Chamber and committees

That is very helpful—thank you. We will move on to the next question.

I welcome that news. Glue traps are one of the cruellest methods of rodent control. As well as banning the use of glue traps, will we also ban their sale?

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to take forward the recommendations in the Scottish animal welfare commission’s “Report on the use of rodent glue traps in Scotland”, including the recommendation to ban such traps. (S6O-00653)

I thank the cabinet secretary for the statement. Can she expand on the ways in which the eligibility criteria for bidders will ensure that the local community in Ayrshire benefits from the sale of Prestwick airport?

It is my pleasure to speak on behalf of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee on our stage 1 report on the Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-isolation) (Scotland) Bill. I thank everyone who gave the committee evidence, which informed our stage 1 report and led us to support the general principles of the bill. I also thank the Scottish Government for providing its response to our report so quickly and in time for the debate.

As the Deputy First Minister outlined, the bill is needed to extend temporary modifications of the Public Health etc (Scotland) Act 2008 so that health boards have discretion as to whether to pay compensation for self-isolation in connection with Covid-19 rather than a duty to do so. The bill is needed as a consequence of previous temporary modifications made to the 2008 act by the United Kingdom Coronavirus Act 2020 expiring or ceasing to have effect.

In light of the increasing number of people who are being asked to isolate because of omicron and the fact that the existing modifications are due to expire in March, the committee understands why the Scottish Government has introduced the bill now and agrees that it is needed. That said, in undertaking our stage 1 scrutiny, we became aware of some issues relating to the availability of support for people who are asked to isolate, including the self-isolation support grant. I will talk briefly about some of those issues.

The Scottish Women’s Convention told the committee that none of the 100 women who responded to a consultation exercise that was sent to more than 4,000 women had successfully accessed the self-isolation support grant or local self-isolation assistance services, even though they have been required to self-isolate. That is a real concern, particularly as we were told that some women did not know that the support existed and others said that they did not know how it would affect their benefits.

We also heard concerns about the eligibility criteria for the grant, particularly for people just above the low-income bracket, who do not qualify for it.

Having heard that evidence, although it is not directly related to the bill, we asked the Scottish Government to review the level of support that is currently provided and the eligibility criteria for people who qualify for it. We also urged the Government to consider how best to increase public awareness of the support that is available to people who are asked to self-isolate. I am pleased that the Scottish Government’s response confirmed that those issues are kept under regular review and that it will continue to review its public communications on self-isolation support. That is to be welcomed.

The committee routinely considers regulations that put in place the continuing changes to health protection and travel restriction measures. It is, therefore, no surprise that we were interested in the powers in the bill to change the expiry date of the modifications by regulation. In light of the evidence that we heard, we recommended that, in the interest of effective parliamentary scrutiny,

“when making emergency regulations … the statement of reasons”

that is required by the bill

“should also explain why it is necessary to make the regulations urgently”.

I am pleased to note that the Scottish Government has taken that on board in its response to our report and will provide that information in such circumstances in future.

I look forward to hearing other members’ views on the bill and to considering any amendments to it, as outlined in our report, if the Parliament agrees that it should progress to stage 2.

I thank Stuart McMillan for securing the debate.

I grew up in Australia. Although Australia has an interesting, albeit shorter, history, I have always been fascinated by the long and detailed tapestry that is the history of the country that I now call home, Scotland.

When my constituency, Ayr, is mentioned, people initially picture Robbie Burns, Scotland’s most famous son, and rightly so, but there is so much more to my constituency.

Before I talk about the importance of local history, I want to take members back to the classroom. When I talk to friends and family who went to school here, they often say how much they hated history as a subject—Rona Mackay alluded to her experience in that regard. However, history is much more than royalty, dates, places and acts of Parliament. It is people—ordinary people like you and me. It is our ancestors, our cultural identity, our sense of place and who we are.

Let us take a trip to Ayr, to talk about a subject that fascinates most children: witches and witch trials. You might think that you must instead transport yourself to Salem, but you should stay where you are. Did you know about the Ayr witch trials? While 20 women were tried and found guilty in the Boston town, women and children were being persecuted in Ayr—as 4,000 of them were across Scotland—because of religious intolerance and mass hysteria. Children who are learning those stories can read the names that are still present in Ayr town: Bell, Campbell, Cunningham, McCall, Sloan, Thomson, Wilson and Young.

That is how history can captivate. How much more interested will a child be when they see that they or their relatives have similar names, and realise that it could have been them if they had lived in those days? In order to capture the interest of the young, we must bring history home and make it local. After that, it is much easier for children to learn about national and world events

I move on to Prestwick, which was the first home of the open golf championship in 1860. It is Scotland’s oldest baronial borough, which dates back more than 1,000 years. There are connections with King James VI and to Robert the Bruce, who is said to have drunk the water there—if you ask any school pupil in Prestwick, I am sure that they would be able to tell you.

When people picture Troon, they tend to picture its rich golfing history. However, they should take a trip to Crosbie church—which has been on that site since 1229, in one form or another—where they will find tales of Scottish kings and the assassination of James V’s illegitimate son.

With advancements in technology, we can immerse ourselves in history from anywhere in the world, at the click of a button. We have wonderful Facebook pages such “Remembering Auld Ayr”, which was set up by Richard Devine and now has close to 24,000 followers worldwide. Richard and the team who run the page have a deep knowledge of, and passion for, Ayr local history. They also deliver local historical tours, telling stories that are personal to the town, and they have up to 60 people attending each tour. I would love to see our local schools connect with those groups to learn more about local history—the types of things that are never found in school textbooks.

There are also dark times in local history. Indeed, my colleague included in his motion the importance of educating ourselves on

“Scotland’s ... role in the transatlantic slave trade.”

Our children should be encouraged to be proud of the good, and to reflect on and learn from the darker periods.

We cannot forget our own political history. In 1315, Robert the Bruce convened the first meeting of the Scottish Parliament in the church of St John the Baptist in Ayr. Let us teach our children more Scottish history, and teach them local history; take them to the places that are steeped in it; and, most importantly, tell them stories about their ancestors. We will all become history one day, so the stories and teachings must continue.

Good morning, and welcome to the first meeting in 2022 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee. This morning, we will take evidence from the Scottish Government on the latest ministerial statements on Covid-19. I welcome to the meeting John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery; Professor Jason Leitch, national clinical director; Penelope Cooper, director of Covid co-ordination; and Niamh O’Connor, deputy director for testing and contact tracing policy. Thank you for your attendance this morning. I wish you all a happy new year, and I hope that you managed to have some sort of break over the festive period.

Deputy First Minister, do you wish to make any remarks before we move on to questions?

Thank you, Deputy First Minister. Your update is appreciated. We will move on to other members.

Thank you, Deputy First Minister. I will ask the first question. We are all cautiously thankful that omicron is not as severe as we first expected it to be when it emerged in early December. With the schools going back in the past week, I want to ask about the effect of omicron on our schoolchildren, especially as most of them have not been vaccinated. Can you update us on vaccinations for the five to 12-year-olds? Is ventilation in school settings adequate as the schools go back?

That concludes our consideration of that item and our time together this morning. I thank the Deputy First Minister and his supporting officials for attending.

The committee’s next meeting will be on 20 January, when we will again take evidence from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery.

That concludes the public part of our meeting. I move the meeting into private.