Chamber and committees

In order to reduce the opportunities for transmission of Covid-19, people should only be leaving their homes for an essential purpose which includes for essential shopping.

Garden centres are currently able to fulfil orders online, by telephone and through a permitted collection service.

I recently met with the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) to discuss the impacts restrictions are having on this area. The HTA has provided us with their safe operating protocol and have briefed us with valuable information which we are taking into consideration when making our decisions.

Scottish Government are hopeful that we will be able to see a phased but significant opening of our economy in April including the opening of non-essential retail.

As set out in the remit agreed for the Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence, published on 26 February 2020, the OECD has been undertaking the Review using its Implementing Policies: Supporting Change in Education Framework .

The OECD uses this framework to provide tailored support to individual countries and education systems to analyse and support the development and implementation of education policies. This methodology has been used by the OECD in previous reviews, and set a very clear framework for the Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland.

In terms of the OECD’s approach to evidence gathering on this Review, the OECD established a team of core OECD staff and international experts with experience in curriculum and assessment implementation. The Team began the Review with a comprehensive desk-based analysis of policy documents, evidence and research on CfE implementation, which included, amongst other documents, the initial evidence base provided by the Scottish Government in July 2020, papers published as part of the Education & Skills Committee’s Inquiry on Subject Choice and published academic articles and research.

Following this review of documentation, the OECD team conducted a series of interviews and virtual school visits to gather primary data. The first round of national stakeholder interviews took place from 28 th September - 2 nd October. During this visit the OECD met virtually with: myself, the Scottish Parliament’s Education & Skills Committee, Scottish Government officials, the Scottish Practitioner Forum, national agencies, local government representatives, 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 & Assessment Board, and members of the Scottish Education Council.

The second week of engagement with schools, learners and parents ran from 2 nd - 5 th November. As part of this engagement, the OECD held in-depth virtual visits with four schools, as well as a number of on-line focus group sessions with headteachers, teachers, partners, learners and parents. Both engagement weeks were taken forward based on clear guidelines provided by the OECD and following discussions with the Scottish Practitioner Forum.

In response to a request by OECD for a project advisory group to guide the work and discuss progress and deliverables, the Scottish Government established a Scottish Practitioner Forum. The role of this Forum has been to advise and guide the work on the Review and to ensure that this was based on the experience of current practitioners in Scotland. The Forum has met regularly to support the Review.

Protecting and supporting people during these unparalleled times is the absolute focus of this government. We know that the winter period will be challenging for many, with continued COVID restrictions, colder weather and the threat of a no-deal exit from the EU.

We are committed to doing everything we can to support people throughout the winter and that is why we are investing an additional £100 million in a Winter Plan for Social Protection to help people and communities. The Plan includes:

• £22 million to support families on low incomes. This includes a £100 per child payment for those in receipt of Free School Meals in December, delivered through local authorities. Alongside £5 million of funding available to children’s charities and £1 million to enable suitable clothing to be provided for children accessing Early Learning and Childcare who need it.
• £23.5 million to support services for vulnerable children and young people to address areas where the children and families social work resource is experiencing significant challenge in meeting demand.
• £15 million to enhance capacity within the third sector and communities and enable us to support more community and third sector organisations.
• £15 million of flexible funding for local authorities moving into level 4 to support the needs of people in their communities who do not have support networks and are struggling with the new restrictions or guidance. This may be access to food or medicine or other emerging needs that result from an area entering level 4.
• £7 million to further help with fuel costs to be delivered through existing partnerships to enhance the support available.
• £2 million further investment in strategic national food activity to strengthen existing supports and ensure that individuals facing food insecurity can access the food they need.
• £5.14 million further investment to support people affected by homelessness.
• £5.91 million additional investment to promote equality and tackle social isolation and loneliness. This includes support for national helplines and £4.2 million additional funding for our Connecting Scotland Programme, specifically targeted to getting older people online to tackling loneliness.
• £0.25 million on a post-Christmas marketing campaign on benefit uptake and income maximisation.
• £4.2 million Reserve Fund to meet potential pressures. This will be deployed as needed to strengthen elements of the Winter Plan, should they prove insufficient, or to meet new emergent need.

It is vital that those who are doing their part to limit the spread of COVID-19 are not financially disadvantaged by doing so. The Scottish Government worked with local authorities to introduce the Self-Isolation Support Grant at great pace, and we committed at its introduction to review the Grant in order to ensure it worked for people who face hardship as a result of self-isolation.

Following early feedback from councils and stakeholders, we will extend the Grant to be available to parents of a child who is required to self-isolate from school or nursery, and the parent fulfils the other eligibility criteria – that they are a worker, on a low income, and they face a loss of income as they are unable to work from home. This will support parents who are facing financial hardship because they need to take time off work to care for that child.

We will also extend the Grant to people who are eligible for Universal Credit, but have not claimed it. This will allow people to receive the Grant as quickly as possible.

The changes have been agreed with CoSLA and we will work with councils on delivering these changes to the scheme. The changes are expected to start from ‎ 7 December.

The consultation is published today and will be available on the Scottish Government’s Consultation Hub at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/a-consultation-on-the-regulation-of-electricians It builds on the work of the Electricians Working Group which I chair and which has been exploring the issue of whether electricians should be regulated. The closing date is 12 February 2021.