supply chain to maximise cost reductions, and to leverage economic opportunities for Scottish businesses and communities. We have committed to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to kick-start market growth, and will work with industry to co-produce a new ‘Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan’ by Summer 2022. In addition we have been working with the heat pump industry to explore the potential for Heat Pump Sector Deal for Scotland, and will respond to the forthcoming recommendations of an advisory group at the earliest opportunity.

There is no specific offence for 'drink spiking' however the Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database shows there were no people convicted for offences under section 11 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (administering a substance for sexual purposes) or for drugging from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

As part of our Future Skills Action Plan, we will provide more opportunities for the current workforce to upskill and retrain. To support this, we increased our investment in workforce development to £20m per annum from
‎ 2020-21.

The Flexible workforce Development Fund is now open to all employers, with up to £15,000 per year available for UK Government Apprenticeship Levy payers and £5,000 for SMEs to support workforce development supporting business growth.

In some sectors, such as Tourism and Hospitality, Cyber Security, green Construction, Aviation, Aerospace, and Digital, the National Transition Training Fund is supporting in-work skills development to enable economic recovery from Covid-19 and EU exit, as well as helping businesses gain the skills to for the transition to net zero.

In the current financial year, there is also support for businesses in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire through the North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund. This £14.3m fund recognises the dual impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn in Oil and Gas/ Local partners are working with businesses in key sectors to provide skills support to aid economic recovery in the area.

The need to raise awareness amongst employers on the necessary behaviour changes that will support a just transition to net zero is also recognised as a priority area in the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP), which was published in December 2020.

The current activity taken as part of the CESAP includes training developed by Keep Scotland Beautiful that has helped organisations to better understand the climate emergency and respond to the risks and opportunities it presents and the development of multi-disciplinary training on natural capital approaches. In addition to the actions already being taken, over the next year there will be a ‘toolkit’ developed to help small/micro businesses develop the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to the demands of the transition to net zero.

The Scottish Government’s position is that VAT should not be applied to deposits charged under Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and we have made official and ministerial representations on this issue. It is important that where we can we promote rather than hinder progress towards a circular economy.

As VAT is a reserved matter, the final decision will rest with the UK Government and will be for them to confirm.

The Scottish Government provides various grant funding each year to support and expand allotments and community growing groups in Scotland.

Scottish Government community funds, including Climate Challenge Fund, Climate Challenge Asset Fund and Investing in Communities Fund more broadly support a wide range of community growing and community garden projects.

The Scottish Government provided funding through the Community Growing Fund which was a grant scheme for the years 2019-2020 and 2020-21, providing a total of £80,000 to local community growing groups public bodies and third sector organisations.

The Scottish Government has made more than £9 million available to Health Boards this year for diagnostic imaging and is currently supporting additional X-ray appointments during evenings and at weekends. This service is being delivered while maintaining patient safety and flow through departments, as well as preserving infection prevention control measures at all times.

Moving forward we have recently published the NHS Recovery Plan, which is backed by more than £1 billion of investment and aims to improve service delivery and increase capacity, in order to tackle the regrettable backlogs that have emerged as a result of the pandemic.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained directly from Health Boards.

We continue to closely monitor all emerging evidence on new treatments related to the long-term effects of COVID-19 (long Covid) and their clinical effectiveness.

The current Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) clinical guideline , developed in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), provides evidence based information for clinicians on the identification and management of people affected by long-term effects of COVID-19.

The clinical guideline which is being actively reviewed and updated in line with the evidence base on the treatment of long COVID as it continues to develop.