Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is considering an official exemption card for those who are exempt from wearing a face covering. We know this is a very important issues and we are carefully considering this.

Scotland’s Census provides people, businesses and organisations with high quality data and analysis which is used to inform key decisions in relation to policy making, investment and the planning of services. The census also helps paint an important picture of the of the population, helping us to understand the similarities and differences in the population’s characteristics locally and nationally, now and over time. Therefore, it is vital that National Records of Scotland (NRS) delivers a census which ensures a high response rate and results in high quality outputs to meet the needs of its users.

Delivery of the census is a substantial logistical operation for NRS, with preparations in the year up to census day critical to the successful delivery of the census. Whilst NRS had been on track to take a census on 21 March 2021, the significant impact of COVID-19 on a range of public engagement, testing, procurement and operational priorities resulted in NRS asking the Scottish Government to consider additional options for Scotland’s Census.

NRS conducted a comprehensive options assessment on the risks of COVID-19 to the delivery of the census in March 2021. This work highlighted that a response rate of at least 90% needs to be achieved to produce the high quality census outputs required by users; the response rate for Census 2011, for example, was 94%. NRS has advised the Scottish Government that the disruption caused by COVID-19 placed delivery of next year’s census at considerable risk, with particular concern about the impact on achieving the comprehensive response necessary for the production of high quality outputs.

NRS considered a range of alternative options to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and these were assessed against 10 criteria. These options included reducing the scope of the census. The conclusion from NRS was that the only option around which there is confidence of securing the high level of response rate required was moving the date of the census to March 2022. Other options had an estimated response rate that fell between 60% - 80%.

Therefore, NRS recommended to the Scottish Government that the census be taken in March 2022, as that would best secure a census that allows everyone to participate, and delivers its full benefit to the people of Scotland. We have decided to follow that recommendation. This will be only the second time that the census in Scotland has not been held every 10 years since 1801 (the other exception being 1941, when no census was taken), and is a further sign of the unprecedented times that we are in.

Scotland’s Census will now run to a different timescale to the censuses in the rest of the UK. NRS will work with the Office of National Statistics and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency to minimise the impact on UK data coherence to ensure that high quality data is available to inform policy, investment decisions and the planning of services that affect Scotland. NRS will also continue to work closely with our stakeholders and partners to support the needs of data users until the results from Scotland’s Census become available.

Later this year, the Scottish Government will lay amendments to both the Census (Scotland) Order 2020 and Census (Scotland) Regulations 2020 that will allow NRS to take a census in March 2022. No other aspects of Scotland’s Census will be affected.

The Scottish Government committed £350 million of funding to support local communities and households in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding was developed using a range of approaches to ensure that resource was quickly mobilised to the people and places where it was needed. those approaches include funding delivered through Local Authorities; open bid funds such as the Community Wellbeing Fund and Third Sector Resilience Fund and targeted funding through Community Anchor Organisations by the Supporting Communities Fund.

We recognise that there will be a need for further support for community groups, including those operating community halls. As such, our approach to Recovery, will include the consideration of the impact of different phases of lockdown. Details will be announced in due course.

Further information on sources of funding for third sector and communities can be found on the SCVO website at: https://scvo.org.uk/support/running-your-organisation/funding .

For the reopening of schools in August, we will need all possible teaching resources at our disposal to compensate for any loss of learning suffered during lockdown, as well as to bring much needed resilience to the education system at this challenging time.

Whilst the recruitment and deployment of teachers in local authority schools is a matter for individual councils to determine depending on their local needs, we are currently working with local authorities to establish what additional staff are needed. Once we know that, we will take steps to meet that demand.

I am pleased to say youth work services have not ceased but have continued throughout lockdown, with the sector finding innovative way to engage young people in leisure and learning.

As we ease ourselves out of restrictions, the Scottish Government’s first priority is to ensure face to face and normal delivery of services can resume safely. I continue to liaise with a range of stakeholders and partners to assess this situation. Indeed, some national youth organisations have already published views on how community based youth work may resume services whilst keeping staff and young people safe. A short term working group has been created to develop guidance for the CLD sector, which includes youth work. We aim to publish this guidance in the coming weeks.

As the First Minister announced on 2 July, young people aged 12+ can meet in groups of up to 8, which backed up with workplace guidance for CLD, will allow Youth Work providers to consider how they can work safely within public health guidelines. The route map currently points to an indicative date for outdoor contact sports to resume from 13 July. This will offer a further opportunity for youth work services to consider how they can offer provision within this context.

Essentially the best thing we can do is supress the virus and reopen society. We have made strong progress to date. It is my hope we continue this progress to ensure all services can resume to normal delivery as soon as practically and safely as possible.

There is potential for outdoor settings to be utilised more often as schools reopen. The outdoors provides greater space for education to be delivered if physical distancing remains in place. Visits to outdoor centres can also positively impact the physical and mental health and wellbeing of young people following a period of lockdown.

In light of this, Scottish Government officials have held discussions with a number of organisations within the outdoor learning sector and this includes organisations that run outdoor education centres. Those discussions have covered the potential for outdoor education centres to be used to help schools deliver learning at a safe physical distance and for visits to centres to be used as a mechanism to improve the health and wellbeing of learners. We continue to engage with the sector and this includes facilitating discussions between representatives of outdoor education centres and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland.

Ultimately decisions in relation to visits to centres rest with schools and should be considered in line with local priorities and circumstances.

The Scottish Government is aware of the current challenges faced by organisations that run outdoor education centres. In response we have committed to a package of support aimed at helping to ensure that visitor numbers return to viable levels more quickly than first anticipated. This includes:

• Commissioning the Scottish Advisory Panel on Outdoor Education (SAPOE) to set up a sub-group tasked with:

-  developing detailed guidance on ‘post covid’ visits to outdoor education centres for schools and local authorities; and

-  collating and communicating evidence of the educational value of visits to outdoor education centres.

SAPOE will invite representatives from outdoor education centres to join the group to ensure that both local authority and wider outdoor education centre perspectives are considered. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland will also feed into this group to ensure that there is clear direction in relation to the Covid recovery period and national education policy and practice.

• Facilitating a meeting between representatives of outdoor education centres and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). This meeting will give outdoor education centres access to strategic decision makers within local authorities and will provide a platform from which outdoor education centres can discuss the potential for:

-  experienced outdoor education centre staff to support local authority employed educators to take learning outdoors during the education recovery phase;

-  outdoor education centres to be used to provide space for learning at a safe physical distance; and

- the use of outdoor education centres to provide immersive, fun and curricular relevant outdoor experiences that can improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people transitioning from a potentially damaging period of lockdown.

• The Scottish Government continuing to support YouthLink Scotland to offer assistance and guidance to outdoor learning providers in respect of their youth work offer and the links to wider community learning and development policy at a national and local level.

As set out in the answer to S5W-29738 on 19 June 2020, in accordance with the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 the responsibility for the delivery of education rests with individual local authorities. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on outdoor learning, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The majority of authorities’ education funding is provided via the General Revenue Grant. Additional funding is provided via the £750 million Attainment Scotland Fund which includes Challenge Authorities funding, an additional schools programme and Pupil Equity Funding. This funding can be used flexibly to achieve equity in education. This can include spending on outdoor learning experiences.

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