Chamber and committees

Scottish Water has made no request for additional borrowing. Scottish Ministers will continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on Scottish Water and its customers.

Our mental health policy response to the pandemic will remain fluid and adaptable and will be led emerging evidence as it becomes available. The Mental Health Research Advisory Group has been established to follow research developments to understand the medium and long term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health and will help us to put evidence-based services and support in place to help meet the mental health needs of the population.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Scottish Government has introduced a number of new mental health supports and services, as well as extending existing services. Many of these will remain relevant and helpful in the event of a second wave of coronavirus.

The “Clear Your Head” campaign will continue to help the population look after their own mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 outbreak and could be adapted to support people through a second wave.

Support services including the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub, Breathing Space and Distress Brief Intervention Programme will remain available throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. NHS Mental Health services will also remain open and available for specialist mental health treatment for those who need it.

We will also continue to provide mental health and wellbeing support to the health and social care workforce.

The Scottish Ambulance Service has received additional funding of £9.8 million so far to support prioritisation of the Board’s response to Covid-19 and to meet initial costs incurred.

The Scottish Government will continue its close engagement with all NHS Boards to ensure that they have the resources needed throughout this pandemic and to ensure that patient safety remains the top priority.

(a) 10 care homes were issued with improvement notices under section 62 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 in 2019.

(b) No care homes had conditions applied to their registration in 2019.

(c) 1 service had its registration cancelled by means of a section 65 (Emergency cancellation) notice in 2019.

We are using existing clauses within the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services contracts to support CalMac in the current circumstances.

These emergency measures have been taken to provide support to CalMac to allow them to cover costs whilst having lower revenues as a result of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

At the time of writing, up to £24.7m of emergency support has been approved for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services as part of the Accountable Officer (AO) Submissions process.

We maintain regular contact with CalMac on the financial impacts on them and to ensure we provide appropriate support. The exact figures for financial support will not be known until we know what levels of demand are likely to use the services as we emerge from lockdown and how well capacity can cope with demand. The financial outturn will also be impacted upon by any constraints on capacity arising out of the need to maintain physical distancing on passenger vessels to protect the health of passengers and crew. Therefore, it is likely that further reconciliations will take place at appropriate points in the contract.

Clinical advice and available scientific evidence suggests that it is too early to draw conclusions on what the long-term physical and mental health impacts of the Coronavirus outbreak will be. However, the Scottish Government is undertaking research and acting on the available evidence to provide support for those whose mental health may have suffered as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak or the necessary restrictions. This includes risks to health and wellbeing from problematic use of alcohol or other drugs.

In anticipation of potential negative impact on the mental health of the Scottish population, the Scottish Government has launched its Clear Your Head campaign and invested heavily in services to provide advice and support. Since the outbreak, over £6million has gone to initiatives such as expanding the NHS24’s Mental Health Hub to a 24/7 service and enhancing its Breathing Space helpline and web support services; rolling out the Distress Brief Intervention nation-wide; and extending digital therapies through computerised and internet-enabled Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The Scottish Government has also provided an additional £20 million for alcohol and drug services in 2020-21 to support people experiencing harm from alcohol and other drugs and has provided additional funding for alcohol and drugs webchat helplines.

The Principal Accountable Officer for the Scottish Administration (the Permanent Secretary) and Accountable Officers designated by them for parts of the Scottish Administration are under a statutory duty to obtain written authority from the relevant Minister where they consider that any action they are required to take would be inconsistent with their responsibilities. These responsibilities include ensuring financial propriety and regularity and ensuring that relevant resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively (i.e. value for money).   There has only been one occasion when a written authority has been requested by an Accountable Officer of the Scottish Government since the beginning of 2007. Since devolution there have only been five occasions overall where Accountable Officers for parts of the Scottish Administration have sought such written authority. All were sought in relation to value for money, two were in regards to the same issue. The table below details each instance since 1 July 1999 and the reason for each instruction being made.

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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29348 on 4 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

COVID-19 is the biggest challenge we have faced in our lifetime and the measures we are taking to deal with it reflect its magnitude.

This is first and foremost a public health crisis and that is our primary focus. However, the health responses required and the global impact of this has meant that this is now an economic crisis also.

The economic impact of the pandemic and measures to reduce its spread should be temporary but significant. Scottish Government analysis shows that there could be a 33% fall in GDP during the current period of physical distancing.

Regional exposure to the impacts from COVID-19 will vary due to the varied composition of industrial, workforce and wider population structures and we will continue to examine regional impacts to ensure that the specific needs of Scotland’s regions are supported.

We are liaising closely with local authorities on the impact of COVID-19, and the wider action required to enable recovery in their local communities and wider regions.