Chamber and committees

Work around the financial impact of COVID-19 on universities is being progressed as a priority and at pace by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. We are working closely with our universities and other stakeholders, including through the Further and Higher Education Covid-19 Ministerial Leadership Group, to build an understanding of immediate and longer term impacts across teaching, research, staff and student issues and how to support universities through this very difficult time. We are also discussing additional support with the UK Government and have committed to working with our universities to ensure they remain at the forefront of global education as we emerge from this crisis.

Families and individuals in Scotland who require financial help can apply to their local authority for a grant from the Scottish Welfare Fund. We are providing an extra £45 million for the Fund to meet additional demand arising as a consequence of COVID-19. That is on top of the £35.5 million already provided for 2020-21.

The Scottish Welfare Fund can provide an immediate source of funding but it is not designed to provide a regular source of income. We encourage everyone in need to apply for all of the support to which they may be entitled, including Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.

The UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme does include provision for payment to furloughed employees on flexible or zero hours contracts, subject to the eligibility criteria being satisfied. We encourage employers with staff on zero-hour contracts to check whether they are eligible for support from the scheme.

The Scottish Government has continued to progress work on the fee status of EU undergraduates who will be starting at Scotland’s universities in 2021-22. This work has been continued as we work to support the further and higher education sectors through the challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Government has already confirmed that EU students who commence a higher education course up to and including Academic Year 2020-21 will continue to benefit from tuition fee support for the duration of their course. This support also extends to those who then articulate to another higher education course immediately thereafter.

We will continue to progress work in this area and will aim to provide an update in the near future.

We are clear that all construction work in Scotland must cease for the time being, as a precaution, on safety grounds to avoid further potential spread of Coronavirus and to protect life. The only exception is where construction work is supporting crucial infrastructure during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

We published guidance on what might be deemed essential construction work on 6 April and this can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/news/guidance-for-construction-industry/ .

Creative Scotland is providing an expected total budget of £11 million of support in response to the COVID-19 situation. This is available to support those – including freelance creative practitioners - whose work in the arts, screen and creative industries has been affected by the measures introduced to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes £1.1 million of repurposed grant in aid from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds.

The three elements of Creative Scotland’s response includes:

1. The Bridging Bursary – This fund will provide those freelance creative practitioners who are most deeply impacted by the cancellation of work due to the virus with a one-off bursary of between £500 and £2500. Creative Scotland has allocated a budget of £2m to this fund. This fund opened for applications on Monday 30 March. Due to unprecedented demand in the first three days of the fund which saw over 1000 applications received seeking a total of £1.8m, Creative Scotland announced on 2 April 2020 that it was pausing the scheme to take stock and to ensure that those who have been unable to apply to date, including those who are ill, an opportunity to apply at a later date. The intention is to re-open this fund for submissions between 20 to 25 April.

2. Screen Scotland’s Bridging Bursary – This fund supports freelance practitioners working in Screen Scotland’s film and TV sector in Scotland who are facing immediate financial difficulty due to the loss of income as a result of COVID-19. It will also provide a one-off bursaries of between £500 and £2500 to those people who are most deeply impacted by the cancellation of work. Screen Scotland has allocated a budget of £1.5m to this fund. This fund opened for applications on 30 March. Over 240 applications requesting nearly £0.5m had been received by 2 April.

3. Open Fund - Sustaining Creative Development – This fund supports people to develop and/or reimagine their creative practice and programmes of work in the current and evolving context. In recognition of the different needs of individuals and organisations Creative Scotland has created distinct application routes for each. The maximum award will be capped at £50,000 and the programme will be reviewed after three months. The lowering of the maximum award will allow for a greater spread of support during this period and for an assessment of the impact of COVID-19. In order to maximise the reach of funds, reduce administrative timelines, whilst managing staff capacity, applicants will only be allowed to have one live application at a time. Creative Scotland has budgeted a spend of £7.5m of National Lottery funding for 20-21 and this will be used for this fund. This fund opened for applications on 3 April.

Regularly updated further guidance on funding available from the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-culture-and-creative-sector-support/ .

The Scottish Government and Food Standards Scotland have daily contact and frequent meetings with food retailers and their trade associations on a wide range of issues, including food distribution and equity of supply, public health and support and protection of customers and staff, and support for suppliers. At the present time, these meetings are conducted by conference calls.

The Scottish Government’s key workers categorisation, published at the end of March, is designed to support local authorities make decisions regarding access to critical childcare provision. It sits within broader guidance on the closure of schools and non-essential businesses.

In agreement with CoSLA and local councils, decisions about key workers and access to childcare places are taken locally. This allows each community to allow local priorities to be addressed. The Government will continue to work with partners to ensure local and national priorities can be met. It is not publishing further guidance at this time.

Charging policies are a matter for individual businesses, however we encourage all childcare providers to be reasonable and balanced in their dealings with parents, recognising the unprecedented situation in which we all find ourselves.

We fully recognise the critical role that Scotland’s childcare sector will play in our long-term economic recovery from the pandemic, and remain determined to realise our commitment to nearly double the statutory entitlement to 1,140 hours as soon as practicably possible. In addition to guaranteeing the continuation of funding for statutory places throughout the period of closure, the UK and Scottish Governments have made a range of support available to mitigate the economic impact of and disruption to businesses by coronavirus. More information on the range of business and financial support available to childcare providers is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-childcare-closures-and-emergency-provision/pages/overview/ .

Transport Scotland continues to engage with service providers during the COVID-19 situation to ensure that the appropriate measures are in place. ScotRail are providing additional carriages on their services to enable maximum space and they are reminding passengers of the importance of social distancing at stations. Bus operators are regularly reviewing their services and in some cases are considering introducing additional vehicles or double decker buses to assist with distancing. CalMac are also asking customers to follow the latest Government advice before boarding their vessels, including social distancing and hygiene, and COVID-19 safety advice has been added to their briefings before every sailing.

Guidance on these matters continues to be updated and therefore we would recommend accessing the NHS Inform website for the latest information, at https://www.nhsinform.scot/ .

Registers of Scotland, Law Society Scotland and UK Finance have agreed a process to enable transactions to be completed where an advance notice is in place. The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 also contains provisions which will allow property transactions already in progress to proceed to settlement and allow flexibility in the registration process to enable those transactions that have to take place during the COVID-19 outbreak to proceed. The temporary closure of the Registers of Scotland does not change the legal position of missives.

The Scottish Government published guidance on moving home in Scotland during the COVID-19 outbreak on 31 March: www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-moving-home .