Chamber and committees

As is the case every year, those candidates with learning difficulties can access a broad range of assessment arrangements. This is based on the support they receive through teaching and learning. If this cannot be achieved because of government guidelines on COVID-19 then SQA can consider alternative arrangements. To ensure fairness for all candidates, the SQA has developed some guidance on this issue and other considerations such as conditions of assessment, which is available on their website at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/74922.html . This guidance will be kept under constant review and updated as required.

It is important to note that development of polices in response to managing the spread of COVID-19 by The Scottish Government is supported by guidance from a range of experts in their relevant fields, as well as direction from UK GOV and World Health Organisation.

The likelihood of false positives arising is dependent on a number of factors such as the overall prevalence of infection in the population, the clinical presentation of disease in the person sampled, and quality of the sampling method. It is very difficult to exactly measure the false positive rate of any testing system. NHS Scotland Laboratories have a number of quality procedures in place to minimise false positives results.

NHS Scotland Laboratories have a protocol in place to carry out confirmation testing (or repeat testing) in certain circumstances to confirm whether low positive test results should be reported as positive or negative. Public Health Scotland have produced guidance for sampling and laboratory investigations to minimise reporting of false positives occurring:

https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/web-resources-container/covid-19-guidance-for-sampling-and-laboratory-investigations

UK Government Laboratories (Lighthouse) also have similar quality procedure systems in place to minimise false positives but are unable to repeat test low positive results.

The Cycle Threshold, or CT value, is the number of PCR cycles that it takes before the virus is first detected; the lower the CT value the higher the level of virus in the original sample.

Each manufacturer of the PCR test will recommend a differing maximum amplification cycle number to determine presence of SARS CoV-2 when interpreting results, but a maximum of around 40 amplification cycles is normally used.

We welcome the publication of the EU Chemicals Strategy For Sustainability, and various accompanying documents, on 14 October 2020.

We have agreed to a UK wide system for the regulation of Chemicals from 1 January 2021. We will consider the elements of the EU strategy in the ongoing development and implementation of the regulation of chemicals in the UK.

We are committed to aligning with current and future developments in EU standards wherever possible.

The equity audit will focus on the impact of the period of school building closures and home learning, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, on children and young people particularly from a disadvantaged background. It will also look at the mitigations put in place by Scottish Government and what difference this made at a national and local level.

This is being undertaken through an initial evidence review of local, national and international literature and then the gathering of detailed evidence from a representative sample of schools and children’s services.

Recognising the impact the pandemic had on children and young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the equity audit will deepen our understanding of that impact and set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery.

The Scottish Government reaffirmed its commitment to undertake the equity audit in the 2020-21 Programme for Government. Our intention is to publish a full report in December 2020.

The first week of National Stakeholder Engagement on the Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence took place from 28 September to 2 October. In the course of this week of engagement the OECD Team met with: myself; The Scottish Practitioner Forum; Scottish Government officials; national agencies; local government; college bodies; DYW regional employer groups; university bodies; academics/ researchers; organisations responsible for teacher professional learning & leadership; teacher and headteacher professional associations; parent organisations; young people organisations; Gaelic education groups; subject specific interest groups; members of the Curriculum and Assessment Board; members of the Scottish Education Council; and the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee.

The second week of engagement is currently taking place, running from 2 to 5 November, and will focus on individual learners, practitioners and parents. As part of this engagement the OECD will have in-depth virtual visits with four schools and hold a range of focus group sessions with headteachers, teachers, partners, learners and parents.

This engagement work has been organised based on clear guidelines provided by the OECD. The approach for both visits was discussed and agreed with the Scottish Practitioner Forum.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing the skills and aspirations of adults and young people. This commitment is evident in the investments we have made before and during this crisis.

In September 2019, the Scottish Government launched Scotland’s Future Skills Action Plan . Across four themes the Plan highlights the vital role the skills system will play in helping Scotland to respond to future socio-economic challenges, such as demographic changes and the climate emergency. We believe that the principles and themes of Scotland’s Future Skills Action Plan are as relevant – if not more so – than ever. For example, the seismic shift towards digital and online delivery of services in the last few short months has highlighted the importance of fully understanding how technology can help us improve business productivity.

In response to the Covid - 19 pandemic, the Scottish Government has acted quickly to create new investment in retraining and upskilling opportunities to counter the economic impact of Covid-19. We have committed £100m of funding for new labour market initiatives, including our Youth Guarantee, a £25m National Transition Training Fund, the first strand of which was launched on Thursday 8 th October 2020, increased resources for our Partnership Action for Continued Employment (PACE) initiative which helps those at risk of redundancy and £10 million on measures to support and retain apprentices.

The Scottish Government recognises that Covid 19 has had a fundamental impact on the Scottish economy and labour market and is committed to supporting people to retrain and reskill into good, sustainable jobs as the economy begins to grow again.

That is why, in 2020-21, we are providing an additional £100 million for targeted employment support and training. This includes our £25m National Transition Training Fund to help up to 10,000 people aged 25 and over, who have lost their jobs or are at risk of redundancy as a result of the virus, to develop the skills required to move into sectors with the greatest potential for future growth and job opportunities.

We are also providing £5 million to enhance support for those affected by redundancy through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative. We have extended Fair Start Scotland contracts for a further two years to March 2023 to provide support for unemployed disabled people, those with health conditions and/or other barriers to moving into fair and sustained work, and we are investing £7.35m this year through Parental Employment Support Fund to enable priority family groups enter and progress in employment.

Additionally, we have committed to developing a Lifelong Learning strategy, in consultation with the adult learning sector. This is to ensure Community Learning and Development, specifically adult learning and youth work, is integrated within our wider education and skills system. This will enable us to raise the status of the importance of lifelong learning and bring together partners from national adult learning and youth work organisations, local authorities, colleges, Education Scotland, Skills Development Scotland and SCQF to further integrate adult learning and youth work alongside the formal education system.

I engage regularly with the banks through the Banking and Economy Forum and the Financial Services Industry Advisory Board. I have spoken recently to TSB representatives following their announcement to close 73 branches in Scotland and also wrote to them setting out the Government’s concerns.

As financial services is reserved to the UK Government, we have regularly expressed deep concern to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury over bank branch closures and the impact they have on local communities. The consistent position of the UK Government is that they will not intervene since decisions over branch closures are made on a commercial basis.

The Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with the UK Government, banks and other stakeholders to ensure that communities and businesses have access to banking facilities.