Chamber and committees

Answer The transformational early learning and childcare (ELC) expansion was due to be delivered in August 2020. The expansion will improve educational and developmental outcomes for children, enhance family wellbeing and enable greater employment and training opportunities for parents and carers.

An Audit Scotland report, published in March 2020, confirmed the programme was on track to deliver. When the COVID-19 pandemic impact became clear, the Scottish Government in partnership with local government, took the decision to pause the statutory duty for Local Authorities to deliver the expansion from August this year.

Since the duty was revoked a significant proportion of the programme has continued to be delivered. In November 2020, 14 authorities were offering 1140 hours to all children, and all authorities are offering 1140 hours to some or most children. This high level of delivery has been achieved only through extensive effort and commitment from all local authorities, and their delivery partners.

The ELC Joint Delivery Board commissioned an assessment of readiness to deliver the 1140 hours expansion, taking account of capital, workforce, capacity and other risks. This was supplemented by an independent health check of the expansion programme.

Having carefully reviewed all the evidence the ELC Joint Delivery Board recommended that the statutory duty to deliver 1140 hours of funded ELC should be reinstated with effect from August 2021. This recommendation has been agreed by Scottish Ministers and COSLA Leaders.

I will bring forward the associated legislation before the end of this Parliament.

Amending Regulations have today been made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, these Regulations implement the changes to the level allocations that the First Minister announced on 8 December.

The Regulations also allow in-home socialising to take place on Scottish islands in a Level 1 area, provided that the island is not connected to the mainland by a road bridge. The Regulations also adjust the travel restrictions with regard to the Republic of Ireland and Jersey as a result of the recent data in these locations.

The Regulations have been published at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/427/made .

Amending Regulations have today been made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, these Regulations provide for the rules and restrictions which will be in place for the short period from 23 to 27 December inclusive. Guidance about keeping safe in the festive period was previously published at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-festive-period/ .

The Regulations also allow holiday accommodation to be used in Level 4 areas if required when attending a marriage ceremony, civil partnership registration or for the purpose of facilitating shared parenting arrangements. It also allows holiday accommodation in level 4 to be used for the purposes of enabling a person to attend a holiday gathering within the local authority area where the accommodation is located.

The Regulations have been published at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/415/made .

The Scottish Government will, in the current 2020-21 financial year, provide all staff working within our NHS, frontline primary care, adult social care sector, hospice and palliative care sector, and residential childcare settings, with a pro-rated one off payment of £500, a small contribution towards our recognising the value of these frontline staff.

We aim to make these payments as soon as is practicable, working with the sectors where we don’t have a direct pay relationship to help shape the appropriate mechanisms to account for varying contracting and working practices. The estimated investment in this one off payment is approximately £180 million.

This is a small contribution towards our recognising the value of these frontline staff. Freezing NHS staff pay in 2021-22 is not the policy of the Scottish Government, and our pay negotiations with NHS staff side for 2021-22 will continue as we work towards a fair deal for the next financial year.

The Scottish Government recognises and values the important of apprenticeships and the key role they will play in our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Apprenticeships are a way for employers to invest in their workforce and support high quality jobs, enabling employers to gain skilled workers the economy requires both now and in the future.

That is why we are pleased to introduce an Apprenticeship Employment Grant until March 2021 allowing employers to make the best decision for their business on whether to recruit a new entrant or a redundant apprentice with some experience.

The payment of £5,000 for 16-24-year olds and for those aged up to 29 who are disabled, care leavers and Minority Ethnic would bring parity with the recently enhanced Adopt an Apprentice of £5,000.

Once launched, the Skills Development Scotland website will provide more information on the Apprenticeship Employment Grant.

Amending Regulations have today been made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, these Regulations allow students to return home at the end of term 1 of academic year 2020-21. The Regulations permit an “end of term household” to be formed and also allow travel across different areas if the purpose is to facilitate the formation of an end of term household.

The Regulations have been published at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/400/contents/made .

Guidance is also available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-student-home-visits/pages/end-of-term-2020/ .

Following discussions at Four Nations level, the Scottish Government has agreed a cautious and limited relaxation of the rules on household meetings over the Christmas period. We know that isolation and loneliness can hit people especially hard over the Christmas period and that for some, contact with friends and family is crucial during this time.

A maximum of three households will be able form an exclusive ‘bubble’ between 23 and 27 December – and households will be able to travel between local authority areas and between the four nations during this period to meet with their bubble. We will, however, be asking people to think very carefully about whether they really need to travel and visit indoors over the festive period. We urge everyone to consider if they can use alternative approaches such as the use of technology or meeting outside. We will set out further detail to Parliament in the coming days.

Amending Regulations have today been made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which will move East Lothian from Level 3 to Level 2 of the Strategic Framework with effect from 6:00 am on 24 November 2020.

The Regulations have been published at https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-protection-coronavirus-restrictions-and-requirements-local-levels-scotland-amendment-no-4-regulations-2020/ .

Unfortunately there has been an increase in case numbers and test positivity in Midlothian over the last few days. In view of this, the clinical and public health advice is that it would not be appropriate to move to Midlothian to Level 2 at this time, this decision will be kept under regular review.

Updated data and analysis will be published on www.gov.scot tomorrow as part of the weekly review of the levels allocation.

Following yesterday’s debate and vote in the Scottish Parliament to support further steps to suppress the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Scottish Government has today made Regulations to come into force at 6:00pm which will put in place additional measures to protect public health.

The Regulations and accompanying documents have been published at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/389/made .

Later today the Scottish Government will announce the launch of Phase 2 of the FWDF which will adopt a test and learn approach to the delivery of the existing FWDF support for Levy payers. This new approach will see the Fund expanding to include SME’s; and access to specialist training via private training providers not available via the college sector. Scottish Ministers have agreed that:

• £2 million will be allocated to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to enable Levy payers to access FWDF training through private providers; and
• £5 million will be allocated to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to enable the introduction of support for non-levy paying SMEs. £4 million will be allocated to colleges, with £1 million to be used by the Open University (OU) in Scotland to provide complementary support at a national level.

Since its inception, a number of levy paying employers have made representation to Scottish Ministers that – for a variety of reasons – FWDF college provision was not suitable for their needs. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will also test a grant making approach where they will work with eligible businesses to access non-college based training.

In seeking to support more businesses, the Scottish Government recognises that many businesses are struggling at this time. We know that enabling businesses to access relevant upskilling opportunities for their existing workforce could help them adapt and respond to the challenges they face. We also know that many small and medium sized enterprises are not levy payers and therefore not eligible for FWDF at present.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the direction of the Fund has changed slightly to seek to strengthen employer/employee relationships with a particular focus on upskilling the existing workforce to retain jobs and support employers as they adapt to a new and very different working environment as a result of Covid-19.

Therefore, from 16 November 2020, the FWDF eligibility rules will be changed to enable SMEs to access support of up to £5,000 in upskilling support, on a first come, first served basis by college regions. Colleges and the Open University in Scotland will work in partnership to ensure that the Fund supports the existing core aims of improving productivity and economic growth and provides upskilling opportunities for Scotland’s businesses as they adapt and respond to the impacts of Covid-19.