Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government, a range of organisations and sectors to ensure that individuals facing financial difficulties as a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak are supported. I announced on 18 March in Parliament that the Scottish Government has introduced a £350m package of funding and coordinated support for individuals and communities affected by COVID-19. I will continue to ensure that the Parliament is kept informed as we continue to support communities and individuals across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is making available £350 million of funding to support local government, the third sector, communities and people during this unprecedented public health emergency. This coherent, substantial package of funding and support will address the financial, social and geographical vulnerability of individuals and communities.

The additional funding includes £50 million to support local authorities with their own resilience and hardship plans; £45 million for the Scottish Welfare Fund; £50 million to help meet additional demand on the Council Tax Reduction scheme; a £70 million Food Fund to support families and older people who would otherwise be unable to access food; £40 million to help communities respond to local needs and challenges ; £48 million enabling support for national and local action by the third sector to reach the most vulnerable groups; and £20 million for third sector organisations who need capital to tide them over.

It will ensure that people facing financial hardship as a result of the economic impact of social distancing and self-isolation measures have access to direct financial help; that local authorities have additional resource to respond to local need; that charities, third sector, community and social enterprise organisations remain resilient and able to meet new demand with effective and local level solutions; and that no-one faces food insecurity as a result of Covid-19.

All pregnant women will continue to receive high quality care from maternity professionals throughout the period when we are dealing with COVID-19. This is a fast moving situation and there are currently significant pressures on staffing across NHS Health Scotland and maternity care, both in acute and community settings remains a priority service. We are looking to deliver services in different ways, including using phone or telehealth consulting where appropriate. Service provision is being evaluated daily, with the aim of continuing to provide choice of place of birth as far as possible, whilst recognising the staffing pressures. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, supported by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, have published guidance for healthcare professionals and pregnant woman available at https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/coronavirus-pregnancy/

The Scottish Government is doing everything it can to ensure we have sufficient numbers of staff on the ground who are well supported in these challenging times.

NHS Education for Scotland has created a new Health and Social Care Covid19 Accelerated Recruitment Portal. The Portal is accessible through the NHS Careers website at:

https://careers.nhs.scot/coronavirus-covid-19-recruitment/

The portal is the gateway to accelerated employment across health and social care. It will enable those with relevant skills and experience to come forward and support health and social care services at this time of national emergency. It will apply to those who are registered, whose registration has lapsed, or who are enrolled on a healthcare profession qualification with a university or a college.

The Scottish Government issued guidance on 26 March that provides further information to support education authorities and schools in their considerations and plans in relation to vulnerable pupils, including those with complex additional support needs, whilst schools are closed.

On 23 March the Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman confirmed that local authorities have been asked to increase support for care at home, nursing homes and care homes to reduce delayed discharges and free up hospital beds. The Health Secretary confirmed to CoSLA that, subject to expenditure being aligned to local plans, the Scottish Government will meet additional costs to increase support and staff capacity in social care.

The Welfare Funds (Scotland) Regulations 2016 allow for more than 3 awards in a rolling 12 month period where the local authority considers there are exceptional circumstances. We have written to local authorities to remind them of this, to make it clear that we consider the current circumstances exceptional and to advise them to suspend the 3 award maximum.

Individuals may also apply for a Community Care Grant to meet needs that arise out of exceptional pressure on the applicant or a member of their family. Local authorities have discretion as to how they assess the degree of that pressure in terms of its effect on the individual family as well as the type of pressure, or how common it is.

Officials are in regular contact with local authority colleagues to monitor issues as they arise and to identify any areas where further help or flexibility is needed.

In response to the escalating COVID -19 outbreak, all schools and ELC premises closed on 20 March for an indefinite period with the exception of any critical provision to protect Key workers, and vulnerable children.

Teaching staff

Teaching, learning and support will continue in different ways for different groups of children. For the vast majority, that will be through distance and online learning, with different forms of on-going contact which will be delivered remotely rather than in-school, face-to-face.

All councils will already have flexible working policies that set out protocols for teachers and we would expect those arrangements to now be activated.

Nursery staff

Local authorities are making plans for the provision of emergency Early Learning and Childcare services in these unprecedented circumstances. In developing these plans local authorities are maximising the use of local Early Learning and Childcare providers in the private and third sectors, so they can keep their doors open, and will include contingency planning around staff absences. The Scottish Government remains in regular contact with COSLA, local authorities and private and third sector representative bodies around development of these plans.

The Care Inspectorate has also published new operational registration guidance for all services, including the daycare of children’s services and childminding. This guidance confirms a range of regulatory flexibilities to support the Early Learning and Childcare sector to function, while ensuring that the safety of children remains paramount.

The regulations governing the Scottish Welfare Fund allow a local authority to make more than 3 payments to an individual in a 12 month period if it considers there are exceptional circumstances. We have written to practitioners in each local authority confirming the provision of an additional £45 million for the Scottish Welfare Fund and noting that we consider the current circumstances to be exceptional.

One of our key priorities is to ensure that vulnerable children and young people continue to benefit from the learning, care and support that schools and nurseries provide for them.

We have been working with local authorities to ensure they have plans in place to support continuity of education and support for children and young people who are learning at home, taking into account the needs of children and young people in their area.

Local authority plans indicate that they have identified a variety of imaginative, creative and simulating ways to support continuity in learning for all pupils . This includes creating opportunities for distance and online learning and the use of a range of learning resources which can be adapted to meet the learning needs of children and young people.

We will continue to work with local authorities and other partners as this support develops to ensure that children and young people continue to be supported with their learning.

All schools were required to close on 20 March 2020, with the exception of any critical provision required to protect a number of key groups and interests. This decision was based on, firstly, scientific advice indicating that closing schools would help to suppress the spread of Coronavirus, and, secondly, that the public health guidance on limiting social contact made it increasingly difficult to sustain education provision.