Chamber and committees

The Cabinet will consider the steps that we will take on any future expansion of the vaccination certification scheme. That scheme works well. I fail to understand what the fuss is about. I think that it is a completely reasonable request for us to make. The arrangements are in place, and it functions well.

As I indicated in my response to oral questions in Parliament yesterday, in a system that involves more than 10 million individual vaccinations, there are bound to be teething issues on certain vaccination certificates. I have made it clear that ministers will help to resolve any issues. Indeed, I got an email last night from a gentleman who is not a constituent of mine who was looking for my help to solve a vaccination certification issue. That is under way. We will resolve such minor issues when they arise, but the vaccination certification scheme works perfectly well.

In our discussions on Tuesday, the Cabinet will consider any future expansion. We have put in place steps that enable negative lateral flow device tests to be an alternative to vaccination certification. That would remain an option for us to use in any future expansion and the Government will, of course, consider that.

That is a very important issue. The response must involve a collaborative approach between national and local Government. The Scottish Government has initiated discussions with our local authority partners to satisfy all of us that the necessary steps have been taken to strengthen the delivery of social care services, recognising the critical dependence on those services of people in local communities.

Last week, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, I had a discussion with the leadership of COSLA. At a follow-up session this evening, we will look at the responses of local resilience partnerships to satisfy ourselves that all steps are being taken to strengthen social care to address the priorities that Ms Ewing has highlighted on behalf of her constituents in Cowdenbeath.

The Covid recovery strategy focuses on supporting those who have been most affected during the pandemic and complements a range of sectoral recovery plans.

Our national health service recovery plan, which was published on 25 August 2021, sets out key commitments that will support recovery over the next five years and is backed by over £1 billion in investment. Our education recovery plan, which was published on 5 October, puts improving educational outcomes at the heart of our learning recovery. The plan details key next steps, including measures to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.

The Scottish Government has worked with a range of public authorities around the country to develop regional economic strategies. In relation to Mr Kidd’s constituency, collaboration with Glasgow City Region, which was launched in December 2021, has ensured alignment around inclusive growth, increasing productivity and net zero ambitions.

A four-nation approach on that question is essential. Lateral flow tests form a significant part of our approach to managing the pandemic and the approaches of those in the rest of the United Kingdom. The availability of those free tests has been an integral part of the way in which we have managed the pandemic. I would certainly want to see any question about the future steps that are to be taken on LFTs to be decided on a four-nation basis.

The Covid recovery strategy sets out how we will recover from the pandemic by working collaboratively with our partners in local government, business and the third sector.

Priorities for recovery will vary by location. We are committed to working with communities to understand those priorities and to tailor services to support them. I recently chaired the first meeting of the Covid recovery programme board with the president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. The programme board’s members include representatives from the Scottish Government, local government, business and the third sector.

The Cowdenbeath constituency benefits from the Edinburgh and south-east Scotland city deal, which aims to deliver inclusive and sustainable economic growth across the region through investment in housing, innovation, transport, skills and culture.

As I have said to the Parliament before today, in a programme of this scale—we are talking about in excess of 10 million vaccinations—there are bound to be difficulties for some individual cases. The NHS Inform team is working hard to address any discrepancies that emerge. If members of the Parliament are having difficulty resolving those issues on behalf of their constituents, I would be happy to hear from them in order to ensure that they are addressed. I have had a number of representations directly from members of the public, which I have asked to be addressed, and which have been addressed. I would therefore be very happy to address any points that members of the Parliament wish to draw to my attention.

There are frequent four-nation ministers and officials calls focusing on Covid, which take place at every level, including with the participation of the First Minister. The most recent First Minister call took place on 19 December to discuss the response to the omicron variant, and one is due to take place later today. A separate call for health ministers took place on 6 January. We will continue to engage proactively at four-nation level to protect as effectively as possible the health of the people of Scotland and to recover from the pandemic.

I understand entirely the point that Mr Rowley has put to me. Scottish ministers have raised those issues with the United Kingdom Government. I would imagine that we share Mr Rowley’s concerns about the impact of rising energy prices on household incomes, which has, coupled with the reductions in, for example, child payments under universal credit, further eroded household incomes. By doubling the Scottish child payment, the Scottish Government has taken measures to try to remedy some of the issues.

I agree with Mr Rowley about the importance of energy costs and the necessity of addressing them. Energy costs are obviously reserved, so it is entirely proper to discuss them with the United Kingdom Government. I assure Mr Rowley that Scottish ministers will continue to press those arguments to protect households in Scotland.

I understand the distinction that Mr Kidd made between businesses that remained open and businesses that closed. A measure that we have taken and that has affected a range of businesses has been provision for a number of sectors of business rates reliefs, which have been available on a continuing basis. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy has said that those reliefs will continue for part of the next financial year.

The Government makes on-going support available through the small business bonus scheme, which assists with the costs of running small businesses in all localities in Scotland.

We have a number of strategies in place to support, for example, the retail sector, and there are developments in enterprise policy that are designed to support the very companies to which Mr Kidd referred.

Recovery from Covid remains the priority as we continue to respond to variants such as omicron. The First Minister joined four-nation Cabinet Office briefing room calls on 10 and 19 December to discuss actions across the different Governments and the co-ordination of a cross-United Kingdom response to the omicron variant. Those calls included consideration of the latest data, international travel, vaccination programmes, testing, self-isolation and the impact on public services. Funding to support additional interventions was also discussed.

Last week, the First Minister confirmed that we will publish a revised strategic framework in the next few weeks that seeks to be more sustainable, less restrictive and more proportionate as we continue to live with Covid and manage any future variants.