Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to work alongside our UK Government colleagues to engage with retailers on the range of challenges facing consumers as a result of Coronavirus – including adapting to the changes made to in store shopping experiences. Several meetings of a national forum attended by equality groups, such as RNIB and Age UK, alongside national retailers have been held to discuss the challenges faced and the adaptations required to support consumers.

We worked closely with local authorities and other key partners to provide a comprehensive package of support to people who were shielding which included an SMS system and local phone lines to access free deliveries of food and household items, delivered to people’s doorstep, as well as priority delivery slots from supermarkets and delivery of prescriptions. We will continue to work closely with local authorities now that shielding has been paused to identify and provide support to people who need it.

While many positive changes to restrictions and access have been made in recent weeks, we recognise that many individuals will still face both financial and / or access barriers to food and essentials due to the impacts of Coronavirus. That is why we have extended the funding available to local authorities to support individuals at risk until 30 September. This support can be accessed through our national assistance helpline, on 0800 111 4000, and is available Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm. In addition we prepared guidance for individuals on the range of support available, including gift card schemes to enable others to shop on their behalf and supermarket grocery box offers.

The Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills holds weekly calls with Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and Unite and at their 10 July meeting this included discussions on aviation where Transport Scotland attended. The First Minister also met with Unite on 28 July to discuss aviation and aerospace matters. This is in addition to frequent and regular discussions between Unite and Transport Scotland Aviation Officials which has also included discussion on guidance for airports.

The Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands meets quarterly with the trade unions (STUC, Unite, Prospect, Nautilus, GMB, TSSA and RMT) to discuss ferries issues. The last meeting was held on 29 April 2020, with the Minister is scheduled to meet the parties again on 18 August 2020. The Minister has also accommodated requests from individual unions when they have been unable to attend the scheduled meeting. For example when the RMT could not attend an April meeting the Minister met them on 5 May 2020 instead to hear and discuss their concerns.

I have also maintained regular engagement with trade unions (STUC, Unite, Prospect, Nautilus, GMB, TSSA, ASLEF and RMT) to discuss transport issues in his portfolio with a meeting having taken place on 19 March and the next meeting planned for 16 September 2020.

In relation to specific aspects of the Transport Transition Plan, Transport Scotland has held a number of meetings with STUC and affiliates over the last few months during the development of the Plan Guidance. These include meetings at which Transport Guidance was discussed on 7, 15, 18, 19 and 29 May and 2 and 5 June 2020. I also attended the sessions on 18 May and 5 June with Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government, also helpfully joining on 18 May 2020. Transport Scotland officials held further meetings with STUC and affiliates at which face coverings were discussed on 5, 12 and 16 June 2020 and meetings on the proposed physical distancing changes from 2 metres to 1 metre were held on 7 and 10 July 2020.

In addition to ensuring that appropriate consideration is given to the safety of transport staff and the travelling public, these meetings also provided Trade Unions with frequent opportunities to provide any observations or feedback to Ministers and Transport Scotland directly. We look forward to continued engagement in the productive and collaborative manner adopted to date.

The Transport Transition Plan National Advisory Group is one strand of Transport Scotland’s Transport Transition Plan engagement. Ministers and Transport Scotland have engaged extensively with Scottish Trades Union Congress and affiliates since the start of the pandemic and we have thanked them for their valuable input into the Transport Transition Plan Guidance and other matters to date. Given the dynamic and continuously evolving nature of the Transport Transition Plan in the last few months, engagement with our Trade Union stakeholders has required to be more frequent and in depth on specific issues than the meetings of National Advisory Group would permit. Therefore we would seek to continue to engage with Trade Unions in the productive and collaborative manner we have adopted to date.

The Transport Transition Plan National Advisory Group met on the 2 June, 16 June, 7 July and 4 August 2020. The next meeting is planned for 18 August 2020. Meeting minutes and agendas have been published on the Transport Scotland website.

Please find below a list of Transport Transition Plan National Advisory Group Members and the Organisations they represent:

Alison Irvine, Chair - Director Transport Strategy and Analysis, Transport Scotland

Nicola Gill, Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers

Iain Docherty, University of Stirling

Linda Bamford, Commissioner - Poverty and Inequality Commission

David Hunter, Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland

Matt Lancashire, Scottish Council for Development and Industry

Neil Amner, Scottish Chambers of Commerce

Robert Nicol, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities

Craig Hatton, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers

Ewan Wallace, Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland

Ranald Robertson, Regional Transport Partnerships Representative

Hugh Gilles, Director of Roads, Transport Scotland

Other Transport Scotland officers as appropriate

Those organisations proposed as members of the Transport Transition Plan National Advisory Group were approached to nominate representation on the Group.

The terms of reference for the Transport Transition Plan National Advisory Group have been published on the Transport Scotland website.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30594 on 27 July 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government recognises that many individuals face access barriers to food and essentials due to the impacts of Coronavirus and work is underway to understand the impact of the COVID virus and policy response on people in Scotland.

We know that supermarkets are unable to offer online delivery slots for all those who wish to use them and we continue to work alongside our UK Government colleagues to engage with retailers on the range of challenges facing consumers as a result of Coronavirus. Following Scottish led discussions 100,000 priority delivery slots from Iceland supermarket have been made available for those who are at risk. This is a new offer and is in addition to slots allocated to the shielded group. Slots were allocated to local authorities, Age Scotland and RNIB last month.

For those who are unable to access food and cannot get the help they need from family, friends or neighbours, they are encouraged to call the national assistance helpline. Callers will be put through to speak to someone at their local authority who will be able to advise what types of help are available. The free helpline number is 0800 111 4000, or can be contacted via a textphone on 0800 111 4114. The helpline is open Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm. In addition we prepared guidance for individuals on the range of support available, including information on gift cards to enable others to shop on their behalf, food boxes and prepared meal delivery options.

People at the highest clinical risk of severe illness from COVID19 were advised at the start of the pandemic that they should stay at home at all times, or ‘shield’. The Chief Medical Officers of the UK’s four nations agreed at the outset the conditions which placed people at the highest clinical risk. In addition, clinicians can identify patients who they think are at highest clinical risk but do not fall into the group of conditions identified by the Chief Medical Officers.

Free grocery boxes and access to priority delivery slots from supermarkets were made available to people who were shielding to support them in following the shielding advice. We confirmed on 8 June that this support will remain as long as the shielding advice remains in place. Shielding was paused on 1 August and the grocery box service stopped on 31 July. People who registered for priority delivery slots by 31 July continue to have access to these slots. All people who are shielding were told that they could visit shops from 24 July. Anyone needing urgent assistance with food or other groceries – whether they are shielding or not - can continue to contact their local authority.

We are considering the support requirements of the shielding group in the event of future local or national lockdowns.