Chamber and committees

We have confirmed with Public Health Scotland (PHS) that there is a sentinel surveillance scheme. The symptomatic dataset is a very small sample; consequently, any potential analysis would not be robust. However, we are assured that the ZOE app does include Scottish data; moreover, PHS does not believe that there is any reason to assume Scottish only data would be different.

The Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent organisation that provides advice on vaccines and immunisation. Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has considered this advice as part of its decision making process in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Scottish Government has independent observers on the panel, Dr Syed Ahmed and representatives from Public Health Scotland. As part of the panel, we have the opportunity to put questions to the JCVI, on a range of topics in relation to COVID-19 including the subject of 12 to 15 years being vaccinated.

Following the recent JCVI advice, young people aged 12 to 15 with severe neuro-disabilities, Down’s Syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities, as well as people who are household contacts of individuals who are immunosuppressed, are eligible for vaccination.

The JCVI is not currently advising routine vaccination of children outside of these groups, based on the current evidence. The Chief Medical Officer has written to the JCVI asking them to keep this issue under regular review.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice indicating all those aged 16 and 17 should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Anyone's who's 16 th birthday is on or after 1 August 2021 you can self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration , from 6 August, with drop in clinics available to everyone in these age groups from the week starting 9 August.

We have agreed with Health Boards and Higher and Further Education Institutions to appoint Single Points of Contacts in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

Young people who will turn 18 before 31st October 2021 (the current cut-off date for Phase 2 of the vaccination programme) are now eligible for vaccination and can register on the online portal: Registering for a coronavirus vaccine | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) if they have not already received an appointment letter. Those turning 18 later in the year, will of course be part of the ongoing rolling vaccination programme. The self-registration online portal will stay open as we move into Phase 2 of vaccination in the Autumn.

For second doses, individuals will get an invitation as normal, but if, for example, it goes to a previous address (as may be the case with students), they can rearrange this online or via the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 08000308013 (available 08:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week) to a new health board location. Those who can’t be vaccinated before they leave home, should register with a GP practice to allow their CHI registered address to be up to date, and use the appointment checker to ensure they have a vaccination appointment as soon as possible at their new location.

To counter the risk of letters going to old addresses, and to allow more advance notice of appointments, an appointment checker on NHS Inform will allow someone to view their scheduled appointment earlier than the letter arriving: Vaccine appointment checker | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . They can also use the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline to discuss their appointment.

The appointment checker also means those eligible can reschedule in advance, and can now also reschedule to anywhere in Scotland, to fit in with their work and life. In addition, there are drop-in clinics in various areas for certain age groups. Anyone looking for vaccination should check their local NHS website to see what is available in their area.

It is hoped that many new students will be vaccinated before they attend their new further or higher education location. However, as we all know, it takes time for an immune response to develop to the vaccine (2-3 weeks), so even after individuals have received their first dose vaccination, they should continue to follow the FACTS guidance to help reduce the spread of the virus, and minimise the risk to themselves and those around them.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice indicating all those aged 16 and 17 should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Anyone's who's 16 th birthday is on or after 1 August 2021 you can self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration, from 6 August, with drop in clinics available to everyone in these age groups from the week starting 9 August.

We have agreed with Health Boards and Higher and Further Education Institutions to appoint Single Points of Contacts in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

For second doses, individuals will get an invitation as normal, but if, for example, it goes to a previous address (as may be the case with students), they can rearrange this online or via the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 08000308013 (available 08:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week) to a new health board location. Those who can’t be vaccinated before they leave home, should register with a GP practice to allow their CHI registered address to be up to date, and use the appointment checker to ensure they have a vaccination appointment as soon as possible at their new location.

To counter the risk of letters going to old addresses, and to allow more advance notice of appointments, an appointment checker on NHS Inform will allow someone to view their scheduled appointment earlier than the letter arriving: Vaccine appointment checker | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . They can also use the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline to discuss their appointment.

The appointment checker also means those eligible can reschedule in advance, and can now also reschedule to anywhere in Scotland, to fit in with their work and life. In addition, there are drop-in clinics in various areas for certain age groups. Anyone looking for vaccination should check their local NHS website to see what is available in their area.

It is hoped that many new students will be vaccinated before they attend their new further education location. However, as we all know, it takes time for an immune response to develop to the vaccine (2-3 weeks), so even after individuals have received their first dose vaccination, they should continue to follow the FACTS guidance to help reduce the spread of the virus, and minimise the risk to themselves and those around them.

Limiting the incidence of long COVID is dependent on our ability to limit the spread of the virus. Throughout our response to the pandemic, all decisions taken by the Scottish Government have been clearly underpinned by the latest available clinical and scientific advice of the Advisory Sub-group on Education and Children’s Issues, which considered the latest evidence on long COVID when producing its latest advice on the return to school in August.

We have committed significant funding to local authorities and schools to deal with the impacts of the pandemic, which has included £90m of funding to meet the cost of necessary safety measures and infrastructure adjustments in schools, as well as over £60m funding to support partners to deliver a comprehensive package of wellbeing and outdoor activities. As we settle in to the new term, the most recent changes to policies on self-isolation, testing and contact tracing for under 18s will help reduce the risks of COVID-19 in schools as Scotland transitions to beyond level 0. We are providing a further £10m to support access to CO2 monitoring in schools and Early Learning Childcare settings and we have asked local authorities and schools to ensure staff and secondary pupils are advised to take Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests and record their results in the run-up to the return, and to keep testing and recording results thereafter. To ensure a safe and sustainable start to the school term, we are asking schools to continue with the majority of mitigations in schools for up to 6 weeks after the start of term.

These importance changes are set out in our latest guidance on Reducing risks in schools , which has drawn on feedback from the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG), wider workforce representatives, and children and young people. This represents a proportionate set of measures which has evolved throughout the pandemic to limit the spread and impact of the virus.

The Scottish Government continues to recognise the importance of engaging the performing arts sector, including live-music performers, in the development of guidance, to allow the safe re-opening of venues during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders from the performing arts sector, including performers, venues - including pubs and other hospitality settings -, industry bodies and trade unions such as the Musicians’ Union, Federation of Scottish Theatre, and Gilded Balloon, on both an official and ministerial level, to ensure a collaborative approach to provide guidance on this subject. This ongoing engagement has contributed to the development of various pieces of guidance covering live music in various settings to ensure it is accurate, comprehensive and helpful to the sector.

In addition to guidance for the performing arts sector, guidance regarding live entertainment in hospitality settings, such as in pubs, has also been developed in conjunction with and reviewed by performers, trade unions and the hospitality industry to ensure it remains current, clear and practical. This includes regular engagement with the hospitality sector, the Music Venue Trust on the development of guidance relevant to grassroots music venues, as well as with a number of specific venues across the country.

This engagement has ensured that guidance remains relevant as Scotland’s strategic framework has been updated, and has established a shared confidence around the safety of returning to workplaces, protecting public health and supporting Scotland’s economic recovery.

I am pleased to report that work to remove giant hogweed from the site began on 22 July 2021.

The Scottish Government has agreed to fund the first phase of work at the Tarbolton landfill site, which will begin to reduce the environmental and amenity impact of the site. Funding for the control of hogweed was agreed as part of this first phase of work.

While the Scottish Government is not responsible for the site, we continue to work with our public partners to consider further recommendations from a site investigation for the longer-term restoration of the site.

Every homicide represents the loss of a loved family member, a friend or a work colleague. The emotional cost of such loss cannot ever be captured by the financial costs arising.

Within this context, the Scottish Government does not make specific assessments of the public financial costs of individual crimes, including homicide. However, it does publish general information on financial costs of the justice system in the ‘Costs of the Criminal Justice System in Scotland’ publication (available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/costs-of-the-criminal-justice-system-in-scotland-dataset-2016-17-published-december-2019/ ).

The publication has financial information that may be useful in considering financial costs associated with a homicide (e.g. the average costs of prosecution or a prison place).

Further to this, table 4 of the publication discusses the “economic and social” cost of crime. It explains that UK Government research has estimated the total economic and social costs associated with a homicide in England and Wales at £3.3m. Based on this, it is estimated that the costs associated with all homicides in Scotland are around £200m per anum. However, these “economic and social” costs go far beyond the financial cost to the public sector – including both non-financial costs and impacts outside the public sector.

a) A total of 338 expressions of interest were received, 5 were subsequently withdrawn leaving 333.

b)Breakdown of respondents by tenure:

The regulated childcare sector is operating throughout the summer and The Scottish Government created guidance to support this. Organised children’s activities are also operating with guidance available, which has been updated in line with easing of restrictions.

The Scottish Government have invested £20 million into the Get Into Summer initiative. This funding is providing targeted and wider support for Local Authorities and national partners to ensure that more children have access to play experiences during the summer. As part of that, guidance was provided to encourage Local Authorities to work with partners including early learning and childcare and school age childcare providers.