Chamber and committees

As is the case in the wider community, new prisoners displaying symptoms of COVID-19 can be tested to know whether or not they have the virus. Only those individuals who have had close contact with a confirmed case are isolated for 14 days.

Operational measures taken by prison and health staff have been effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 across the prison estate. As of 8 June, there were no confirmed cases in Scottish prisons.

On 30 April, we launched £100m of additional grant funding for business. This funding is divided across 3 business support funds, offering targeted support to the creative, tourism and hospitality sector, pivotal SMEs vital to their local economies, and the newly self-employed. This is support that is not available elsewhere in the UK.

As of 2 June, we had awarded over £104m and we had topped up the grant funding to £185m.

As regards the Newly Self Employed Hardship Fund, awards totalling £8.32m have been issued to 4160 self-employed people by 2 June.

We are looking to publish an update summarising funding returns from all the Local Authorities on the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund later this month. This will detail the number of applicants, successful applications and the amount awarded by Local Authority area.

The law on arrest and police custody was substantially reformed by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to provide a modern framework, consistent with the requirements of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Section 14 of that Act sets out the statutory test which must be applied by Police Scotland when deciding, in each individual case, whether or not an accused person can be detained in custody.

A proposal that all persons arrested for coughing or spitting on police officers during the COVID-19 pandemic should be automatically detained would not be consistent with this statutory framework.

The Lord Advocate’s Guidelines on the Liberation of Accused persons in the context of COVID-19 enable and support the detention of accused persons in appropriate cases, consistent with the legal framework which applies

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will take action to protect public safety, and the safety of essential front-line workers. Any person who deliberately endangers life, or spreads fear and alarm by pretending to do so, will be dealt with robustly. COPFS is working closely with the Police Service of Scotland to ensure the continued effective investigation and prosecution of crime, with a firm focus on public safety.

(a) There are 69 care homes for adults in Abderdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership. Between 14 March and 10 June 2020, 55% of care homes in Aberdeenshire notified the Care Inspectorate of at least one case of suspected Covid-19.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish weekly statistics on deaths registered in Scotland where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate. Figures from 30 March 2020 to7 June 2020 suggest there were 56 deaths in Aberdeenshire where the usual place of residence was a care home.

(b) There are 56 care homes for adults in Abderdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership. Between 14 March 2020 and 10 June 2020, 50% of care homes in Aberdeen City notified the Care Inspectorate of at least one case of suspected Covid-19.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish weekly statistics on deaths registered in Scotland where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate. Figures from 6 April 2020 up to 7 June 2020 suggest there were 56 deaths in Aberdeen City where the usual place of residence was a care home.

On 30 April, we launched £100m of additional grant funding for business. This funding is divided across 3 business support funds, offering targeted support to the creative, tourism and hospitality sector, pivotal SMEs vital to their local economies, and the newly self-employed. This is support that is not available elsewhere in the UK.

As of 2 June, we had awarded over £104m and we had topped up the grant funding to £185m.

The Newly Self Employed Hardship Fund is a one off £2,000 payment to successful applicants.

As regards the Newly Self Employed Hardship Fund, awards totalling £8.32m have been issued to 4160 self-employed people by 2 June.

We are looking to publish an update summarising funding returns from all the Local Authorities on the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund later this month. This will detail the number of applicants, successful applications and the amount awarded by Local Authority area.

The Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund (CTHEHF) provides support, unavailable elsewhere in the UK, for small creative, tourism and hospitality companies who have experienced at least 50% loss of current or projected revenue as a result of COVID-19 and are experiencing hardship. Due to significant demand we increased the fund from £20m to £30m. The fund is administered by our enterprise agencies, which are currently progressing applications. The fund is now closed.

Each enterprise agency administers the fund in its respective area. The performance data are compiled by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of all three agencies, consulting and working together with Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland. As applications are still being processed the fund’s performance data are incomplete. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to you this month as soon as the data you have requested can be reported.

Once all applications have been appraised and funding distributed, the intention is to publish information relating to the demand for CTHEHF and our other business support funds, including volume and value of applications.

Through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (PERF), we are providing support unavailable elsewhere in the UK. Due to significant demand, we doubled the Fund to £90m and have since further increased it to £120m. The fund has now closed.

Each enterprise agency administers the fund in its respective area. The performance data are compiled by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of all three agencies, consulting and working together with Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland. As applications are still being processed the fund’s performance data are incomplete. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to you this month as soon as the data you have requested can be reported.

Once all applications have been appraised and funding distributed, the intention is to publish information relating to the demand for PERF and our other business support funds, including volume and value of applications.

As of 2nd June, our targeted support funds to the creative, tourism and hospitality sector, along with support to SMEs who are vulnerable but vital to their local economies, and the newly self-employed have resulted in awards totalling £104m; that is grant offers to over 2500 businesses and 4160 self-employed people to date.

The Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund (CTHEHF) provides support, unavailable elsewhere in the UK, for small creative, tourism and hospitality companies who have experienced at least 50% loss of current or projected revenue as a result of COVID-19 and are experiencing hardship. Due to significant demand we increased the fund from £20m to £30m. The fund is administered by our enterprise agencies, which are currently progressing applications. The fund is now closed.

Each enterprise agency administers the fund in its respective area. The performance data are compiled by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of all three agencies, consulting and working together with Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland. As applications are still being processed the fund’s performance data are incomplete. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to you this month as soon as the data you have requested can be reported.

Once all applications have been appraised and funding distributed, the intention is to publish information relating to the demand for CTHEHF and our other business support funds, including volume and value of applications.

Our targeted support funds to the creative, tourism and hospitality sector, along with support to SMEs who are vulnerable but vital to their local economies, and the newly self-employed have resulted in awards totalling £104m as of 2nd June; that is grant offers to over 2500 businesses and 4160 self-employed people to date.

Through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (PERF), we are providing support unavailable elsewhere in the UK. Due to significant demand, we doubled the Fund to £90m and have since further increased it to £120m. The fund has now closed.

Each enterprise agency administers the fund in its respective area. The performance data are compiled by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of all three agencies, consulting and working together with Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland. As applications are still being processed the fund’s performance data are incomplete. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to you this month as soon as the data you have requested can be reported.

Once all applications have been appraised and funding distributed, the intention is to publish information relating to the demand for PERF and our other business support funds, including volume and value of applications.

On 21 May the Scottish Government published a routemap setting out a four phase approach to easing lockdown restrictions while still suppressing Covid-19. This sets out our plans for children to return to school under a blended model of part-time in-school teaching and part-time in-home learning in phase 3 of the routemap.

The UK Government Job Retention Scheme guidance states that:

“If you are unable to work, including from home, due to caring responsibilities arising from coronarivus (COVID-19), such as caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing, or caring for a vulnerable individual in your household, then you should speak to your employer about whether they plan to place staff on furlough.” This scheme has been extended until the end of October 2020 with new flexibility introduced from August 2020.

The Scottish Government are planning for all childcare providers to reopen during phase 3 of the routemap, subject to public health measures, with available capacity prioritised to support key worker childcare, early learning and childcare entitlement and children in need.

Some childcare provision will be available more widely for parents and carers in phase 1. From Wednesday 3 June 2020 all childminders and fully outdoor childcare provision can reopen if they wish to do so. These providers must prioritise critical childcare for keyworkers and vulnerable children but beyond this, they can use their discretion to allocate places to families.

We have established working groups and are working with 14 sectors to consider how quickly and in what manner, people can start to return to work. This includes taking into account transport, childcare, schooling and caring considerations. We are clear within our sectoral workplace guidance that when employers are carrying out workforce planning as a minimum we expect employers to take account of travel to work considerations and childcare arrangements, in the case of childcare settings and schools not being fully operational. We are also continuing to state that working from home should continue, where possible.