Chamber and committees

I have stressed in the remarks that I have made to Parliament today that the Government has to be open with the public about what steps we are considering. Mr Johnson will know that there is a three-weekly review that we will undertake next week and those issues will be part of that consideration.

At this stage, I cannot say to Parliament whether those discussions will be concluded by then because, fundamentally, the judgment on whether the Covid certification scheme needs to be extended any further has to be driven by the evidence of the pandemic—the prevalence of the virus in the community, the level of pressure on the national health service and the level of vaccination that is under way. The Government has to make a proportionate judgment on those questions.

Daniel Johnson asked whether a negative LFD test would be a possible alternative to vaccination certification, and I confirm that the Government is considering that question as part of its deliberations.

On the question of enforcement by proprietors and operators of hospitality venues, there is, obviously, still a requirement for contact tracing data to be retained by many of those venues. We encourage people to participate in that. Therefore, there are opportunities for operators of venues to have such exchanges and to undertake discussions to satisfy themselves on that point.

On the booster programme, I have heard and am aware of points that have been raised about the accessibility of certain venues for individuals and the waiting times that have been involved. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has been discussing those issues with individual health boards. Obviously, a huge volume of activity is being undertaken and, as a consequence, there may well be congestion at individual facilities at times. However, I give Mr Johnson the assurance that the health secretary and officials are in active, on-going dialogue with health boards to offer support where it is necessary to do so, and to enable health boards to deliver the joint programme for the flu vaccination and the booster jags with the inconvenience to members of the public kept to a minimum as they participate in those important programmes.

I do not see how Mr Cole-Hamilton can possibly expect me to give a positive response to his question given what I have just put on the record in my parliamentary statement. There is a fundamental contradiction at the heart of his question. He marshalled the dangers that the national health service faces over the next few months. I could not have said it better myself: that was an accurate reflection of the challenges that are faced. We have to ensure that we have sufficient protection in place to reduce any impact on the national health service. We know that people who are double vaccinated have less-worse symptoms than people who are not vaccinated, which naturally answers Mr Cole-Hamilton’s question. If people are double vaccinated and therefore have a Covid certificate as a consequence, they are likely to be exposed to less danger, and we will be able to sustain more aspects of our social and economic activity. It all follows. The only problem is that Mr Cole-Hamilton missed a fundamental step of logic in his question. [Interruption.]

My simple point to Mr Cole-Hamilton is that there are a number of steps that we can take to try to avert the enormous pressure that he foresees—I agree with him on that—in the national health service in the winter. The Government is trying to take the necessary and proportionate steps to ensure that we can do that.

A lot of effort has been put in by officials, and reinforced by ministers, to discuss with individual transport providers the importance of properly applying the regulations in all transport settings. That has been the subject of a great deal of dialogue with transport providers, and it has involved direct discussion with ministers.

Having been on public transport in Scotland in recent weeks, I have heard announcements being made. On Sunday, I happened to walk through Queen Street station in Glasgow, where the adherence to wearing face coverings was very high.

Emma Roddick’s point is valid—it is essential that that approach be taken. I assure her that ministers and officials are doing all that they can to ensure that that message is heard by transport providers.

At the start of questions following my statement, Mr Ross gave a warm welcome to the steps that have been taken to deliver the vaccination programme. I thought that his comments were absolutely appropriate and valid. However, Mr Halcro Johnston is now complaining about the fact—[Interruption.] Well, he is complaining. To enable us to deliver the great performance that Mr Ross has complimented, we have to use some national health service staff. [Interruption.]

I do not know what discussion is going on between Ms Grahame and Mr Ross, but it is something to do with—[Interruption.]. I am trying to be helpful here. Mr Ross has welcomed the vaccination programme roll-out. How do we manage that? We manage it by ensuring that the priority is to give maximum protection to the population. However, when we do that, Mr Halcro Johnston comes along and moans about it. That just says it all about the Conservatives. [Interruption.]

Employment in the national health service is at a record high level. We have never had more nurses working in the NHS than we have today and that—[Interruption.]

Such issues are discussed on a four-nations basis, as are all aspects of the vaccination programme. Those issues will also be the subject of clinical advice and intervention. The health secretary will be happy to update Parliament on the steps that are taken on the matter as a consequence of the four-nations discussions.

The evidence that has been gathered demonstrates that vaccination is of benefit to the overwhelming majority of the population, but vaccination does not operate compatibly with some individuals. Local vaccination centres can answer questions about vaccines and advise about the arrangements that can be put in place to enable safe vaccination.

In the rare cases in which an individual cannot be vaccinated, they will be identified as being able to safely receive a vaccine but having decided not to do so or as clinically unable to safely receive a vaccine, in which case they will receive a secure paper exemption certificate by post. That certificate will provide them with the ability to access venues on the clear understanding that there is an appropriate justification for their not being double vaccinated.

The issues that Jim Fairlie raises are connected to the points that I discussed with Rachael Hamilton a moment ago. We are facing acute challenges in availability of skills in a number of sectors. It is an issue not only in health and social care, but in hospitality, transportation, distribution and some parts of the rural economy, with which Jim Fairlie is familiar.

Through the retraining offer that we have in place, the Scottish Government is taking measures to ensure that we support individuals who have lost employment in one sector to gain access to employment in other sectors. We have measures including the young persons guarantee, which is designed to ensure that young people have access to employment, training or a college place when they require it, and we have the national transition training fund, which is designed to support individuals to make the transition from one sector to another.

Lastly, we are working with partners to try to ensure that people who are economically inactive are given all possible support to access the labour market where they might be able to contribute to the current skills requirements in the economy.

Mr Balfour’s question relates to the point that I have just discussed with Pam Duncan-Glancy about measures that we would rather not take, but often have to take, in trying to protect the wider population.

Mr Balfour’s suggestion would involve a vast number of individuals entering school premises, when schools have worked hard to keep the environment as focused as possible on delivery of learning. That is the right thing for schools to do to ensure that young people have uninterrupted access to their learning.

The issue that Mr Balfour raises is the subject of local dialogue and discussion and will, I am sure, continue to be so. The Government will ensure that the issues are properly aired in the education recovery group in order to address the concerns that have been raised today.

Some of the scenario that Mr Coffey puts to me can be addressed by the fact that we invited young people who were 17 to come forward for vaccination before their 18th birthdays, which would have preceded the introduction of the certification scheme. However, I am happy to explore in further detail some of the issues that Mr Coffey raises, to identify whether there are practical steps that we can take to address the situation. Nobody wants to see anybody disadvantaged, but we are trying to maximise the protection that is in place for the wider population by ensuring that individuals are double vaccinated. If Mr Coffey wishes to write to me with further details about that scenario, I will happily consider it.