Chamber and committees

Scotland’s winter COVID-19 and flu programme commenced on 4 September, with the majority of the COVID-19 programme due to start from 18 September. We originally planned to vaccinate care home residents, people aged 75 and over and people with weakened immune system aged 12 and over from the middle of October in line with Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice; that protection from COVID-19 vaccines is highest in the first three months following vaccination, so by vaccinating those who are at highest risk later, we planned to give them greater protection over the period of high winter NHS pressures, into the new year.

In light of the emergence of new variant BA.2.86 in late August 2023, the Scottish Government, alongside the other 4 nations, took the precautionary measure to endeavour to bring forward vaccination of care home residents, people aged 75 and over and people with weakened immune system aged 12 and over, as close to the start of the programme, where possible.

All those eligible were invited forward via letter, email or text, prior to Christmas and although the majority of vaccinations were completed before the festive break, appointments are available until the end of the programme on 31 March 2024.

As of 14 January we have delivered 1,384,426 COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine uptake data is publicly available through the PHS dashboard and is updated weekly. It contains data broken down by age and health status. The current COVID-19 uptake is as follows (as of 14 January 2024):

The percentage increase cited above is taken to be from the latest National Statistics on the prison population published in December 2023. These state that “The (average daily) population serving index sentences of one year or less increased by around 6% from 921 in 2021-22 to 972 in 2022-23.”

Caution is advised when using this data to examine the sentence length. The National Statistics provide index sentence length only. Where an individual in custody is serving multiple custodial sentences, the index sentence is the single longest sentence to be served. The overall length of the sentence to be served may be longer than the index sentence length. Further information on why this measure is used in the National Statistics is available in the accompanying Technical Manual ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-prison-population-statistics/pages/cellwise-data-construction/#index-sentence-derivation ).

Overall sentence length is published in the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Monthly Data Report ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/justice-analytical-services-safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-reports/ ).

In relation to the extension to the presumption against short term sentences in 2019, we are continuing to monitor the ongoing effect. However, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the justice system has made it difficult to separate the impact of the pandemic from the effects of the extension to date.

There is however a clear longer term trend away from shorter sentences. The latest National Statistics on Criminal Proceedings in Scotland show that 83% of custodial sentences were 12 months or less in 2012-13, declining to 73% in 2021-22. The largest fall in the use of short term sentences was between 2018-19 and 2019-20, with a four percentage point reduction, which may be associated with the extension of the presumption to one year.

It should be noted, however, that the presumption is not a ban, and decisions in individual cases are a matter for the independent courts, taking into consideration all the relevant facts and circumstances.

Case rates are uncertain and vary over time with different social mixing patterns. According to the Winter COVID-19 Infection Study, prevalence of COVID-19 in Scotland showed early signs of decreasing in the two weeks to 3 Jan.

Public Health Scotland continue to gather epidemiological information on seasonal respiratory infection activity in Scotland and publish the latest data in their National respiratory infection and COVID-19 statistics report.

The Scottish Government’s decision-making throughout all COVID-19 vaccination programmes has been guided by the expert clinical advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and at present they are not recommending any additional action this winter.

The winter vaccination programme began in September 2023 and all those eligible were invited forward prior to Christmas. The vast majority of vaccinations were completed before the festive break, but appointments are available until the end of the programme on 31 March 2024. So far, over 1.38 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, equating to 56.8% of the eligible population.

As the majority of the programme is now complete acceleration is not required, with a focus between now and the end of March on encouraging eligible people who to this point have chosen not to receive vaccination to come forward. PHS and the Health Boards have developed additional communications to support this. In addition the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer have been working to encourage uptake within the health and social care workforce, to support winter resilience across health and care services.

Our guidance to stay well and help others in winter can be found here Respiratory infections including Coronavirus (COVID-19): staying well and protecting others - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We have no current plans to mandate the wearing of face coverings.

It is due to the success of vaccines in protecting people, driving down cases and the availability of treatments that the guidance on wearing masks was withdrawn.

The Scottish Government follows JCVI for clinical recommendations for vaccination and their current assessment of the evidence does not support the inclusion of long COVID as an eligible at risk health criteria. We intend to continue to be guided by the expert independent advice of the JCVI on this issue.

We continue to monitor studies on COVID-19 vaccination and their relationship to long COVID. There have been a selection of international studies that suggest that receiving COVID-19 vaccination, before infection, can reduce the risk of receiving a diagnosis of long COVID. It is therefore important that we continue to work to improve uptake of our COVID-19 vaccination programmes to potentially prevent more instances of long COVID, but also to continue to protect those at higher risk from severe illness, hospitalisation and death and to protect our NHS.

As part of our enhanced surveillance systems, we continue to monitor, assess and be ready to respond to COVID-19 and other health threats.

Wearing of a face covering in public spaces and on public transport stopped being a legal requirement in April 2022 and the extended use of face masks and face coverings guidance across health and social care settings was withdrawn on 16 May 2023.

Current COVID-19 specific guidance is still in place for the public and wider guidance for individuals and workplaces promoting a risk-based approach to building resilience to respiratory infections, including Covid-19.

Scotland continues to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and at this stage of the pandemic we are now living with COVID-19 as a respiratory infection and the Scottish Government has taken proportionate actions to do so.

Our guidance remains the same for the public; if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19, try to stay at home and avoid contact with others – if you do need to go out, wear a well-fitting face covering. You may also wish to consider wearing, and you may be asked to wear a face covering in other settings.

In regard to health and social care settings Scotland has now reverted back to pre-pandemic guidance and health and social care staff are advised to follow the infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance on the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) which can be found in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM) and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual (CH IPCM).

Any change in response will be driven by the data and evidence gathered, as well as expert advice.

Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce previous guidance on the extended use of face masks in hospitals and care homes or use in public spaces.

Our guidance remains the same; if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19, try to stay at home and avoid contact with others – if you do need to go out, wear a well-fitting face covering. You may also wish to consider wearing, and you may be asked to wear a face covering in other settings.

Advice about the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (including face masks) in health and social care settings is contained in guidance from Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland – the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NICPM) and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual (CH IPCM). This advice, which is based on the current stage of the pandemic and the availability of vaccines and treatments, recommends a person-centred approach based on clinical need and risk assessment.

As part of our enhanced surveillance systems, we continue to monitor, assess and be ready to respond to COVID-19 and other health threats. Any change in response will be driven by the data and evidence gathered, as well as expert advice.

The level of funding set out in the Scottish Budget reflects that the delivery of Glen Sannox (801) is now at an advanced stage. The costs and delivery schedules of both 801 and 802 continue to be scrutinised closely, with updates provided regularly to the Scottish Parliament.

The business case and cost review exercise for Ardrossan is expected to report outcomes in February which will then inform discussion between the funding partners on next steps.

The budget for 2024-25 includes all costs including any pay increases agreed during that financial year.

Firefighter pay is negotiated on a UK wide basis through the National Joint Council and SFRS support staff pay is negotiated between SFRS as the employer and its recognised trade unions. In common with all public sector employers, SFRS is expected to deliver pay deals which are both fair and affordable.

Yes. The budget for 2023-24 was set before the 2 year pay deal for firefighters was finalised. The Scottish Government provided an additional £4.4m to contribute to the cost of the pay increases and other inflationary pressures faced by SFRS. The £13.6m increase includes consolidating the £4.4m into the SFRS baseline budget.