Chamber and committees

accines are approved through an established four nations basis framework and the current approved vaccines are those used by the NHS as part of the UK rollout, as well as those approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or from an eligible country using the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines. We do not currently accept others such as the Sinopharm vaccine at this time. This is based on clinical advice and represents a consistent approach across the four nations.

To qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to Scotland, you must have been fully vaccinated with a full course of an approved vaccine under:

• the UK or UK overseas vaccination programme
• the United Nations vaccine programme for staff and volunteers
• an approved programme in one of the programmes found on the link below

Approved COVID-19 vaccines and countries with approved COVID-19 proof of vaccination - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Those who do not meet the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility criteria must continue to take a pre-departure test, self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival and take day 2 and 8 tests. All arrivals from red list countries must continue to book and stay for 10 days in a managed isolation hotel.

Travel restrictions are in place to prevent cases of COVID-19 being imported to Scotland. Travel restrictions will be in place as long as they are required and Scottish Government will continue to liaise with affected groups and stakeholders over any restrictions and exemptions that may apply.

To qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to Scotland, you must have been fully vaccinated with a full course of an approved vaccine under:

• the UK or UK overseas vaccination programme
• the United Nations vaccine programme for staff and volunteers

Approved COVID-19 vaccines and countries with approved COVID-19 proof of vaccination - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

As with the rest of the UK, fully vaccinated travellers arriving into Scotland from non-red list countries are required to take a test no later than the end of day 2 after their arrival. Currently, the test needs to meet a minimum standard which tends to mean that a PCR test is required, although some other tests can meet the standard.

Travellers can choose to purchase a PCR test via CTM, the UK booking portal for international travel, where costs are currently £68 for a day two test and £136 for day two and eight tests, regardless of where a traveller lives in the UK. Alternatively, a traveller can book a test via one of the private providers listed on the gov.uk site. The average cost of these tests are between £55-£65 across the whole of the UK.

From 24 October, fully vaccinated travellers arriving into England from non-red list countries will be able to take a lateral flow test with photo verification for their day 2 test. This will be followed up with a confirmatory PCR test, should they receive a positive result.

We have confirmed we will align with these changes, however we have only recently received details of the proposal from the UK Government and are reviewing these prior to confirming a date for implementation.

The Strategic Board works with the enterprise and skills agencies to improve performance measurement in a number of ways:

• The Board produces its Annual Analysis to coincide with its Strategy Day. This includes a comprehensive analysis of Scotland’s performance against relevant National Performance Framework indicators. Importantly the report also includes consideration of agencies contribution to the outcomes and detail on the agencies progress on delivery of the Board’s missions.
• The Board ensure the agencies plans are aligned - with each other, with Scottish Government and Board strategic direction and with the National Performance Framework. Each of the agency operational plans now share a vision, one which supports the Strategic Board’s Plan and Scottish Government priorities. In addition, the agency operational plans now use common planning assumptions shaped by common economic analysis as well as making clear how agency activity supports the outcomes of the National Performance Framework.
• Additionally, the Board has overseen specific analytical work to help improve performance measurement in relation to key areas of agency activity. The Board’s work on Innovation (working jointly with the Analytical Unit, Scottish Government and agencies) has identified a number of specific cross-agency actions to improve the monitoring and evaluation of activity – including developing consistent approaches and addressing data gaps.

As with the rest of the UK, fully vaccinated travellers returning to Scotland from countries other than those on the red list are required to take a day two test regardless of the length of their trip. The risk of transmission of the virus remains regardless of how long a traveller’s trip was for.

The Scottish Government has confirmed it intends to align with the UK Government’s proposals to relax the required standard of the day two testing.

Details on this are still being finalised and we will continue to engage with the UK Government ahead of confirmation.

Until these changes are confirmed, fully vaccinated travellers returning from countries that are not on the red list will be required to purchase a PCR test via CTM, the UK booking portal for international travel or from one of the private providers listed on the gov.uk website.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of action to improve digital inclusion across Scotland, including in the Glasgow region.

We know that cost is one of the greatest barriers to getting online, closely followed by a lack of skills. Since May 2020 the Scottish Government has invested £48 million through the Connecting Scotland programme to provide a device, connectivity, and training and support to those on low incomes, allowing them to realise the full benefits of being online. Connecting Scotland is delivered in collaboration with key partners, including local authorities, COSLA, SCVO and third sector organisations, and telecoms companies. The recently published report Connecting Scotland - A Year in View demonstrates the scale of the investment and the impact of the programme so far. To date, Connecting Scotland has distributed almost 7,000 devices to organisations based in Glasgow. As set out in the Programme for Government, by the end of this Parliament, we will ensure Connecting Scotland has supported up to 300,000 households to get online, backed by £200 million of investment.

We are also making substantial investments in Scotland’s digital infrastructure, despite responsibility for broadband being reserved to the UK Government.

Our Reaching 100% (R100) programme – consisting of the £600 million R100 contracts, our Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme and commercial coverage – will help to deliver universal superfast access across Scotland.

The Scottish Government engages with the UK Government through the British Irish Council digital inclusion workstream, and officials regularly engage with telecoms companies on digital inclusion issues.

We expect businesses to take appropriate action to minimise the risk of transmission (to other employees and to customers) where a member of staff tests positive. Employers should also take appropriate steps and work with Test & Protect to identify any potential close contacts. We expect employers to support staff to self-isolate for the full period required, acknowledging that working from home may be an option.

The Scottish Government, along with public, private and third sector partners and the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) issued a joint statement outlining fair work expectations in July to support the transition out of lockdown. Among its provisions were that no worker should be financially penalised for following medical advice, that any absence relating to COVID-19 should not affect future sick pay entitlement or other entitlements like holiday or accrued time, and that any absence related to COVID-19 should not result in formal attendance related warnings or be accumulated with non-COVID related absences in future absence management figures.

Inbound international travel restrictions were eased across the four nations on 4 October. These changes mean that people who have received two doses of different vaccines are regarded as having completed a full course of the vaccine and therefore are treated as ‘fully vaccinated’ for travel purposes. This applies to people who have been vaccinated by accepted vaccines in countries that are already eligible under the vaccinated traveller policy.

Travellers from non-red list countries who have been fully vaccinated in a country that meets recognised standards of certifications will no longer be required to provide evidence of a negative test result before they can travel to Scotland, and will not be required to self-isolate or take a day 8 test. They must still currently take a day 2 PCR test, though we have announced that we intend to align with the UK post-arrival testing regime later in October, with further details to be announced in due course.

Those who are not considered eligible fully vaccinated travellers must continue to take a pre-departure test, self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival and take day 2 and 8 tests. All arrivals from red list countries must continue to book and stay for 10 days in a managed isolation hotel.

Travel restrictions are in place to prevent cases of COVID-19 being imported to Scotland. Travel restrictions will be in place as long as they are required and Scottish Government will continue to liaise with affected groups and stakeholders over any restrictions and exemptions that may apply.

Further guidance for international arrivals can be read at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-international-travel-quarantine/pages/red-amber-and-green-list-countries/

The Scottish Government’s guidance for employers on Test & Protect is regularly updated. This sets out the support that employers should give to employees who are required to self-isolate. It also sets out steps that employees can take if they feel that their employer is not enabling them to complete periods of requested self-isolation. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-test-and-protect/pages/advice-for-employers/ .

Anyone who returns a positive LFD test result should self-isolate and book a follow-up PCR test. Employers should be supportive of any colleague who needs to self-isolate following a positive LFD test while they await their follow-up PCR test results, even if the colleague remains asymptomatic.

Furthermore, employers should carry out COVID-19 risk assessments as part of managing risk in the workplace to reduce the risk of transmission.

Regulators (including local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive) have engaged with businesses throughout the pandemic to ensure they understand the guidance and are able to meet the regulatory requirements.

We recognise that long waits are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

We have asked all Boards to set out their plans and trajectories for meeting the waiting times standards and clearing backlogs by the end of March 2023. To support this, we have already allocated £9.25m from the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund, for the first year of clearing waiting list backlogs in CAMHS and Psychological Therapies. This is part of a wider investment supported by a £120m Recovery and Renewal fund to transform services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention.

Ministers take decisions on travel restrictions based on evidence provided by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC). These reports take into account a number of factors in judging the risk associated with travel from each country, including case numbers, incidence of the virus amongst the population, the prominence of variants of concern as well as any other practical factors relevant to each country.

The Scottish Government considers this data in relation to the public health situation in Scotland. Following careful consideration of clinical and scientific evidence, the four nations have agreed to ease inbound international travel restrictions from 4 October.

Restrictions put in place to protect public health have been substantially revised to make travel simpler, with green and amber classifications merged while the red list is retained for those countries deemed to have high COVID19 case rates or variants of concern.

Travellers from non-red list countries who have been fully vaccinated in a country that meets recognised standards of certifications will no longer be required to provide evidence of a negative test result before they can travel to Scotland. The requirement to self-isolate upon arrival will be removed and Scotland will also align with the UK post-arrival testing regime in due course.

In certain circumstances, there may be hardship or welfare arrangements available to travellers who are unable to afford hotel quarantine. The following link provides further information:

Coronavirus (COVID-19): international travel and managed isolation (quarantine) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)