Chamber and committees

We have a range of data about compliance with different measures. If memory serves me correctly, we publish some of that regularly—if we do not, I will see what we can provide. We have regular discussions with the transport operators, the retail sector and businesses in general. The finance secretary had a round-table discussion with business organisations just yesterday about all the different ways that they can help, including facilitating working from home wherever possible.

Because we are sick and tired of it and because we have been in a period where the perceived risk has been reducing and we all feel stronger because of vaccination, as we should, we have all—I include myself in this—been letting our guard slip a bit in relation to those basic mitigations. That is understandable. However, we are now at the moment to tighten that up, not just because of the new variant—although that is definitely increasing the need for caution—but because of the risk that winter poses anyway. Over the next period, which might be really challenging, if we do all those basic things, all of them added together will make a difference.

If we have been forgetting to do some of those things in recent weeks—I am sure that we all have—now is the time to stop, think about what we need to do and make sure that we do it. That will really help us to get through the winter much more safely than would otherwise be the case.

I remain more positive about the situation than I was a few weeks ago, notwithstanding the emergence of the new variant. As I have set out today, the overall trend of infections in Scotland is downwards. A few weeks ago, I would not have dared hope that that would be the case. We know that there are risks in the weeks ahead—I said that last week—in socialising around the festive period and in colder weather pushing us all indoors more. There is an additional risk now, potentially, in the form of the new variant. However, we are in a stronger position to confront all of that than would have been the case at this time last year or even a few weeks ago.

Vaccination is the best line of defence, which is why there is no lack of urgency on the part of the Scottish Government. Nor do we rule out any options. We discuss, on an on-going basis, appropriate ways in which we can accelerate the progress of the vaccination programme. We have had questions—and I would always expect such questions—about the deployment route that we chose for 12 to 15-year-olds, for example, and on the deployment routes that we have chosen for the first stages of the booster campaign. The routes that we have chosen have taken us to where we are today, as the most vaccinated part of the UK. On booster vaccination, so far, we are quite a way ahead of any other nation in the UK.

Of course, we want to go further. That was true before the JCVI updated its advice, yesterday, on those who are eligible. It is even more true now, when so many more people are eligible. We are currently considering all possible options for doing that, and we are not alone in that. The UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Irish Government are having to do the same.

There is no shortage of staff. We have in place staff to do the roll-out that we had planned on the basis of the old advice. However, given that, as of today, more than a million people are eligible who were not eligible at this time yesterday, we clearly have to find more staff and more facilities in order to speed things up. That work is under way right now. We will focus ourselves, get our shoulders to the wheel and work with health boards—whose shoulders are also to the wheel—to get that to happen as quickly as possible. All four UK nations are going to be doing that.

The good news is that we have adequate supplies of vaccines, although developments in the past few days remind us all that we need to get vaccines distributed more equitably across the whole world, because—as we are being reminded right now—until the whole world is vaccinated, none of us is out of danger. The vaccination programme is the most important thing that the Government is doing right now, and we will continue to push it forward as fast as we can.

We have published guidance on face coverings, and that guidance is certainly kept under regular review. A face covering can be a covering of any type, except a face shield that does not fall within the definition, that covers both the nose and the mouth. Due to equality and accessibility considerations, we do not mandate certain specifications, but we recommend that face coverings are made of cloth or other textiles, that they are two or, preferably, three layers thick, and that they fit securely around the mouth, nose and chin while, obviously, allowing the person to breathe easily. Our guidance is in line with the WHO recommendations.

What has had a chilling effect on people—if that is the case, although it is not terminology that I would use—is the emergence of a new variant; it is not anything that we are trying to do, sensibly, to limit the spread of that new variant so that further restrictions on people’s freedoms and way of life are not necessary in the weeks to come. Thankfully, the Labour First Minister of Wales seems to take a more constructive and sensible approach to these issues than some of his colleagues in this chamber.

We have discussed travel restrictions many times before. I am not averse to doing things unilaterally, where that make sense. However, as anybody who understands travel patterns knows, many people travel to Scotland and Wales via airports in England. If we had travel restrictions only here, they would not be effective. It would not get us the public health benefit but would do disproportionate damage to our airports, which is why the protections that we have been discussing, which are only really effective on a four-nations basis, are better.

I and the First Minister of Wales are in agreement. We hoped that the measure would be temporary. However, right now we need to do two things. We need to try to limit transmission of the variant, which is already in Scotland. While we are doing that, though, we need to try to ensure that we are not exacerbating the difficulty by importing more of the variant here. That is why such measures are important. We will continue to have what I hope are constructive discussions about these issues in the days and weeks ahead.

As I said yesterday, when I addressed those issues, the fact that, as far as we know, none of the cases that has been identified so far has a travel history involving, or a connection to anybody who has recently travelled from, the African countries where the variant was first identified is a cause for concern because it is indicative of community transmission. That is still the case.

However, today, the work that health protection teams have done through test and protect—identifying that all those cases are linked and are linked to one event—slightly reduces that anxiety, because it gives us assurance that community transmission is not widespread. We are also not picking up any evidence of its being more widespread in the quite extensive look back that Public Health Scotland has been doing. To be clear, it has been looking at all PCR samples that have been taken from 1 November to identify any that have that S-gene dropout, which used to be indicative of the alpha variant—which has more or less disappeared—and which is generally not indicative of the delta variant. Therefore, if it has been appearing recently, the suspicion is that the variant is omicron. So far, that exercise has identified only those nine cases.

I expect that we will have more cases associated with that event and more generally. However, the fact that we are in the position whereby I can say all of that is a huge credit to the work that is being done by Public Health Scotland, health protection teams and test and protect, for which I thank them.

I will not repeat everything that I said to Douglas Ross on vaccinations. We will accelerate the programme as far and as fast as we can. It is important to clarify that the 400,000-a-week target was for Covid and flu vaccinations—[Interruption.] Anas Sarwar says that it was not, but it was, and that target is being exceeded. We will have to increase the weekly number of vaccinations.

It is important to note that the JCVI, along with everybody else, recognises that not everybody can be vaccinated on a single day or immediately. The order of priority in which we do it is therefore important, and that also has a bearing on how we choose to do it. Drop-in centres are important when we get to certain stages of a vaccination programme, but we have to be careful not to use them inappropriately. If we do it only through drop-in clinics, Anas Sarwar—who is considerably younger than I am—could get ahead of me for vaccination although my risk is higher because I am older. I use that only as an example. Obviously, there are more extreme examples, because he is not that much younger than me, but the general point that I am making is understood. I am trying to say that we are doing all those things in a way that gets us through it as quickly as possible but that also follows proper and sensible clinical risk considerations.

We will keep Parliament updated on the roll-out of the vaccination programme and how we are increasing capacity and planning to speed up that roll-out as much as possible. I am not complacent about that, and I will be held very strongly to account in the weeks to come, as is right and proper. However, our progress so far suggests that the way in which we have been deploying the vaccinations is the best, and we will continue to learn from past experience.

Finally, we will continue the efforts that have got us to the point of identifying those nine cases in order to identify further cases as quickly as possible. The advantage of the S-gene dropout in this variant compared to the delta variant is that it allows the presence of the variant to be identified through PCR testing, although genomic sequencing is then required to confirm it. All that work will be on-going while we learn more about the variant in the days to come.

A lot of different actions have been taken by health boards, through communication and through the location of vaccination centres, to target groups in which uptake is lower and where we know that people are less likely to come forward, for a variety of reasons. Actions include having vaccination centres in places of worship and other community settings, providing concessionary bus travel to appointments and working with community leaders in different parts of society.

All of us have a part to play and should do everything that we can to get those messages across.

It is worth noting that, even in the 30 to 39 age group, uptake is high. Uptake across the age groups is higher than for flu jabs, although not all age groups are eligible for flu jabs. However, we are seeing a much higher vaccination uptake than we have seen in recent years for flu. This is about trying to get to those groups where we need uptake to be higher. A range of approaches are being used, and will continue to be used, to try to do that.

I absolutely agree with Bill Kidd that we have to invest in the energy sources that will get us to net zero while delivering the best deal for taxpayers and energy consumers. Renewables, storage, hydrogen and carbon capture provide us with the best pathway to net zero—not an easy pathway, but the best pathway—by 2045. Nuclear power is a really bad deal for the bill payer, and that is before we take account of the fact that waste is incredibly difficult to deal with.

I have already spoken about the increased costs of Hinkley Point C. Internal analysis shows that, in 2030 alone, Hinkley could add almost £40 a year to a consumer’s bill, while the equivalent offshore wind farm would reduce consumer bills by £8 a year. Let us invest in the clean sources of energy that will get us to net zero and deliver a better deal for bill payers now and in the future.

I will look into that specific issue and I will come back to Anas Sarwar. Those are important issues. I do not have the details of the case that he raises, but I will make it a priority to look into that.

Since last week’s exchanges, and after serious concerns were raised by Louise Slorance, Andrew’s wife, the Government has taken further action. Those concerns require full and proper investigation. I have written to Louise Slorance today to confirm the initial actions that are being taken in the light of the concerns. Those actions include an independent external review of Andrew’s case notes.

Regarding the more general concerns about Aspergillus infections at the Queen Elizabeth hospital, the health secretary has asked Healthcare Improvement Scotland to carry out a wider review. Any necessary action will be taken as a result of those strands of work.

On the additional case that Anas Sarwar has raised, I undertake to look into that as a matter of urgency and I will write to him once I have had the opportunity to do so.

Social Security Scotland began accepting applications for the child disability payment on Monday, following a successful pilot in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross, and the Western Isles. That is another important milestone in the devolution of social security powers for disability benefits. Statistics on uptake will be published in the normal manner, but initial information shows that it is going well. That is important, and I encourage anyone listening who thinks that they might eligible for that payment to make inquiries and apply.

Access to banking and postal services, particularly for rural communities and vulnerable or digitally excluded consumers, is vital. Any reduction in branch numbers raises concerns regarding the ability to access such services.

The regulation of financial and postal services is reserved to the United Kingdom Government. Scottish ministers are therefore restricted in our intervention. However, we regularly engage with the financial services sector, and I will re-emphasise the importance of the issue when I convene the Financial Services Advisory Board shortly.

We have made it clear repeatedly to the UK Government and Post Office Ltd that they have a duty to ensure that existing postal services are maintained rather than reduced.