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Transport Scotland (TS) and the Scottish Government Islands Team meet regularly with elected members and officers of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to discuss a range of ferries issues including future planning and have also engaged on the Comhairle's Local Transport Strategy. The Comhairle were also a partner in a recent study, commissioned and funded by TS, of future options for ferry services to, from and within the Outer Hebrides. The Comhairle has produced a paper setting out proposals for ferry service improvements and future vessel investments and an initial meeting to discuss this with government officials has been arranged.

We have a record number of people registered with a NHS dentist, more than 95% of the population of Scotland.

We intend to build on this success story which is why as part of this Government’s Manifesto Commitment, all NHS dental charges will be removed in the lifetime of this Parliament.

The Improvement Service published its latest Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report. The report is available on the Improvement Service website and linked on the web page.

This report provides an update on progress by local authorities towards the delivery of 1140 hours of funded ELC at the end of April 2021 as reported by local authorities, comparing this to their reported position throughout this academic year. As members of Parliament will be aware, the duty on local authorities to provide 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare to all eligible children will come into effect in August 2021.

As the report sets out, local authorities continue to make good progress towards delivery, with an additional 10,510 children accessing 1140 hours since February 2021. The report also shows that the local authority ELC workforce in Scotland is reported to have increased by 7,178 FTE since academic year 2016/17, including an increase of 230 FTE since February 2021.

Following a revision to the Improvement Service data collection framework in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, data gathering is planned for the beginning of each academic term through to April 2022.

We continually review the financial support that we provide to businesses to ensure that we direct funding to businesses impacted by COVID-19 while recognising that are simply unable to make up for all of the losses incurred by businesses. As part of this process we have provided additional funding to self-catering properties, alongside other accommodation providers in Glasgow and Moray impacted by the decision to retain Tier 3 Restrictions for an additional period in these areas. With no new consequentials made available by the UK Government with which to support businesses we are having to make difficult decisions about which businesses to prioritise for support, particularly those in areas which have experienced recent Covid-19 outbreaks and face continued closure. We will keep making the case to the UK Government for more funding to make additional financial support available to businesses that require further assistance and to transfer the fiscal levers required to enable us to respond fully to the needs of Scottish businesses.

Open with Care: supporting meaningful contact in care homes was published on 24 February and sets out how indoor and outdoor contact should gradually increase while minimising COVID-19 risks to residents, staff and visitors. We have been providing testing kits to care homes to facilitate visitor testing and the guidance sets out how visitors may be supported in being tested and that providers provide testing facilities for indoor visiting. We are currently reviewing whether the roll out of community testing now makes it possible for visitors to test prior to their visit to care homes, subject to care homes discretion.

The guidance recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. The guidance does not stipulate that visits should be restricted to 30 minutes but recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. Care homes can access advice and support from local oversight partners when considering relaxations to visits to ensure everything is safe and suitable for all.

As detailed in my Answer to Question S6W-00352 on 10 June 2021, the Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in due course.

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

Arrangements are being put in place to establish the new Council for Economic Transformation, which will shape and drive our 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation. We have already publicly committed to do this within the our first 100 days and we will update with regard to progress, including how it interacts with other advisory groups such as the Council for Economic Advisers, shortly.

The Scottish Government has provided exceptional additional funding in excess of £35 million to maintain full employment on full pay for Caledonian Sleeper Staff, throughout the pandemic period, despite the significant reduction in passenger numbers. In total, the Scottish Government has spent around £1bn thus far to maintain essential services and full railway staff employment since the start of Covid lockdown.

Given this exceptional financial support, there is no additional funding available to support an increase in costs. However, Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited is authorised to increase pay where this can be fully funded by agreed efficiencies negotiated though the established collective bargaining process with staff representatives.

I understand that discussions on possible efficiencies have been offered and I encourage staff representatives to negotiate to secure a reasonable agreement that will avoid their proposed disruption to passengers and significant and unnecessary loss of pay for railway staff.

Electric scooters (e-scooters) are effectively illegal to ride on streets and in other public places due to a number of pieces of UK-wide and Scottish legislation.

Last summer, the UK Government made some amendments to UK legislation to allow limited trials of rentable e-scooters to take place in local authority areas – aiming to gather evidence on effects of their use in a controlled environment. These amendments were made on a fast-track basis to facilitate rapid progression of trials in English local authorities. The UK Government did not factor-in time in planning the trials for the Scottish Parliament to consider and potentially implement the changes to Scottish law that would be required in order for trials to take place in Scottish local authority areas.

The UK Government has signalled its intention to publish proposals in 2022 for potential further legalisation of e-scooters beyond the current trials. Scottish legislation continues to apply in Scotland which makes use of e-scooters on roads or cycle paths illegal. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor trends as a matter of course in order to inform future policy.

COVID-19 is first and foremost a public health crisis, and the measures to combat it have been necessary to save lives. But those measures also cause harm, including for our Faith and Belief Communities.

We know that the virus spreads between people and we’re particularly concerned when it spreads between members of different households. Over time, the virus has mutated to spread more quickly. The Delta variant is even more transmissible than previous variants.

In order to reduce transmission of the virus, we have to reduce opportunities for the virus to spread. There have been varying degrees of restrictions implemented and adjusted as the pandemic has progressed and our understanding has developed. Ministers are obliged to keep these restrictions under regular review to ensure that they remain necessary and proportionate in responding to the pandemic, This is particularly important given that many restrictions significantly interfere with fundamental rights as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (e.g. Article 9 - freedom of religion, Article 8 - right to private and family life., Article 2 protocol 1 - right to education, Article 1, protocol 1 – right to property, and to the peaceful enjoyment of possessions – which protects every type of business).

The Scottish Government considers a wide range of evidence when making assessments to inform decisions on restrictions. Details of impacts from economic, general wellbeing, mental health and anxiety and other non-Covid related health harms can be found in the four harms dashboard which is updated weekly and can be found at . Further information about the Scottish Government’s decision-making framework can be found in the paper published on 11 December 2020: Coronavirus (COVID-19): framework for decision making - assessing the four harms. This paper provides an overview of key analysis and evidence (and links to more detailed evidence) in support of decisions on how best to limit the effects of COVID-19. In this document, we describe how the four harms approach works in practice and present evidence under each of the harms to illustrate how we used the four harms to make decisions about levels, activities and restrictions.

Protective measures, or non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), are a critical tool in the management of the epidemic. Our levels system is a crucial aspect of this and it works by limiting members of different households from interacting in different settings and activities. Decisions must be made about which activities and settings to restrict in order to achieve the required suppression of the virus. When different restrictions would have similar effects on transmission, difficult decisions must be made about which restrictions to apply, informed by the impacts on the four harms of the different options, as well as impacts on particular groups in society, including those with protected characteristics.

We understand that different sectors or interest groups will often want the restrictions that affect them, and their fundamental rights, to be eased more quickly and will perhaps argue that there is little or no evidence of transmission in that particular setting or activity, or that it is less risky than other comparable settings or activities facing lesser restrictions. Although we do take the transmission risk of different settings and activities very much into account, we take a broader view across all four harms in order to make judgements about the sequencing of any easing. As an example, the importance placed on the education and wellbeing of children led to a decision on the opening of schools as a priority.

The easing of restrictions, has to be balanced with the need to keep the virus suppressed. If we opened everything and lifted all restrictions too early, the virus would resurge. Notwithstanding the positive impact of the vaccination programme, this could lead to exponential growth in hospital admissions and serious health harm. So at this stage, with all adults yet to be offered both doses of the vaccine, we still need to keep some restrictions in place.

As the First Minister set out on 1 June, we do have cause for optimism. Emerging evidence is providing us with a firm basis to believe that in the next phase of the pandemic, expected during summer 2021, we will be able to deal with the virus differently and less restrictively. There should be much less need for legal restrictions on different settings and activities and more scope for people to apply personal judgement as the risk of harm from COVID recedes and much greater normality is restored to our lives.

The Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing including the impact on places of worship, who are subject to physical distancing based capacity, and an announcement expected in the near future. The review will consider the faster spreading Delta variant as well as the effectiveness of the vaccination roll out. Sectoral guidance will be further updated to reflect the outcome of the review, including proposals for as clear a route as possible to the reduction/removal of physical distancing, enabling people and organisations to plan effectively for a full reopening. We continue to regularly engage with Faith and Belief Communities regarding the scope for further easing.

The Scottish Government offers a range of initiatives delivered through the Energy Savings Trust (EST) to support low income households in Scotland, this will ensure all households are able to enjoy the benefits that come with making the switch to electric vehicles. More detail on these initiatives is as follows:

Plugged-in Communities (PiC)

This grant programme is aimed at housing associations, housing cooperatives and not-for-profit organisations, it aims to provide access to Electric Vehicles (EV’s) and the associated infrastructure to low-income communities across Scotland in the form of shared-use EV car clubs. To date these vehicles have covered over 100,000 pure EV miles.

Low Carbon Transport Loan (LCTL)

In September 2020, the loan was extended to offer interest free funding to individuals looking to purchase used EV’s, this removed some of the barriers attributed to the high up front cost of EV ownership, so far we have supported more than 96 individuals purchase used EV’s to a value of over £1.2m

Low Emission Zone (LEZ) support fund

For 2021-2022, £3.7m has been allocated to the LEZ support fund, this offers an incentive for low-income households within a 20km radius of a LEZ to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road, applicants can receive a cash grant of £2000 plus up to £1000 ‘travel better’ credits per household to support the uptake of sustainable travel options.

Chargeplace Scotland (CPS) network

To date we have invested over £45m in developing the CPS network for EV charging, we now have over 1700 charge points across Scotland which offers significant cost saving benefits to its users. This also ensures that households and communities across Scotland are able to enjoy a high quality charging network to support their switch to electric vehicles.

Public Transport

Bus is already one of the most climate-friendly transport choices people can make. Transitioning buses to be zero-emission increases the benefits of bus as a transport choice.

Over 2020-2021 we awarded £50.7m, and unlocked over £71m of private investment, to support 272 new battery-battery buses and associated charging infrastructure, we have also committed a further £120m to build on this progress over the coming 5 years.

Significant grant funding of over £12m has been awarded to the bus industry to help with the costs of retrofitting over 700 buses to LEZ entry standards. This will help support the affordability and accessibility of public transport for many lower income households by safeguarding bus service provision in LEZ cities.