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There are no current plans to update the publication ‘Scotland’s Long COVID Service’.

The guideline ‘Managing the long-term effects of COVID-19' was first issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in December 2020 and updated in November 2021. NICE continues to check for the publication of new evidence and consider whether it would change any recommendations in the guideline. No evidence to update the recommendations has been found since the last update in November 2021.

NHS Inform has a dedicated microsite () which provides information for people living with long COVID .This was reviewed and where necessary updated in 2023 following user research with people living with long COVID.

The Scottish Government recognises that the cost of living crisis continues to place pressure on household budgets. However, previous industry research has shown that customers facing affordability issues can be found across all Council Tax bands. Therefore, at this time there are no plans to increase the Water Charges Reduction Scheme discount further as this would also have the effect of placing an additional burden on the general customer base who may also be struggling to afford water and sewerage charges.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken such an assessment.

The Water and Sewerage Services to Dwellings (Collection of Unmetered Charges by Local Authority) (Scotland) Order 2023 provides a mechanism for Scottish Water to pay Local Authorities for the costs of billing and collecting water and sewerage charges. The Scottish Government therefore has no requirement to hold the requested information.

We understand that reunion and contact with family members are vitally important to refugees living in Scotland. Although asylum and immigration are reserved matters, we want the process of family reunion to be simpler and safer for refugees in Scotland.

The legal duty for housing and homelessness, including responsibility for managing and allocating temporary accommodation, sits with local authorities and neither Ministers nor Scottish Government officials are able to intervene in those decisions. Support with finding suitable housing for refugees and their children are the responsibility of the local authority who should be contacted if housing circumstances change.

In some cases, where there is a change of circumstances, the local authority will require the individual/family to register as homeless. Refugees and their dependents, are entitled to access homelessness support from their local authority. Most funding for homelessness is provided through the local government settlement. In addition to this, the Scottish Government has provided local authorities with £60.5m since 2018 to support the implementation of rapid rehousing transition plans and provide £30.5m annually for their work to prevent homelessness.

The Scottish Government is increasing funding to the culture sector by £15.8m this financial year to £196.6m. This is the first step on the route to investing at least £100m more annually in culture and the arts by the financial year 2028-29. In 2025-2026 we aim to provide an additional £25m to the culture sector.

I appreciate the need for clarity within the culture sector regarding the £100m and I hope to set out the trajectory of spend for the remainder of this Parliament in due course.

In line with normal budgetary procedure the Scottish Government will publish a draft budget for 2025-26 later this year.

As set out in our Housing to 2040 strategy, we are committed to streamlining and accelerating the housing adaptations system and to take action to reduce the time it takes for disabled people to apply for and receive support and maximise the available resources. My officials are taking forward a review of the current housing adaptations system which will make recommendations on how best to improve and streamline the system.

We published updated practical guidance on the delivery of adaptations and equipment services in January 2023. This guidance will contribute to the housing adaptations review.

We are considering the potential implications for the delivery of adaptations and other delegated housing services arising from the establishment of a new National Care Service.

We have also developed regulations under section 37 of the Equality Act 2010 that give disabled people the right to make necessary, reasonable adaptations to common areas of their property.

At local level, responsibility for the planning, ensuring delivery of adaptations and most funding currently rests with Health and Social Care Partnerships.

In addition, funding of over £8 million is also available for 2024-2025 for adaptations for Registered Social Landlord tenants. In the period between 2007-2008 and 2022-2023, over £200 million has been provided directly to housing associations to help them provide housing adaptations.

The Scottish Government approved £21 million of funding for the 2021-2024 period to support equality and human rights in Scotland through the Equality and Human Rights Fund . Of that total, nearly £5.5 million is specifically allocated to fourteen organisations delivering a range of activities to engage with and support black and minority ethnic organisations and communities in Scotland. Overall, the funded organisations have provided support to 4,168 people, and 747 organisations.

The Scottish Government also established a short term Anti-Racism Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racism Infrastructure (AIGG), which was comprised of academic experts, young people and community leaders with specific expertise in anti-racism in Scotland. An important part of the group’s work was commissioning participatory community research to engage with racialised communities across Scotland to ensure they are informed and engaged with the work being done to progress anti-racism in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has long-standing and continued engagement with a variety of organisations in the minority ethnic sector, including our strategic partners BEMIS, CRER and CEMVO, to collectively drive change for our diverse communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s recent investment into diabetes technologies will allow all children living with Type 1 diabetes to get access, should they want it. This funding will also support increased provision to adults. Exact numbers in each NHS board area will be determined by local delivery plans being developed by NHS boards, working with the National Diabetes Technologies team in the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, based on waiting lists, staff capacity and affordability.

The new investment from the Scottish Government to support new access to technologies is in addition to baseline funding provided to NHS boards. It is not being allocated to boards to pay for their current delivery plans.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-28205 on‎ 5 July 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers