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The study, to be undertaken independently, has been scoped to identify where Highlands and Islands Airports Limited’s operations can create more economic activity for island communities. This requires engagement and input from essential external stakeholders which has, to date, not been forthcoming. The study will be further progressed when essential stakeholders agree to engage with the process and will be published upon its completion.

The Employee Voice indicator in the National Performance Framework draws on data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is run by the Office for National Statistics. This is the largest household study in the UK and provides the official measures of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity.

Performance of the Employee Voice indicator is determined by a change of ±1.5 percentage points between the current year’s headline (i.e. all of Scotland) figure and the previous year’s headline figure.

The system of sampling used for the LFS provides a representative sample of the population at a regional level, but provides no guarantee of adequate coverage of any individual industry (as the survey is not industrially stratified). Industry category is self-reported by respondents participating in the survey and questions relating to collective agreements on pay are asked in the October to December survey period.

As a result, the Employee Voice indicator is based on a sample that is representative for Scotland as a whole, but may or may not be representative for any particular industry within Scotland.

Therefore, the Employee Voice indicator will have sampled workers from the transport industry, but those included in the sample may not cover all the sectors within that industry.

Ministers have not discussed the outcomes of the Island Communities Impact Assessment on HIAL’s Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy (ATMS) with HIAL. Implementation of the ATMS project, including consideration of the outcome of the Island Communities Impact Assessment, is an operational matter for HIAL.

Ministers have not met with the union Prospect in relation to the ongoing industrial action by its members at HIAL. This is an operational matter and any discussions should be between Prospect and HIAL. There are no plans for Ministers to meet with Prospect.

Following the First Minister’s announcement on 13 July, we will update our published guidance for marriage ceremonies and wedding receptions as soon as possible to take account of the new arrangements. In advance of that, we are writing to our principal contacts within the wedding sector to highlight the key changes we will make to the guidance to set out the impact.

The Scottish Government has committed to removing non-residential social care charges in line with recommendations made by the Independent Review into Adult Social Care. We are now working with COSLA and other stakeholders to identify the most effective way of achieving this as soon as possible.

This is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

To ensure that they remain necessary and proportionate to the health harms of Covid-19, a review was undertaken ahead of the publication of the Strategic Framework Update and the Physical Distancing Review on 22 June 2021 to consider whether an earlier re-opening of night clubs was feasible. It underlined that the risks of transmission associated with the re-opening of night clubs remained significant. These include poor ventilation, alcohol consumption and high noise levels. There is also the additional risk of close physical contact in nightclubs. These risks are considered to be higher than in other settings which is why this sector is under tighter restrictions than other settings such as bars. Importantly, nightclubs are generally frequented by younger demographics who will be amongst the last to be vaccinated.

However, the Scottish Government provided greater clarity on the timing and conditions under which a re-opening would be possible. The Strategic Framework Update advised that nightclubs would be able to reopen when Scotland moves beyond level 0, we hope to make that change on 9 August provided over 40s and adults at risk have protection from the virus through 2 doses of the vaccine and the virus is sufficiently under control.

The publication of the Strategic Framework Update and the review into Physical Distancing will hopefully have provided the events sector greater clarity, particularly on when limits will be removed and physical distancing will end. Live music events are allowed in levels 2 and below albeit subject to capacity limits. There is guidance in place which may allow events to go ahead above those limits subject to approval from the local authority when Scotland is in level 0. We hope that all limits on attending events can be removed on 9 August when the whole of Scotland is expected to move beyond Level 0 provided key conditions are met. Additionally, we are currently working with stakeholders to establish the right package of baseline protective measures which will be necessary at these events following Scotland’s move beyond Level 0.

On 22 June, the First Minister announced changes which will help benefit weddings. In particular, suppliers employed by the couple marrying or registering their civil partnership, such as a photographer, will no longer count towards the numerical caps. This change took effect from 25 June. As indicated by the First Minister, we anticipate that this change will now have a relatively minor impact on transmission.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35362 on‎ 11 March 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