Good morning. This is my first appearance before the COVID-19 Committee, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be here. I will be brief, because I am sure that members have a number of questions to put to me and my colleagues.
The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Act 2020 is an important part of our response to the coronavirus pandemic. As members know, it provides us with new powers in our collective work to control the spread of the virus and minimise its impact on people’s lives. Of necessity, that legislation was put through Parliament rapidly. We have subsequently made regulations on social care workers and on care homes to support or implement the various powers that the emergency legislation contains.
On care homes, the overall purpose of the emergency measures is to ensure the swiftest possible intervention if the life or health of care home residents is being put at serious risk as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The measures are intended to provide those who depend on such services, their families and the staff who deliver care with an assurance that additional oversight and support are available in the exceptional circumstances in which they might be required.
Following a period of consultation, we have brought forward the Care Homes Emergency Intervention Orders (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 to supplement the emergency intervention provisions of the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Act 2020 by ensuring that the Scottish ministers are in a position to exercise those powers. The regulations make it clear that, where a nominated officer is an officer of the local authority or a health board, they are acting on behalf of the local authority or health board. The regulations provide the nominated officer with the power to delegate actions and tasks to others, and allow the Scottish ministers to obtain information from relevant bodies where such information is required in the consideration of whether to exercise those powers. In addition, the regulations provide the nominated officer and the Scottish ministers with a power to recover costs from the provider, where appropriate, and make it clear that no claim for damages can be made against the Scottish ministers as a result of their exercise of, or their failure to exercise, their functions under section 65A of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.
As the committee will know, the Parliament accepted, and the Government supported, an important non-Government amendment to the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Act 2020 to establish a social care staff support fund. For the record, I am grateful to Monica Lennon for her work in that respect. Although the Scottish Government is not an employer of care staff, we are committed to fair work and are clear that social care workers should not face financial hardship because their employment terms and conditions do not meet the fair work principles.
The Social Care Staff Support Fund (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 make provision to establish, administer and maintain the fund. We have worked closely with employers, trade unions and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to develop the fund’s criteria and administration arrangements. The fund provides support to staff who might otherwise face financial hardship when their social care work has been restricted and their income reduced because they have coronavirus or are self-isolating in accordance with public health guidance. The fund also supports infection prevention and control in care home settings and through care in the community .
The fund became operational on 24 June, and support has been backdated to 23 March for eligible workers who suffered financial hardship on or after the date when the emergency legislation came into force. Employers can pay staff their expected income when they are off work sick or self-isolating as a result of coronavirus, and the employer can then seek reimbursement from the fund. Reimbursement to employers is made through the local mobilisation plans that are in place with integration authorities or local authorities. Supporting guidance that sets out the process and the eligibility criteria has been published on the www.gov.scot website and circulated to employers.
The committee will also be aware that, as well as introducing the regulations, we have established a death-in-service benefit of £60,000, which is paid to a nominated beneficiary where a social care worker dies in service as a result of coronavirus, regardless of what pension or other arrangements may be in place. That benefit became operational on 10 July.
The measures that I have set out reflect the combined efforts of all parties in working towards the shared goal of ensuring that we do all that we can, within our powers, to protect care home residents and their families and social care staff. Even so, I am sure that, as we continue to learn more about the virus and how it behaves and operates, we will understand more about what we can do. We therefore remain open to making further improvements, and we are committed to working with you, convener, and your committee colleagues to consider how we can do so. I thank you for this opportunity, and I look forward to the committee’s questions.