Chamber and committees

Fundamentally, the Covid recovery strategy is focused on tackling inequality that existed before and that was exacerbated by Covid. Our efforts are now focused on ensuring that the socioeconomic inequalities that Stephanie Callaghan highlighted are addressed as a consequence of our cross-Government work on Covid recovery.

During the pandemic, the Scottish Government provided more than £4.7 billion in support to businesses in Scotland. Most recently, our £80 million Covid economic recovery fund is providing funding that affords local authorities the flexibility to target support for their businesses and communities. Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council have been allocated £3.7 million and £1.3 million, respectively.

Further, since 2020, Aberdeenshire and Moray have benefited from the £6 million of additional support that the Scottish Government has provided to town and community partnerships and business improvement districts.

In providing the material that I have already given in my answer, I hope that I have reassured Karen Adam that the Government is targeting funding to particular localities where there is demonstrable need. Aberdeenshire and Moray councils have been funded appropriately in that respect.

The Government will continue to look at all funding streams, to make sure that they are relevant and will meet the challenges of different localities in the country. Specific funds, particularly in relation to the transition to net zero, are available only in the north-east of Scotland, which will be of relevance to the communities that Karen Adam represents.

Since its beginning, the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 vaccination programme has been guided by expert advice, provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

The JCVI’s interim advice in May recommends an autumn/winter 2022 booster programme for those people who are at higher risk of severe Covid-19. We are already working closely with national health service boards in line with that advice. The protection of the most vulnerable people in society continues to be of primary importance, and we stand ready to act on any further advice that recommends boosters for additional groups.

Alongside our evolving response to the pandemic, our Covid recovery strategy continues to focus effort and resources on bringing about a fairer future, particularly for those who are most impacted by Covid-19.

There are, of course, a range of financial instruments available to local authorities in addition to the measures that were announced last week by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy. The Government has always given a fair and affordable settlement to local government.

It is available to Mr Fraser to bring forward any alterations to the Government’s budget that he wishes to advance. We hear a lot of rhetoric on this question from the Conservatives, but we see absolutely no action or substance whatsoever. Until we get some action from the Conservatives, we will continue to deliver fair and affordable settlements for local government that enable them to deliver the public services on which we all depend.

A range of different measures remain in place that are designed to support those with vulnerabilities. Jackie Baillie mentioned the availability of antiviral medicine, and I know the effectiveness of that for people who are clinically assessed as being the ones who will benefit from it. [Interruption.]

Jackie Baillie continues to assert her question from a sedentary position, but my point is that a clinical assessment is undertaken, and I do not think that Jackie Baillie would be at the front of the queue to doubt the clinical assessments that have to be done.

There is a combination of the precautions that I talked about in my response to Emma Roddick a moment ago and the availability of focused treatments to support individuals, should they be in a position of clinical vulnerability. Of course, there is also the protection that is offered by a range of provisions in the vaccination strategy, which has insulated the population so effectively from the serious effects of Covid.

The 2022-23 local government finance settlement of almost £12.7 billion provides local government with a fair and affordable settlement, even in challenging circumstances. As long as councils act lawfully and first fulfil their statutory obligations and jointly agreed national and local priorities, it is a matter for each council to manage its resources and use the total budget that it has available on the basis of local needs.

The Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have agreed shared priorities for recovery that focus on targeting support for those who were most affected during the pandemic. Alongside the COSLA president, I chair the Covid recovery strategy programme board, which brings together a range of partners to co-ordinate activity, increase financial security for low-income households, enhance the wellbeing of children and young people, create good green jobs and fair work and deliver person-centred public services.

The vaccination programme has been an extraordinary success and it has been undertaken at an extraordinary scale. Therefore, I will not stand in Parliament and say that a process at that scale will be error free. For members of Parliament to expect it to be error free is on the ambitious side, if I can put it delicately.

Every effort is made to ensure that vaccinations are delivered timeously and conveniently to members of the public. If there is an error involved, I apologise for that—I want nobody to be inconvenienced and nobody’s time to be wasted—but, given the scale of the vaccination programme that we have undertaken, the number of errors that have occurred has been kept to an absolute minimum, which is a tribute to everyone who is involved in running the programme.

As I explained in my answer to Annabelle Ewing, guidance on the distribution of any booster vaccination is given to the Government by the JCVI. Governments of all political persuasions have followed the advice of the JCVI in undertaking vaccination programmes over many years, and the Government will listen very carefully to the advice that we receive from the JCVI, which will specify which groups should be eligible for the vaccination.

Carers are in receipt of much greater support in Scotland than in other parts of the United Kingdom, given the carers allowance supplement that is available here. Mr O’Kane will be familiar with the details of that, and he is welcome to promote it to carers, just as the Government promotes awareness of that benefit to carers. Carers do a phenomenal amount of work to benefit our society. I express my warmest thanks to them and hope that those who are eligible for that support are able to access it.

I whole-heartedly sympathise with the point raised by Emma Roddick on behalf of her constituents and those who are more vulnerable to Covid. The Government’s advice, which I set out in my initial answer, is that people should follow sensible precautions. There is also an obligation on others within society to respect the position of people who feel more vulnerable. Those precautions would include the wearing of face coverings where that is appropriate, ensuring adequate ventilation and maintaining good hygiene.

We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation in relation to Covid, and, should there be any requirement for us to either change or intensify the advice, those steps will, of course, be taken.