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To manage the volume of vaccination appointments based on available supply we intentionally limited the initial functionality of the Citizen Portal system. The portal can currently be used to reschedule appointments. Unpaid carers and 18-29 year olds can also register online to receive their appointment.

We are exploring ways to allow people to book their own appointments.

In the period October to December 2020:

• There were 3,502 eligible referrals for the 62-day standard, an increase of 14.9%.
• There were 5,697 eligible referrals within the 31-day standard, an increase of 14.7% from the previous quarter.

The below tables outline Eligible Referrals broken down by central region.

Eligible referrals for the 31-day standard (rate per 100,000 of population):

As the UK Government’s own recent White Paper on rail acknowledges, the current structure of the industry was supposed to bring ‘greater efficiency and innovation’, but ‘little of this has happened’. Rather, ‘the system does not always encourage the different part of the sector to work together’.

We saw this in Scotland where a lack of co-ordination led to late and over budget delivery of projects, as flagged in our Major Projects Review 2016. We have worked hard with the industry to rectify these issues through the Team Scotland approach, making best use of the limited powers that we have. In putting arrangements in place for ScotRail services beyond March 22, we will use the opportunity to place an emphasis on the integration of rolling stock and train service plans with infrastructure works, improving the efficient whole system delivery of the Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan.

Scottish Ministers continue to believe that a devolved railway, public sector controlled and operated in the service of the public, fully integrated and truly accountable, will deliver better and more efficient services for our people and our communities. As part of the Rail Review, the Scottish Ministers and officials presented a clear case for the full devolution of rail powers. The UK Government has chosen to refuse this reasonable request.

Consideration of potential improvements to all strategic transport infrastructure across the whole of Scotland continues to be undertaken through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). Through the STPR2 Regional Transport Working Group covering the Edinburgh area, Transport Scotland have ensured there are synergies between this and the ongoing improvements at Sheriffhall, being progressed as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

STPR2 will create the evidence basis for future transport investment decisions by the Scottish Government for the next 20 years. It will set out how the recommended investments will contribute Net Zero, Inclusive Growth and our vision is for a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

At the core of STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy. We will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to Infrastructure Investment Plan. It is through this Review, that potential improvements on the A720, in addition to the work at Sheriffhall, will be considered within the appraisal process.

STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Every effort is being made to investigate possible solutions and trial the most promising of these in the run up to this coming winter. Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, will be undertaking laboratory tests ahead of winter 2021 and on-site trials during winter 2021 of potential solutions. 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. Should a viable solution be found, it will be subject to Peer review and Value for Money assessment before full-scale deployment.

Probation can be completed through either the one year full time Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or a flexible route. Probationers entering via a flexible route are not included in this analysis as they are not identified separately in the teacher census. These probationers account for a very small proportion of all probationers.

The following tables show the number of Teacher Induction Scheme teachers who, at the time of the September teacher census following their probationary year were (1) in permanent teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, (2) in temporary teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, or (3) not teaching in a publicly funded school in Scotland.

These figures are broken down by the local authority in which the individual carried out their probationer year.

Table 1: Post-induction scheme teachers in permanent posts in the following year’s teacher census (headcount)

Scottish Ministers, through Transport Scotland, are responsible for 2 Trunk Roads in South Ayrshire, the A77 and A78. Transport Scotland’s Operating Company for the South West Unit, Amey is allocated an overall maintenance budget for the Trunk Roads within this unit. Amey and Transport Scotland agree which areas require improvements or repairs, the urgency of any works and programming any works using the funds available. The following table shows the actual spend for these roads from 2018. These include minor improvements, bridge improvements and structural maintenance costs. It should also be noted that these figures are for the whole of the A77 and A78 routes, however not all of the routes lie within South Ayrshire. Investment in the A77 also continues with the construction of the Maybole bypass, which has a construction cost of £29 million, currently ongoing and is anticipated to be completed in winter 2021.

Amey is the operating company with responsibility for the A77. Acting on behalf of Transport Scotland, they are currently undertaking a route assessment of all junctions between Monktonhead and Smithston.

Amey have recommended an approach to identifying short-term future demand by taking information from Transport Assessments prepared to support new development in the area, this is currently being consider by Transport Scotland.

For longer term forecasts, Transport Forecasts 2021 will be published later this year, these are currently in development and are being used in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

These will update the published Transport Forecasts 2018, which build in committed development and Local Plan Development allocations from the local authorities, along with committed transport interventions. Since the previous publication, the demand for transport has been considerably impacted by COVID19 leading to unprecedented changes in how we access employment, services, leisure and goods.

We have worked to ensure that nobody is placed at detriment as a result of their participation in the programme as a vaccinator.

Our desire to protect as much of Scotland’s population as quickly as possible has necessitated the deployment of all available resources, and the rate of progress we have seen would not have been possible without the mobilisation at pace of a large, capable and diverse workforce. We are grateful for the contribution nurses have made alongside other Healthcare Professionals.

It is our expectation that reliance on the temporary measures currently in place will reduce as Health Boards continue with efforts to recruit a sustainable vaccinator workforce.

We are committed to learning lessons on every aspect of the response to Covid-19 and are currently exploring the interplay between the UK inquiry and any Scottish inquiry. We will update Parliament on plans as soon as possible.