Chamber and committees

As set out in the report on the Scottish Ministers’ FOI performance laid before the Scottish Parliament on 7 August 2020, the Ministers report monthly to the Scottish Information Commissioner on their FOI performance, before proactively publishing those performance figures on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/freedom-of-information-foi-reporting/

The Scottish Information Commissioner is expected to publish his next progress report on his intervention into the Scottish Government's FOI practice and performance during September. This will provide an independent assessment of the matters raised by the Member and I am confident it will show that the Scottish Government had made good progress before the impact of the coronavirus emergency.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 repealed the provisions in Part 2 of schedule 6 to the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 - which extended the statutory timescales in FOISA (“the extension provisions”) - on 27 May 2020. Following that repeal, the Scottish Government has provided updated guidance to all staff and our case handling system has been amended to reflect the reversion to the original timescales. The Scottish Government’s guidance for central and local government and public bodies on the Coronavirus (Scotland) Acts also highlights publicly the reversion to the original timescales. This is available on the Scottish Government website at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-stakeholders-on-the-coronavirus-scotland-act-2020/

The extension provisions were in force from 7 April to 26 May 2020. 175 requests under FOISA had final reply deadlines which fell within that period. Of those, 82 were responded to within 20 working days. 93 were not responded to within 20 working days.

The following table provides data - for each of the last six months for which the Scottish Government has so far compiled figures - showing the number of requests under FOISA which were not responded to within 20 working days. It should be noted that some of these cases were nevertheless responded to within the statutory timescales in force at the time the response was issued.

Childminders have been able to reopen since the 3 June 2020 and at 14 August 55% of registered childminders have chosen to reopen their doors to provide childcare to families across Scotland.

Childminding Guidance was first issued June, with a revised version issued on 10 July, detailing how childminders could reopen and operate safely. The vast majority of childminding services, whilst having to make some modifications, have not had to considerably change their operating models and can now run close to business as usual in terms of delivery.

Current guidance states that childminders do not need any additional PPE for caring for children and they should continue to use their routine PPE – such as gloves for nappy changing or toileting children.

A survey commissioned by the Scottish Childminding Association, shared with Scottish Government, indicates that the majority of childminders surveyed believed that their costs would be unchanged or may potentially even decrease as a result of implementing the reopening guidance.

Many childminders have suffered financially because of the pandemic and the subsequent loss of private income over the lockdown period. This hardship, which for some will have been considerable, is distinctly different and should not be confused with costs directly associated with reopening.

To help support childminders who have suffered financially throughout the pandemic, on the 16 July the £60,000 Childminding Workforce Support Fund (CWSF) opened to provide grants up to a maximum of £350. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Childminding Association jointly funded the CWSF. The demand for the Childminding Workforce Support Fund was considerable and given the volume of applications the Scottish Childminding Association decided to pause the Fund for new applications on 17 July.

In view of the considerable demand for the fund, the Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Childminding Association to agree further funding support to childminders. Information on that further support will be made available shortly.

To help support childminders who have suffered financially throughout the pandemic, the Childminding Workforce Support Fund (CWSF) opened on 16 July to provide grants up to a maximum of £350 to eligible childminders. The demand for the Fund was considerable and given the volume of applications the Scottish Childminding Association decided to pause for new applications on 17 July.

In view of the level of demand for the Fund, the Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Childminding Association to agree further funding support to childminders. The needs of the childminding sector are different to other childcare providers and are being considered separately. Information on further support will be made available in due course.

The Transitional Support Fund is designed to help daycare of children providers in the private, voluntary and not-for profit sectors, including out-of-school care providers, to meet the extra costs incurred to comply with public health guidance in response to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 operating guidance, which was developed to support re-opening of daycare of children’s services from 15 July onwards, has significant financial implications (including physical adaptations and additional staffing) for settings. As such, the Transitional Support Fund was developed to offer support to help mitigate such costs.

A survey commissioned by the Scottish Childminding Association, shared with Scottish Government, indicates that the majority of childminders surveyed believed that their costs would be unchanged or may potentially even decrease as a result of implementing the reopening guidance.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) published an Equality Impact Assessment on the Alternative Certification Model ( https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/2020-sqa-alternative-certification-model-equality-impact-assessment.pdf ) on 4 August. This assessed the impact of the implementation of all elements of the approach, including teacher estimates, awarding, results and certification on candidates with protected characteristics.

As part of this, SQA published 2019 teacher estimates and 2019 results for pupils by ethnic group.

Following my statement to Parliament on Tuesday 11 August, learners will now be awarded the grades estimated by teachers unless these were upgraded as a result of the moderation process in which case they will receive the upgraded result. A new Equality Impact Assessment on this approach will be published by the Scottish Government in due course.

SQA is taking forward a rapid consultation on options for changing assessment methods for 2020-21.

As described in the Lessons Learned and Future Actions section of the Equality Impact Assessment published by SQA on 4 August, SQA and the Scottish Government are in the process of developing a suitable approach to data sharing that will allow for further analysis of 2020 results by some protected characteristics.

Comedy venues and those working in comedy have been eligible for Scottish Government support. Comedy businesses received support through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund and some venues that offer comedy as part of a wider programme, for example along with theatre and music, have also been supported. People who work in venues that offer comedy as part of their programme have received support through our freelance schemes Several recipients of Creative Scotland’s Bridging Bursary and Open Project Fund awards made reference to comedy as part of their application. Creative Scotland made 2,293 awards totalling £4.3m from the Bridging Bursaries (Arts, Creative & Screen). The Arts & Creative Bridging Bursaries ran from 30 March to 2 April and 20-25 April and the Screen Scotland Bridging Bursary ran from 30 March to 20 May. The Open Project Fund for Creative Development budget is £7.5m and as at 3 July Creative Scotland had received 247 applications from individuals with a total ask of £2.9m and 75 applications from organisations, with a total ask of £1.4m. This fund remains open.

We continue to work with the Independent Comedy Association to understand the challenges faced by the sector and to consider how best to provide support.

The Scottish Government has made available £2.3 billion from the Business Support Fund to support those affected by the coronavirus. The £185 million fund for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises has supported many in the cultural industries across Scotland. This includes through the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund, the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund and the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund which are now closed. Further details of the Scottish Government’s Covid19 hardship and resilience awards including their geographical spread are provided in the following link: https://gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-hardship-and-resilience-funds-statistics/

All recipients of Creative Scotland funds are published at the following link on their website: https://www.creativescotland.com/funding/latest-information/awards-listings

As well as developing and delivering new funds at speed and with increased volumes of applications across its funds, Creative Scotland have largely delivered to the timescales in their published guidelines. For example, for the two phases of the new Bridging Bursaries (Arts and Screen) Creative Scotland estimate that around 95% of applications were processed within the published timeline which stated that applicants would receive payments – decisions and in accounts - within 4 weeks. The new Open Fund operates to a 5 week timescale which allows an extra week for contracts to be exchanged compared with the 4 week timescale which applied to the old Open Project Fund. From April to July 2020 there were nearly 4 times more applications to the Broadcast Content Fund and over twice the number of applications for the Film Development and Production Funds compared to 2019.

On 18 August, I met with representatives of the STUC, Prospect/Bectu, Equity, the Musicians' Union, the Scottish Artists Union, the National Union of Journalists, the Scottish Society of Playwrights and the Writers' Guild.

Myself and the Minister for Fair Work have met with the STUC on a number of occasions to help manage the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on workers and in workplaces, and affiliate unions representative of the cultural sector have participated in these meetings. From 11 March to 14 August, 20 of 37 meetings were chaired by myself. Over the summer period this engagement has been chaired by the Minister.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has been working closely with a wide range of businesses, organisations and stakeholders, as well as with relevant trade unions, to identify where support is needed. We will continue with this engagement so that decisions about funding reflect the needs of the sector and the Scottish Government's commitment to fair work.