Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Official Report 1037KB pdf

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Topical Question Time

The next item of business is topical questions. In order to get in as many people as possible, short and succinct questions and answers are always welcome.

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Classroom-based Learning (Covid-19)

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the joint statement by the World Health Organization and UNICEF on the need to prioritise in-person classroom-based learning as efforts to manage the Covid-19 pandemic continue. (S6T-00112)

I welcome the statement from the WHO and UNICEF that educating children safely must be the “primary objective”. That is what the Scottish Government has done throughout the pandemic. We have prioritised in-person learning and taken all possible actions to ensure that measures across wider society support our commitment to keeping schools low-risk, open and welcoming. To support that ambition, and to minimise the impact of educational disruption, we have invested more than £450 million over 2020-21 and 2021-22 in additional teachers and support staff, in digital devices and connectivity, in support for the workforce and in enhanced cleaning regimes and ventilation systems.

I know that that commitment will be welcomed by many parents and young people, but it cannot be conditional, as we move forward. Ensuring that our children and young people can attend school in person must be our top priority. Does the cabinet secretary understand that when the Scottish Government talks about the need for caution and the possibility of a reverse gear there is real fear that that might further impact on our schools? No matter what happens with other restrictions, will the cabinet secretary today rule out a wholesale return to blended learning, which so disproportionately impacts those who need our education system most?

We are in the early days of the new academic year and we are monitoring the situation in schools closely. I say to Oliver Mundell and to others that the best way to protect education is for all of us to follow the wider societal guidance that we have. The Government has, from the start of the pandemic, attempted to prioritise in-school face-to-face education. We have taken the decision to move away from that only when no other option has been available. We are not at that stage now.

There are many things that we can all do to protect ourselves, our communities and our children and young people to ensure that they have face-to-face education. That is why we have taken a cautious approach to reopening schools, and are keeping many mitigation measures in place, although that was controversial for some Conservative members, in particular. We have taken a cautious approach for the reason that Oliver Mundell is asking about: the need to protect the face-to-face education to which children in Scotland have a right.

Many parents and young people would have liked to hear the cabinet secretary go a little further, but I accept the sentiment and the support for in-person learning.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF also talk about ensuring that the right mitigations are in place. Vaccination is surely the strongest tool that we have. We would not be where we are without the vaccine roll-out, which was guided by the expert advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and others.

I appreciate that there are many complicated questions and trade-offs. Will the cabinet secretary update Parliament on roll-out of the vaccination programme, with regard to young people and the possibility of booster vaccinations for school staff?

I reiterate that we are not yet looking at a national approach to blended learning—we are not there. The Government is saying that we must ensure that every sector of society and every person does everything that they can to protect ourselves, our communities and the education of our children and young people. That is what the Government is looking at. We encourage people, not only in education but across society, to do that.

Oliver Mundell mentioned vaccinations. I once again commend the many young people who have come forward directly for vaccination—in particular, the 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds. We are approaching 50 per cent of them having been vaccinated, at this point. That exceptional proactive statement that our young people have made shows once again that they are taking Covid very seriously. I commend them for that.

We will, of course, look at further recommendations and advice from the JCVI as they come out. We absolutely stand ready to move very quickly if it makes any further recommendations, whether on booster vaccinations or vaccinations for the over-12s.

Can the minister provide an urgent update on what tangible action has been taken over the summer to improve ventilation in classrooms? Will she include teachers and support staff in the Covid booster vaccine programme when the guidance is, as I believe it will be, finalised this week?

On ventilation, Michael Marra will be aware that we are providing an additional £10 million to ensure that schools and childcare settings have access to CO₂ monitoring. A large number of local authorities have already done a lot of work on the matter over the previous academic year, which was in large part due to the recovery funding that the Scottish Government provided to them, which I mentioned in my original answer. We are now working with all local authorities to make sure that they complete assessments of their schools and early learning and childcare settings by the October half-term. There is on-going work on the matter day by day to ensure that we have that information available.

As I said in my answers to Oliver Mundell, we are looking very carefully at anything that comes from the JCVI, such as guidance about booster vaccinations and any advice that is produced on occupational groupings. That is not a step that was taken for the original vaccination programme, but we will always look to see what can be done and will listen to the clinical advice that we receive, as a Government, on those issues.

What discussions has the Scottish Government had with the Ministry of Defence regarding the potential use of vacant armed forces houses in Scotland for refugees from Afghanistan?

I think that that relates to the next topical question rather than being a question for me, Presiding Officer. I hope so.

Yes. I think that there has been a little misunderstanding. However, we look forward to hearing from Ms Brown shortly.

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Support for Refugees (Afghanistan)

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the preparation and planning being undertaken to support people fleeing Afghanistan who may be resettled in Scotland. (S6T-00106)

I thank the member for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn for raising this timely and important question. The Scottish Government is clear that Scotland must play a full role in supporting people fleeing Afghanistan and we continue to push the United Kingdom Government to accept more people.

We are working with partners including the UK Government, local government, the third sector and community organisations to ensure a warm welcome for people arriving in Scotland from Afghanistan. Scottish local authorities are already welcoming people arriving under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy for locally employed staff and supporting them to settle in their new homes and communities. We are pressing the UK Government for more details of the new Afghan citizens resettlement programme so that the detailed planning for their arrival can take place.

I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. In Scotland and the UK, we have a moral responsibility to do all that we can to support those who are fleeing Afghanistan and who may settle here. I thank the cabinet secretary for putting on the record the role that Scotland’s local authorities already play in resettling refugees. However, I ask for details of how many of Scotland’s councils have committed to supporting resettlement of Afghan families to date and the numbers and types of properties that have been or will be identified for Afghan families, because there is undoubtedly going to be great need.

We need a great deal more detail from the UK Government about the new Afghan citizens resettlement programme in order to fully answer that question and, in conjunction with local authorities, to plan our full response.

Scotland is committed to playing our part in welcoming and supporting people who are fleeing Afghanistan. That is why today, together with Scottish Government colleagues, I met members of the Scots Afghan community, non-governmental organisations, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

Last Friday, the First Minister and I met with the UK Government, from which we are seeking those answers in order to ensure that we can provide maximum possible support for Afghans who need refuge in this country.

I welcome that further update. It would be good if the cabinet secretary could confirm how many local authorities have confirmed their willingness to be part of that resettlement programme.

He mentioned the UK Government. What discussions have there been between the UK and Scottish Governments to ensure appropriate financial commitments for supporting vulnerable families who are settling in Scotland, be that financial support to local authorities or to wider support services including support networks such as Glasgow Afghan United, wider integration networks and, of course, the Scottish Refugee Council, all of which have a crucial role in welcoming and supporting vulnerable Afghan families?

Bob Doris makes an important point. There are many reasons for connections between Afghan refuge seekers and the Afghan community in Scotland and organisations. We are probably all aware of non-governmental organisations that have worked on the ground in Afghanistan with the support and help of people who now seek refuge in our country. We will all be aware of military units based in Scotland that have been supported for years by Afghan translators and fixers. Many Afghans have studied in Scotland. All those people have connections to communities in this country. In addition to the key financial issues that Bob Doris has raised, I have been pressing the UK Government to ensure, through the clearing system that is being operated by the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence, that people who have community relations in Scotland can find a safe haven here, because they are incredibly welcome.

I welcome the fact that the minister has met many of Afghanistan’s communities directly. However, does he agree that our obligation to the people of Afghanistan cannot be met properly without supporting our local government to provide resettlement programmes, and voluntary organisations on the ground? How many Afghan refugees does the Scottish Government hope to support? Will he assure me that he is making representations to the UK Government about the various different categories of Afghan asylum seeker, including those who might arrive by boat, having escaped, who would be disqualified automatically under the current rules but who need humanitarian protection and routes to safety?

Pauline McNeill raises an important point, and she might have added to her list the literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Afghans who have been refused asylum in the UK thus far and who still face, technically, the threat of deportation back to Afghanistan. Surely that situation cannot stand, given the circumstances. I hope that parties across the Parliament agree that people who find themselves in that situation should, in addition to those who have been successfully transported to the UK, be able to remain here and to have their refugee status accepted. I hope that there can be cross-party co-ordination to ensure that Scotland can speak with one voice on those questions.

We should never lose sight of the fact that the last time that we were called on to stand in support of refugees to this country—from Syria—every single one of Scotland’s 32 local authorities played its part, and Scotland resettled more than 3,300 refugees. That was 16 per cent of the total number who were received by the UK under the Syrian resettlement scheme.

A lot of questions still need to be answered about the financial aspects of how we can manage the situation and of how local authorities can be supported. We are asking the UK Government for answers to those questions. We will continue to pose them. However, I hope that, with good will on all sides, we can help to accommodate as many people as possible. They deserve our support.

I call Siobhian Brown.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will try again.

What discussions has the Scottish Government had with the Ministry of Defence on the potential use of vacant armed forces housing in Scotland for refugees from Afghanistan?

I thank my colleague for the advance notice of her question.

It is important that we look at every single opportunity for accommodation to be provided to people arriving on these shores. Siobhian Brown made a very good point—the MOD is a large landowner and has a significant amount of accommodation throughout the UK. I will be happy to raise that point with the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, with whom I have been in touch about other issues in relation to helping and supporting Afghans who have had a particular connection to Scottish military units.