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We do not underestimate the severe impact the pandemic is having on the night-time sector and restrictions will not be kept in place a day longer than necessary. As the First Minister made clear on 13 July, a gradual approach to the lifting of restrictions gives the best chance of sustainability and will help build people’s confidence to return to their normal lives and support these businesses.

We have previously made additional funding of up to £750 per week available to nightclubs depending on their Rateable Value. We regularly engage with the night time industry. Guidance for the night time economy will be developed in partnership with the industry in line with the decisions on moving beyond level 0 and taking account of the baseline measures which will be in place. We are however, at this time, unable to commit to further funding for businesses or their employees including those in the night time economy due to a lack of further consequentials from the UK Government.

We continue to urge the UK Government to extend both the Self Employment Income Support Scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to support both workers and the self-employed impacted by the ongoing influence of COVID-19 the economy .

Through our membership of the Energy Skills Alliance, we are working collaboratively with the industry, trade bodies and unions to ensure the right skills and training are in place to protect and create jobs as we become a net-zero economy. Our Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan puts knowledge and skills at the heart of a systematic approach to retaining skills and expertise as we transition to becoming a net-zero economy and, this year, the first wave of our £100 million Green Jobs Fund got under way.

In 2020 we launched our £62 million Energy Transition Fund to support the oil, gas and energy sectors grow and diversify, accelerating its transition to net-zero emissions. Fair Work principles are being applied across projects funded by the Energy Transition Fund, supporting the creation of green jobs and training individuals with the skills they need to ensure a just transition to net-zero that puts people’s wellbeing at the heart of our net-zero economy. By capitalising on our strengths in energy, innovation, and our skilled workforce, Scotland can show the rest of the world how it’s done – and ensure our people, businesses and communities are at the forefront of our new green economy.

We have also introduced the National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) to support individuals at risk of Covid-19 related redundancy to move into new industries. A number of colleges are delivering courses to support the transition to net zero. In the coming weeks we will set out how NTTF will continue to address the impact of Covid-19, but also take account of the impacts of EU exit, and support upskilling or retraining for the transition to net zero.

We will also invest an additional £500 million over the next parliament to support new jobs and reskill people for the jobs of the future.

The responsibility for publishing the Deloitte audit report of the Crofting Commission lies with Audit Scotland. Officials have advised that the report will be in the public domain in November 2021.

As a result of declining numbers of female high secure patients in Scotland, the decision was taken to close the female facility at The State Hospital in 2009. However, both the Independent Review into the Delivery of Forensic Mental Health Services and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment have called for a female high secure service in Scotland to be reinstated.

Our formal response to the Independent Review will be published soon and we continue to work with key stakeholders to ensure female high secure provision is available for Scotland and that women’s pathways in forensic mental health services are improved.

COP26 will be the biggest international summit the UK has ever hosted, meaning that the policing operation is considerable and will require large deployments of both Police Scotland officers and mutual aid officers brought in from other parts of the UK.

Decisions on how to allocate these resources are a matter for the Chief Constable. However, the recent HMICS review into Police Scotland’s planning for the event offers a high degree of assurance around the service’s ability to balance business as usual policing with delivering a safe and secure COP26.

The Scottish Government published the Rural Payment Strategy Timetable for 2020 scheme year payments in November 2020 with payments to farmers and crofters starting in December 2020, the earliest point since 2015.

All elements of the 2020 payment strategy were successfully delivered by 11 June 2021, two weeks ahead of schedule. By the regulatory deadline of 30 June 2021, over 99% value across all schemes had been paid with a value of over £530 million delivered to the rural economy.

The second payment of convergence funds and the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme provided a further £76 million.

In respect of the 2021 Payment Strategy, the strategy, announced on 12 February 2021, sets out our intention to match our 2020 payment performance.

In total over £660 million in ongoing agricultural support was approved as part of the 2021-22 Scottish Government budget.

The Scottish Government has spent £16,959,406.60 supporting the fishing industry since 1 January 2021. This is made up of residual EU and domestic project funding as well as the support through the Seafood Producers Resilience Fund.

I am meeting with the industry on a weekly basis to address the supply chain issues, which are due to a number of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic and EU Exit.

Data from the fortnightly Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) provides us with an insight into the impact on the construction industry in Scotland, for example:

• In Wave 34 of the survey (covering the period 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021), 59.6% of Construction businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in the last two weeks had increased by more than normal price fluctuations. The proportion of Construction businesses reporting that prices had increased more than normal has been rising since April 2021 (32.7% in Wave 29).
• In Wave 33 of the survey (covering the period 14 June 2021 to 27 June 2021), 50.1% of applicable Construction businesses reported that they were able to get the materials, goods or services they needed from the EU in the past two weeks, but 36.6% reported that the business had to change suppliers or find alternative solutions, and a further 13.3% reported that they had not been able to get the materials, goods or services needed. The proportion of Construction businesses reporting that they had been able to access materials has been declining since April 2021 (83.0% in Wave 29), and Construction businesses reporting that they had not been able to access materials has increased since April 2021 (8.1% in Wave 29).

The latest data from the Scottish Government analysis of the BICS is available at: .

Initial estimates suggest that 5,786 invitations have not yet issued to people affected by the pause, but it should be stressed that this will be for a range of reasons, including participants being excluded from the programme after it restarted, or taking the opportunity to be screened at their GP ahead of their scheduled prompt to make an appointment. Data on patients who had their routine cervical screening test delayed and have (a) now received a test, (b) referred for further investigation is not routinely available at present.

Public Health Scotland will release their annual statistical report on the cervical screening programme on 1 September 2021.

The Scottish Government encourages any defibrillator guardian, including those placed in primary or secondary schools, to register their device with the Scottish Ambulance Service to enable an accurate and up to date central record of defibrillators across Scotland.

Through encouraging registration of defibrillators across Scotland, we can better understand their placement, usage and maintain a more accurate and up-to date record.