Chamber and committees

Scottish Government officials are in regular discussion with providers of student accommodation and their networks to work together to support students and to find solutions to issues as they emerge.

At the end of March, I wrote to all college and university principals, copying my letter to the networks involving student accommodation providers, asking that, in addition to their ongoing support for students, for those students who are remaining in accommodation, they look sympathetically on any need for them to extend their stay beyond existing arrangements. In addition, I asked that for those who have returned home and are having to ask to break agreements, they look on their situation sympathetically and continue to be as helpful as possible to avoid disadvantaging them.

On 8 April, I wrote, specifically to private providers of student accommodation, through the networks they belong to. I reiterated my request that providers treat students sympathetically in the action they can take in relation to their accommodation issues. I urged them to ensure that students are not disadvantaged.

The level of detail requested is not held centrally.

The data that has been provided by local authority indicates that around 1% of the relevant school and early year’s population have been attending local authority hubs since schools were asked to close.

On 18 March the Scottish Government announced that an additional £350 million would be made available to those most affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As part of this a £20 million Third Sector Resilience fund has been established to provide support to charities, social enterprises and enterprising third sector organisations to help cope with cash flow and business health and to enable them to deliver vital services and perform their crucial role across their communities through this difficult time. The fund launched on 25 March 2020 and the first payments were made within the first week.

The Fund is being delivered by Firstport, Social Investment Scotland and the Corra Foundation and will provide grants between £5,000-£100,000. In addition there will be up to a further £5m available in fully flexible, 0% interest loans starting at £50,000. An online eligibility checker to help organisations assess their suitability for the fund ensures access to the right support and application form depending on their funding needs. Information can be found at https://scvo.org/support/coronavirus/funding/for-organisations/third-sector-resilience-fund/

Information on other funds available, including a £40 million Supporting Communities Fund and a £50 million Wellbeing Fund can be found at https://scvo.org/support/coronavirus/funding/for-organisations/scottish-government

The four UK nations’ Chief Medical Officers have identified six categories of people at highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 which includes people with severe respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis.

These people are being advised to follow shielding guidance and should have now received a letter from the Chief Medical Officer with advice on how to protect themselves and access the care and treatment they need during the COVID-19 incident.

Shielding is to protect those who are at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus (COVID-19) from coming into contact with the virus and guidance on shielding is available on the NHS Inform website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-shielding-contacts/

The Scottish Government has also published details of the support which is available to vulnerable people who need help to arrange food and medicine deliveries, and other support services: https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-shielding-contacts/

In addition, the Scottish Government has published Coronavirus (COVID-19) tailored advice for those who live with specific medical conditions including respiratory conditions: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-tailored-advice-for-those-who-live-with-specific-medical-conditions/ . This information is updated regularly.

On 25 March 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture and the STUC General Secretary issued a joint statement outlining the shared commitment to fair work practices in Scotland. The statement calls on employers, trades unions and workers to work together to reach the right decisions on all workplace issues that arise throughout the Coronavirus outbreak and ensure workers are treated fairly. It can be accessed at https://www.gov.scot/news/protecting-workers-during-coronavirus-outbreak/ . The fair work principles set out in the Covid-19 Fair Work Statement encourages employers to support workers to follow it and suggests that no-one should feel under pressure to breach that advice and workers should not be put at unnecessary risk, nor should they put others at risk of infection.

The four UK nations’ Chief Medical Officers have identified six categories of people at highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 which includes people with severe respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis.

These people are being advised to follow shielding guidance and should have now received a letter from the Chief Medical Officer with advice on how to protect themselves and access the care and treatment they need during the COVID-19 incident.

The letter from the Chief Medical Officer is evidence for those at highest risk to show employers that they cannot work outside their home.

It is absolutely vital that as many people as possible stay at home in order to protect those most at risk and the NHS.

Public health advice for individuals can be found at: Coronavirus (COVID-19) on NHS Inform and advice for organisations can be found at Public Health Scotland: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/covid-19/ This information is updated regularly.

Sawmills are a key part of the timber supply chain which supports ‘essential businesses’. Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sectors define those facilities, systems, sites and networks necessary for the functioning of the country and the delivery of the essential services upon which daily life in Scotland depends. Pallets and biomass are identified as essential forestry outputs linked to transport of key goods and energy, both part of Critical National Infrastructure. The 13 designated CNI sectors can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-construction-sector-guidance/

Provided that they can continue to operate in compliance with the latest Scottish Government guidance on social distancing, production is required to meet increased demand for pallets from supermarkets, pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies, packaging companies and logistics providers. The co-products they produce, chips and sawdust, also supply biomass to the energy sector.

Guidance for businesses in Scotland on social distancing, including the closure of all retailers that sell non-essential goods and other non-essential premises due to the COVID-19 outbreak is available at the following:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-and-social-distancing-guidance/ .

All children and young people who rely on free school meals will continue to receive them during this period. Free school meals are a vital measure for families, children and young people across the country, and the Scottish Government is very grateful for the rapid work that local authorities have done already to ensure continuing provision.

The Scottish Government firmly believes that local authorities are best placed to design and develop solutions that meet local needs and circumstances as they will be aware of the specific challenges and solutions within their region.

On Thursday 26 March, the Scottish Government issued guidance to all local authority Chief Executives and Directors of Education regarding support to vulnerable children and young people.

The guidance included a specific section on free school meals which recognises that local authorities will continue to adopt different approaches depending on their individual circumstances and in response to local need. This will ensure that local authorities have maximum flexibility in approach in order to meet the needs of all free school meal eligible children and young people.

The Scottish Government has been modelling the impact for Scotland and updating this work as new epidemiological work and assumptions are provided by the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M). This is currently based on a reasonable worst case scenario that 80% of the UK will become infected as some point. Modelling has also been done on the reduction in the reasonable worst case for the social interventions under consideration and live across Scotland. Figures on actual cases are published daily by the Scottish Government.

Our priorities for testing are directing testing capacity to save lives and protect the vulnerable; ensuring that critical staff can return to work as soon as possible; and monitoring and reporting of the spread and prevalence of the virus in the population and the impact of public health measures.

Guidance has been published for the NHS to support use of the testing capacity in laboratories, in so far as it is not needed for essential care, in order to enable health and social care staff to be back at work when that is safe.

NHS territorial boards will put in place appropriate local arrangements for testing of NHS and social care staff who are symptomatic.

We are working hard to increase capacity to use testing to get critical workers in isolation back to work, but we will have to make difficult choices and currently we need to prioritise the health and social care sector.

The UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) provides scientific and technical advice to support government decision makers during emergencies. In response to the Covid-19 outbreak all four of the UK nations are following the scientific advice from SAGE and their evidence is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/groups/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response .

In addition, Scottish Ministers; the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer in Scotland, in consultation with the Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland have identified the need for additional scientific analysis of the impact of Covid-19 in Scotland, based on regularly updated advice and modelling from SAGE, and other emerging scientific evidence. In response, the Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group has been set up and is chaired by Professor Andrew Morris, Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Director of Health Data Research UK. He will be supported by vice chair, Professor David Crossman, Dean of Medicine at the University of St Andrews and Chief Scientist (Health) at the Scottish Government. The Group has met twice and the minutes of those meetings are published at: www.gov.scot/groups/scottish-government-covid-19-advisory-group/ .