Chamber and committees

recognise how difficult self-isolation for 14 days has been for those who live in care homes and their loved ones. While self-isolation has been necessary for minimising the risk of Covid-19 transmission, I understand that restrictions on visiting during isolation periods can be distressing for and negatively affect the wellbeing of care home residents and their loved ones. This is why it is important that restrictions are not in place for any longer than necessary and Scottish Government Officials have worked with clinical experts to keep restrictions under close review throughout the pandemic.

Self-isolation periods for care home residents was, in January, reviewed by clinical experts. The result of this review was a recommendation that there could be a reduction of the self-isolation period for individuals identified as cases or contacts of a Covid-19 case, who live in adult care homes, from 14 days to 10 days. On 19 th January 2022 the Scottish Government communicated this updated guidance to care homes and confirmed that care homes should adopt this change in guidance with immediate effect.

I appreciate the isolation period still differs from the general public, which may be disappointing for individuals living in care homes. This change is in line with guidance issued by Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and the UK IPC cell and reflects the ongoing risks facing vulnerable people living in a communal setting. To minimise the impact isolation periods can have on residents, they can choose a friend or family member to be a named visitor, to visit them during their self-isolation periods. Scottish Government Officials have worked with Public Health Scotland to normalise visiting by named visitors and emphasise that this is the default approach and care homes and health protection teams should support these visits, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

In addition to this, following a review by Public Health Scotland, people transferring from hospitals to care homes will no longer need to isolate, if they have had a negative PCR test in the previous 48 hours, so long as they have no symptoms of a respiratory virus and have had no prior exposure to COVID-19, over the previous 14 days.

Scottish Government Officials continue to work with Public Health Scotland and ARHAI to review all remaining restrictions including self-isolation periods for residents.

We continue to see Common Housing Registers as a key way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing and support their development by directing local authorities, housing associations and co-operatives to the Scottish Government website, Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government has announced £65 million of additional funding support for the culture and events sectors that were impacted by the additional Covid-19 restrictions introduced in December 2021. This is in addition to the £175m of emergency funding provided to the culture, heritage and events since the start of the pandemic.

Eligible events which have previously received support through the Event Industry Support Funds or the Pivotal Event Businesses Fund will receive top-up payments from this funding. Payments have begun to be made and EventScotland is seeking to make these as swiftly as possible.

Creative Scotland’s Freelancers Cancellation Fund closed for applications on 24 January, and the Cancellation fund for Cultural Organisations closed on 2 February. Assessments are ongoing and award payments are already being made. We encourage any organisation that applies to the Creative Scotland Cultural Organisations cancellation fund to use any funding they receive to pay all staff that they employ.

Work is continuing at pace to determine the best way of distributing the remaining funding to support to those event and cultural businesses continuing to experience cancellation or postponements in February and March, or who may have previously not had access to COVID-19 funding support.

The Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme is being delivered through the National Entitlement Card (NEC) in the same way as the long standing Older and Disabled Persons’ Scheme. The Improvement Service is the accountable body for the NEC Scheme. People applying for an NEC or Young Scot NEC are asked to provide proof of person and proof of address.

Young people aged 16 and over apply for the new NEC card themselves, whilst parents, guardians or carers apply on behalf of children aged 5-15 and are required to provide proof that they hold that role in relation to that child. Full details of the acceptable proofs are listed on the NEC website .

In relation to asylum seekers and refugees, the Improvement Service issued updated guidance to local authorities in September 2021. One proof of specific relevance to asylum seekers and refugees is the Application Registration Card (ARC), issued by the Home Office. Under the UK Proof of Age Scheme (PASS), the ARC cannot be used to establish evidence of identification and so cannot be used online to verify parental responsibility of a young person under 16 years. It may however be used when applying offline and in conjunction with other information or evidence available to a council, a school or a dedicated staff member within a Local Authority assigned to help asylum seekers and refugees. This will enable the official to vouch for an applicant or a parent acting on their behalf by considering other information, evidence or context not available to the online application process.

As part of a Transportation Noise Action Plan, five soundproofing barriers were constructed in 2020 at priority areas for noise management. We are currently developing proposals for further barriers where practicable at noise management areas on the network. This includes locations on the M8 such as Riddrie, where the next step is to complete environmental investigations.

Transport Scotland has also engaged extensively with Glasgow City Council’s consultants on proposals to cover the M8 between Junctions 17 and 19. The level difference between the M8 and adjacent roads varies significantly due to the M8 crossing the railway near Charing Cross Station. The Council’s proposal was for a cover to be constructed at the same level as the adjacent roads; however, for the majority of the section there is insufficient headroom. Transport Scotland will continue to participate in discussions regarding this section of the M8, both on the feasibility of proposed solutions and how the desired outcomes would contribute to shared objectives.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is reserved to the UK Government. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes an estimate of ESA and other income-related benefits every six months, at a UK-wide level only. The latest figures published (covering 2018-2019) show that 94% of the total amount of Income Support or Income-related ESA that could have been claimed was claimed. On 8 July 2021 the DWP published their final update on cases that were potentially affected by underpayments of Employment and Support Allowance on transition from Incapacity Benefit. This information is also at UK-wide level, and shows that the UK Government has paid £613 million to those affected by the move from Incapacity Benefit to ESA.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to the Help to Buy ISA

We recognise the pandemic’s impact on the economy and businesses across a wide range of sectors. So far, the Scottish Government has provided £79.3 million directly to taxi and private hire drivers and operators in response to the pandemic. Further support of up to £28 million was announced on 5 January 2022 from within the £375 million package of funding announced on 21 December 2021, bringing total support for the sector to over £107 million. The Scottish Government is also calling on the UK Government to re-introduce schemes such as the Self-Employment Income Support Grant in order to make further support available.

The taxi and private-hire sector is one of a number of sectors experiencing labour market challenges arising from the pandemic, and is exacerbated by this being a largely self-employed sector. We are aware that Glasgow City Council, who are the independent licensing authority responsible for administration of the taxi-licensing regime, have held constructive talks with the trade to ascertain how the licensing authority can streamline the licensing process.