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Vaccines Taskforce and BEIS provided the following commentary that the UK Government has secured early access to 100 million doses of Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine across 2021 and 2022.

The Prime Minister announced at the G7 on 11 June that the UK will donate 100 million surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses within the next year. The UK will donate 5 million doses by the end of September, beginning in the coming weeks, primarily for use in the world’s poorest countries. The Prime Minister has also committed to donating a further 95 million doses within the next year, including 25 million more by the end of 2021. 80% of the 100m doses will go to COVAX and the remainder will be shared bilaterally with countries in need. The vaccines will be drawn from across the UK’s supply of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Janssen, Moderna and others. Decisions on which vaccines will be shared will be based on the continued reliability of supply chains, regulatory restrictions and advice from the JCVI.

The Scottish Government has been ready for some time to press ahead with the process to establish green ports. Despite our commitment to moving forward in partnership, the UK Government has failed to engage with us to publish a joint applicant prospectus. We have also yet to receive formal agreement from the UK Government about designating two green ports in Scotland, and that each will be able to access the same amount of seed capital funding as each freeport in England.

As a result, the Scottish Government is now inviting notes of interest from potential green port bidders in Scotland. This exercise will allow us to gauge interest for the development of green port policy in Scotland and will provide an indication of the geography and sectors likely to benefit. The notes of interest invited will be based on the content of the abridged draft applicant prospectus, published on the Scottish Government website in March, which also signposted the reserved offer available to all freeports in England. Further information on the call for notes of interest is available on the Scottish Government website:

I have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to set out the Scottish Government’s proposed next steps for delivering this policy and intend to hold a stakeholder engagement session on the 30 th of June.

The Public Interest Conditions for this specific project are a matter for the UK Government.

Vaccines Taskforce, BEIS have provided the following commentary that the UK Government’s investments to fund Valneva’s early clinical trials and upgrade and expand Valneva’s Livingston manufacturing facility were made in line with HM Treasury’s Green Book.

The Scottish Government is committed to replacing the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion to ensure that future services are of a high quality and sustainable.

NHS Lothian submitted its review to the Scottish Government on 21 May 2021 and we have since accepted the review. The Scottish Government wrote to NHS Lothian on 9 June 2021 to invite it to submit an Outline Business Case (OBC) for the development of eye care services. This will be considered by Scottish Government’s NHS Capital Investment Group who will undertake a detailed review of the evidence provided.

Once an OBC is approved the next stage is submission of the Full Business Case (FBC) and construction normally begins shortly after approval of a FBC.

It is essential that the required due diligence is completed to ensure the best possible future services and facilities; and this will take time. We look forward to continuing to work with NHS Lothian to fully support them during this process.

We are putting in place a temporary arrangement to deal with such a scenario between 26 June and 11 July. In the event of extended play, and limited only to match days and the games where this occurs, closing time for hospitality premises showing the game will be extended up to 23:30 where required. This is not a blanket relaxation of the rules but a specific and pragmatic approach to facilitate safe viewing of full Euros matches. Guidance for the sector will be updated to reflect this temporary change.

I am pleased to inform Parliament that Scotland’s Climate Assembly has today [23 June] laid its full report and recommendations in parliament.

I am grateful for the commitment shown by Assembly members, and to those that organised and contributed to this Assembly. It has been inspiring to see how the Assembly has come together during the pandemic and delivered its work entirely online.

In this year of COP26, Scotland’s Climate Assembly exemplifies how we are putting people at the heart of policy making, by consulting, engaging and involving citizens in decision-making. The Assembly’s ambitious recommendations provide support for the societal transformation we know will be needed for Scotland to become a net zero nation.

We welcome the recommendations made today by Scotland’s Climate Assembly. It is clear that Assembly members have taken great care to develop ambitious proposals, which are a credit to them and the dedication they have shown. We will take the necessary time to reflect on the recommendations and issue a comprehensive and cross-Government response in line with the requirements of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act.

Valneva is an important part of the life science eco-system and supports directly high value jobs directly.

Scottish Government can offer support to companies impacted by a change in projected work and if required, a package of mitigation measures can be delivered by Scottish Government and its agencies.

There is no indication Valneva is in this position, Valneva’s coronavirus vaccine candidate is just one range of speciality vaccines developed at the site to combat a number of infectious diseases.

UK Government Department of Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy (BEiS) commented that Valneva's manufacturing facility in Livingston is a unique facility that establishes permanent UK capability to manufacture inactivated viral vaccines – one of the most proven, widely used vaccine formats. It is one of few Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) containment facilities in Europe and a key part of the UK’s long term pandemic preparedness as it will have the capability to grow rapidly new pandemic viruses which can be inactivated and combined with an adjuvant to create future vaccines. This capability could shorten the time dramatically to developing whole inactivated vaccines against future pandemic viruses.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00986 on 23 June 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 .

The Scottish Government does not support the practice of conversion therapy in the UK. We are clear that this is an abhorrent practice with no place in modern society.

We strongly support the UK Government’s commitment to ban conversion therapy, and are awaiting precise details of the UK Government’s proposals, including in terms of whether they are likely to apply to Scotland.

If the proposed actions do not result in the banning of this discriminatory and harmful practice in Scotland, we will consider our next steps in banning conversion therapy, in so far as is possible within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

On 2 June 2021 the Scottish Government announced a further‎ £62 million fund to assist eligible Taxi or Private Hire drivers and Private Hire and Taxi licence holders in Scotland with fixed costs.

In order to be eligible for payment of £1,500 from the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Driver and Operator Support Fund, licensed Taxi or Private Hire drivers must hold a current local authority Taxi or Private Hire driver licence which is valid as of 3 June 2021 and have previously received an initial grant from the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund earlier in 2021.

As of 30 April 2021, over 21,800 drivers had been paid the initial grant from the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund. Local authorities are in the process of making automatic payments of the second £1,500 grant to eligible drivers, with many drivers already having received payment.