Question reference: S5W-28671
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 23 April 2020
-
Current status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 7 May 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of the economic recovery phase from the COVID-19 outbreak, it will consider an approach similar to that being planned by Bavaria regarding the temporary re-purposing of some public sector jobs, in consultation with the trade unions, and the creation of new job opportunities arising from contact tracing or other similar initiatives.
Answer
The Scottish Government and other public bodies, in consultation with the trade unions, have already temporarily repurposed many public sector jobs to address the issues arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Boards are currently looking at where they can use existing staff to undertake contact tracing, which will provide an indication of how many additional staff require to be recruited to undertake that role. As set out in our Test, Trace, Isolate, Support Strategy, published on 4 May 2020, we anticipate that up to an additional 2,000 staff will be required to support contact tracing across Scotland.