Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28973 on 19 May 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

This is also the position for deaths in care homes.

The Scottish Government has introduced COVID-19 support for bus operators to enable them to operate a core network for essential travel by maintaining the value of regular Bus Service Operators Grant and concessionary travel reimbursement payments from Transport Scotland.

The Scottish Government has provided additional financial support to rail franchise operators to cover the loss of revenue as a result of the reduction in demand due to Covid-19 restrictions in the form of Emergency Measures Agreements. These are essentially variations to the existing franchise agreements whereby the level of support is increased in relation to the revenue shortfall. This is offset by a reduction in the costs of running lower levels of services. These arrangements were put in place from March until September this year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29285 on 3 June 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 .

Property-level data on rejections of applications for the business support grants, as well as rejections of applications by phase or sector, is not held centrally.

Available data is published weekly at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-support-fund-grant-statistics/ , and we continue to work with local authorities to best reflect scheme information.

To be eligible for the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure business support grants, properties need to have a rateable value greater than £18,000, and up to and including £51,000, and belong to one of the qualifying property types on the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll. We estimate that up to 11,000 properties may be eligible, based on the Scottish Assessors Valuation Roll snapshot as at 1 January 2020.

Based on the property class on the Valuation Roll, it is estimated that 7,200 of these potentially eligible properties are shops (65%), 1,400 are public houses, restaurants, or cafes (13%), 1,100 are leisure and entertainment properties (10%), 800 are hotels, hostels, or other accommodation properties (7%), with the remaining 500 (5%) properties falling under other property types. Breakdowns by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) industry sectors are not available, as the Valuation Roll does not hold this information.

These estimates are based on the Scottish Assessors Valuation Roll snapshot as at 1 January 2020 rather than actual applications or grants awarded. They do not account for, for example, any differences in properties on the roll and rateable values at 1 January compared to 17 March or the impact of the additional income restrictions for self-catering properties nor do they reflect the impact of properties otherwise ineligible according to the grant guidance. The grant schemes are application based and the modelling these numbers are based on assumes 100% take-up.

Property-level data on applications for the business support grants, as well as applications by phase or sector, is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government collects aggregate data on a weekly basis. The number of applications received, as well as the number of value of grants awarded, broken down by local authority area, is published weekly on

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-support-fund-grant-statistics/ .

We are engaging regularly with the STUC, and business organisations including the CBI to help manage the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on workers and in workplaces.

The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture wrote to the Chancellor on 26 May highlighting several issues to be addressed in the next phase of the Job Retention Scheme, including increased flexibility and, allowing employees to come back for any amount of time or shift pattern. The announcement made by the Chancellor on 29 May has confirmed this will be in place from July. The increased flexibility will help employers to ensure they are meeting the needs of their business and provide flexibility to employees.

We encourage employers to make full use of the Job Retention Scheme to help avoid mass redundancies, provide people with income, and reduce the number of business failures.

We anticipate that many employers and employees will also continue to require support beyond October and we have called on the UK Government to ensure that the support arrangements enable employers or employees to follow public health guidance in each of the four nations.

As referred to in the answer to S5W-29421 on 29 May 2020, the support that has been provided creates financial liquidity in the retail market to allow the deferral of bills by customers and licensed providers. Therefore, no new funds were required.

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 is working with Skills Development Scotland and other stakeholders to address the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. This includes support for Apprentices, Training Providers and Employers affected. Skills Development Scotland have published their COVID-19 response guidance detailing the advice and support that is available to those affected by the pandemic. Skills Development Scotland are also offering a flexible approach to learning and gaining new skills with thousands of free online courses being made accessible online.

To sustain Apprenticeships and training infrastructure the COVID-19 Relief Grant for learning and training providers adds value to the support already made available through the Scottish Government Business Growth Fund, ensuring that where it has been possible for training providers to continue to deliver services, there is help available to do so.

Skills Development Scotland’s Career Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) services remain accessible, with expert careers advisers available to provide specific support to Foundation, Modern or Graduate Apprentices on their helpline or online, and the Scottish Government’s Partnership for Continuing Employment (PACE) is providing advice and support to Apprentices affected by redundancy.

To mitigate the future impact of COVID-19, Skills Development Scotland is prioritising work to model the impact on apprenticeships, including impact on volumes, sectors and age groups. Although this work is progressing at this point, Skills Development Scotland are not in a position to set out the impact on the Apprentices currently in training or on future Apprenticeship recruitment. This is mainly due necessary COVID-related health restrictions and to many employers and Training Providers currently being in furlough on the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme. This has been a barrier which prevents the gathering of precise data on the numbers of Apprentices that may be potentially affected by longer-term disruption to their Apprenticeships.

Measures are also being developed in collaboration with key stakeholders to establish delivery and assessment strategies and guidance that ensures the safety and wellbeing of Apprentices and all of those involved in the delivery of the Apprenticeship offer.