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The Scottish Government is required by law to regularly review all protective measures that are currently in place, such as the mandatory requirement for the wearing of face coverings in most indoor settings, including places of worship. This measure will continue to be monitored and reviewed in relation to evidence on the : the direct impact of COVID-19, other health impacts, societal impacts, and economic impacts.

After a recent review, during which there was careful consideration of all of the current evidence as well as the options available, Ministers determined that the regulations on face coverings remain proportionate and should not change for the present.

At this stage of the pandemic many of the more intrusive restrictions have been lifted, but the virus and the harms that it causes have not gone away. We still continue to see hospital admissions and deaths as a result of COVID and the impacts of long COVID can be significant. That is why it remains important to maximise the use of the remaining measures such as face coverings.

While the vaccination has significantly weakened the link between new cases and serious health harms, it has not been completely broken. It is therefore important that places of worship, along with many other indoor settings, continue their good practice to reduce the spread of the virus.

We are grateful to faith and belief communities for their important role in protecting their congregations and enabling everyone, particularly those at higher risk, to access worship safely.

From 2017 to the end of 2021 we have received a total of £194.8m in EU Exit preparation consequentials.

Spend, both in preparation and post-EU Exit, has been on staff supporting activities such as legislative preparations, and supporting stakeholders and partners, including businesses, cultural bodies, higher education institutes, local government and the third sector.

We have consistently targeted our spending responsibly and appropriately to mitigate against the negative impacts of exiting the EU and we have allocated our spend to deal with the concurrent impacts of Covid and EU exit.

A decision on the timing of a Bill will be taken by Cabinet in the context of setting the content of future legislative programmes in the normal way.

The Scottish Government and National Services Scotland are working to ensure that COVID-19 records, in terms of vaccinations show complete accuracy.

This will be assisted by the digital application to record the COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available from 1 October.

Any suspected errors in a person’s COVID-19 vaccination record should be reported to the vaccinations status helpline on 0808 196 8565. The helpline can only resolve issues in relation to vaccinations administered in Scotland.

The total number of deer shot on Scotland’s national forests and land in the last five years is as follows:

We fully support the pig sector in Scotland and understand the difficulties created by Covid-19 and the knock-on impact this has had on exports to China. The Scottish Government are running a £715k Pig Producers Hardship Support Scheme to support the sector by assisting the producers who supplied the abattoir between 8 February and 31 March. I recognise the strain that the loss of the export licence to China in particular has placed on the sector as a whole. While we are doing what we can to push for relisting, the decision to relist UK sites for exports is ultimately a decision for the Chinese government.

Draft guidance for local authorities on overprovision is set out in chapter 3 of the . The guidance will be revised and updated working with stakeholders, once the legislation is finalised.

The Scottish Government supports the planting of the right tree in the right place. Forest and woodland strategies, including the , set the regional framework for woodland expansion and are developed by the local authority in partnership with interested stakeholders. These strategies identify preferred areas where forestry can have a positive impact on the environment, landscape, economy and local people, and also identify sensitive areas where forestry may not be a suitable choice.

The Regional Strategic Woodland Creation Project is furthest developed in the South of Scotland. Here it is being developed as an evolution of the . The ambition is to better define where the preferred areas for woodlands are, helping bridge the gap between strategic and site level considerations.

Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) pilots are being established this year, with Regional Land Use Frameworks (RLUF) being developed by 2023. The RLUPs will work within the existing context of their region, including identifying and working with key strategies and projects. The South of Scotland is one of the pilot regions. They are now beginning to engage with stakeholders on their regional approach, which will include engagement with forestry stakeholders as well as local communities, land managers and owners, experts and local and national government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03027 on  1 October 2021. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03027 on 1 October 2021. 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