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As announced in March, the recommendations from the Review will be taken forward by an Implementation Group which I am pleased to announce will be Co-Chaired by Dennis Robertson and a clinical lead that will be confirmed shortly.

I am also pleased to announce today that we are providing £5 million of funding to respond to the recommendations from the Review in this financial year. The majority of this funding will be provided to NHS Boards to support them respond to the increase in eating disorder presentations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is Recommendation 1 from the Review. This funding is being provided from the £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund.

In addition, in response to Recommendation 6 (Self-help Resources) and Recommendation 13 (Families and Carers) from the Review, we are also providing funding to Beat, the UK’s Eating Disorder Charity, to provide a wide range of support options such as support to families and carers of those with an eating disorder, support for children, young people and adults who are currently waiting to be seen by services and peer support services. We will shortly announce further details of this package of support.

I want to thank our health and care staff for their magnificent work to date. The last few months have been enormously challenging, with the expansion of our vaccination programme and the on-going demands of continuing to provide vital services to those requiring care.

While we have made great strides forward in dealing with the challenges that the pandemic has brought, the spread and impact of Covid continues to urge the need for caution in protecting the capacity of the NHS. Case numbers have continued to increase slowly over the last few weeks and our vaccination and Test and Trace resources have had to flex in response to emerging issues. All of this is taking place while our NHS continues to recover and so I want to continue with a measured and consistent approach to remobilising and renewing the vital services that we all rely upon. Additionally, we continue to be mindful of the impact on health and care staff, many of whom have been on the frontline of the Covid response for a considerable period.

It is clear that we need to continue to balance the capacity of the NHS to deal with Covid as well as the demands of emergency, urgent and planned care. With this in mind, I have decided that the NHS will remain on an emergency footing until at least 30 September 2021.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, and its specialist suppliers are finalising the design for a system of optical and infra-red cameras to be installed on the tower tops. This equipment will assist in providing a better understanding of the mechanism for ice accreting and falling off the cable stays and towers. Installation is scheduled for August. Options currently under consideration to prevent or reduce ice formation include coatings and de-icing compounds applied to the stay cables and towers and cleaning of the stay cables to remove deposited air borne particulates from the external surface of the stay cables. These options are being considered for laboratory testing and possible site trials.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with port operators about accessing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Government has consistently failed to engage meaningfully with the Devolved Nations on the Fund. It remains unclear how much Scotland will receive or on what basis our allocation will be decided. This is clearly not conducive to a smooth introduction of the Fund in Scotland.

It is extremely disappointing that the UK Government has again decided to use the powers it has given itself in the Internal Market Act to introduce a scheme which bypasses the Scottish Government and stakeholders.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has provided detailed information on this year’s appeals process on its website that includes Frequently Asked Questions, an interactive chatbot and a flowchart of how the process will work this year. Further details are available at: .

In addition, a leaflet is being sent out to every learner in Scotland with details of the process, along with learner support information. If young people have any questions on appeals that are not answered through these resources they can contact SQA’s customer support team at: . Support for young people will continue to be available through the summer.

SQA has previously used podcasts and Question and Answer sessions to engage with young people and are actively looking at these for the appeals service.

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was launched on 10 February 2019 with a total of up to £10 million available to help accelerate the commercial deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters.

Following a process of evaluation and due diligence, two projects were supported under the Fund, with total funding of up to £4.945 million being awarded. A total of £4,604,882 has been paid to the two projects to date. The Fund closed for applications on 6 December 2019.

The Scottish Government has worked in collaboratively with Public Sector and Third Sector colleagues to produce a number of assets as part of the marketing and communications strategy for the COVID-19 vaccination programme, some of which are outlined below:

1. In partnership with BEMIS and the Ethnic Minority National Resilience Network (EMNRN) we have gathered feedback from ME organisations to shape inclusive communications, which has influenced messaging and available formats. For example, we have used the insight to create a ‘Vaccine Explainer Video’ which provides key facts about the Covid vaccines for those who may be hesitant, or for those more likely to have been exposed to myths/misinformation. This video is currently being produced in BSL and in multiple community languages.

2. Key campaign information leaflets about the vaccine have been translated in various languages and accessible formats for inclusion on NHS Inform vaccine content for distribution via stakeholders.

3. Translated versions of the Roll Up Your Sleeves TV Campaign videos were produced in 7 community languages (Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Polish, Romanian, Urdu and Punjabi), with further translations development for the campaign targeting 18-49 year olds.

4. Translated versions of the ‘What to Expect at a Vaccination Site’ Walkthrough Video was created in partnership with PHS and MECOPP, with development including considerations to accessible wording and content.

5. A Ramadan Film was created in April 2021 in partnership with the British Islamic Medical Association – This video was to reassure Muslims who were concerned about getting the vaccine while fasting.

6. A Stakeholder Toolkit specifically created for ME communities for Phase 3 of Roll Up Your Sleeves was launched in April 2021 to all relevant stakeholders. The toolkit included social media posts which signposted to the language-specific pages PHS created.

7. A Myth Busting Film fronted by Dr Punam Krishan was launched in May 2021 and was reviewed by ME groups to ensure accessible wording/content and translated into 10 community languages. It addresses concerns about the vaccine such as not containing pork or animal origin and that it won’t alter DNA. This was shared on Dr Krishan’s IGTV, through SG channels and shared via PHS and NHS Boards.

Other examples of initiatives can be found in the Vaccine Deployment Plan:

Shortages of medicines are an ongoing part of the day to day management of the NHS. The pricing and supply of medicines are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government have regular engagement with the UK Government regarding the management medicine shortages as part of the UK Medicine Shortage Response Group.

Medicine shortages can occur for a range of reasons including supplier difficulty in sourcing core ingredients, removal of drugs from pharmaceutical provider lists and international supply issues. Most shortages are short in nature. Shortages are ameliorated by prescribing alternative medicines or therapeutics until a shortage is over. Information on current and ongoing supply issues relating to individual drugs or devices is shared by NHS Scotland via Medicine Supply Alert Notices (MSAN) with the relevant networks within the service to help prescribers and dispensers meet patients’ on-going medical needs. MSANs are published at . The NHS Scotland Prescribing Advisers’ Network provides support to prescribers on the use of alternative products.

We are not currently vaccinating children under 16 years old, except for those seriously at risk. As COVID-19 vaccines are currently unlicensed for those under 16, vaccines can only be offered on an exceptional case by case basis by a prescriber based on a risk assessment of an individual.

Clinical trials are currently underway for vaccination of children and young people, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is currently reviewing vaccinations for 12-15 year olds.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with vaccine developers and the JCVI so that if trials are successful we are ready to vaccinate younger age groups, if that is what the clinical and scientific evidence supports.

Our inclusive approach to the COVID-19 vaccination is outlined in the letter to Mr Choudhury dated 8 th June. Our approach is constantly adapting in response to data, feedback from stakeholders and other evidence sources.

Equality data