Chamber and committees

Factors such as background sound that may lead to raised voices or cause people to lean-in close to others to be heard are a risk factor in the transmission of coronavirus. This is recognised by a wide body of publicly available scientific evidence in relation to the role of aerosols in the transmission of viruses. The current position of no background sound, including low level music and audio from television, is a measured and cautious approach to reduce risk. It is being kept under review and government has engaged with industry experts to consider how guidance can be developed to allow low level background sound to be managed safely when transmission rates are back to a manageable level.

Regular engagement with the industry is ongoing on a number of issues affecting the sector at present, including that of the safe management of background sound.

The First Minister announced on 15 October that the Scottish Ministers would change the regulations on face coverings to exempt the couple getting married for the duration of their wedding ceremony. This is provided that the couple maintain physical distancing from others present. A partition can be used as an alternative, if such physical distancing is not possible. The amended regulations came into effect on 16 October.

The First Minister announced on the 21 October an extension to the restrictions imposed on the 9 October, and further additional financial support for the businesses affected by the restrictions. As such, more than £40 million will now be distributed though the COVID-19 Restrictions Fund that includes grant support for businesses that have had to close due to restrictions and hardship grants to businesses that are not required to close - such as pubs and restaurants outwith the central belt - and some businesses in the hospitality supply chain. Application for those funds opened on 20 th October and further information on eligibility can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-restrictions-fund/pages/about-the-fund/ . There is also a £9 million fund to support furloughed employees. And a £11m Contingency Fund to help other businesses that need support but are not eligible for either the new Grant or Employment Support schemes: funding for the nightclub and soft play sectors was announced on 27 October. Future business support arrangements are set out in Scotland’s Strategic Framework.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) continue to support children and young people in need of specialist mental health support, although there will be adjustments in how that is delivered to accommodate coronavirus restrictions.

We have also allocated £2 million to local authorities towards the development of Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Services and Support for 5-24 year olds, their families and carers. The majority of services are expected to be in place for the last 3 months of 2020-21, and a further £15 million is expected to be available in financial year 2021-22 onwards, assuming services are fully in place.

Our recently published Transition and Recovery Plan, ‘Mental Health - Scotland's Transition and Recovery’, sets out a number of actions to progress improvement on access to CAMHS including the implementation of our CAMHS Service Specification and the restarting of our improvement programme of work.

We continue to prioritise support for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing in schools and education through actions such as the Mental Health in Schools Working Group which is developing and delivering new mental health training and learning resources, and the counselling in schools commitment. It is expected that all secondary schools will have access to a counsellor by the end of October. We also committed to have an additional 250 school nurses in place by the end of 2022. The first cohort of students commenced in 2019-20 and we expect a further 50 students to commence in the 2020/21 academic year.

In addition, Educational Psychologists who work in local authorities are providing support, guidance and resources through authority websites, telephone and virtual consultations to support vulnerable children, young people and their families.

We also remain committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our students and recently announced a further £3.645 million in support of our commitment to provide more than 80 additional counsellors in every college and university in Scotland over the next four years.

Furthermore, we continue to invest in a range of measures to support children and young people’s mental health. This includes providing enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via Young Scot’s website and social media, and over £1 million to roll out the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme on a national basis to those over the age of 16.

In terms of the health portfolio, we have been working with a number organisations to understand the impact of Covid-19 on those at greatest risk of disadvantage, addressing issues as they have emerged and developing and promoting solutions wherever possible.

We set up a national phone line (0800 111 4000) to ensure those who are at risk, including those were shielding or those who are self-isolating, and who have no other support available, can access help for their essential needs. By the week beginning 28 September 107,729 calls had been taken from those shielding and 86,033 from those who were non-shielding at risk.

For those who are at highest clinical risk, we have highlighted support through online guidance including access to food, mental and physical health, and wellbeing information and support. The CMO has issued letters and we have established an SMS text messaging service to provide alerts and updates.

There are no waiting times targets for crisis interventions because all mental health emergencies should be dealt with immediately.

Health Boards will have different methods of responding to crisis situations through a number of different channels such as Mental Health Assessment Centres, Emergency Departments, NHS24 and GP out of hours. Crisis support can also be delivered by third sector organisations. Every clinical response will involve a form of triage which will determine the intervention based on the degree of urgency.

Mental health support is available 24/7 and all Health Boards have crisis provision.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 provides further protection to people living in the rented sector, during the pandemic, by extending the notice to leave periods that a landlord must provide, for up to six months. You will be aware that this protection was recently extended until 31 March 2021.

We have always made clear that it is essential that the emergency legislation be supported by safeguards including regular reporting and review, and these were built into the first and second Scottish Acts. Section 15 of the first Scottish Act, and section 12 of the second Scottish Act require Scottish Ministers to review the operation of the provisions of Part 1 of those Acts in each reporting period, and every two months, report on the status of the provisions – including the provisions relating to eviction from rented accommodation - and make a statement that they are satisfied that the status of those provisions is appropriate.

Our first two-monthly report on the Coronavirus Acts was published on 9 June, the second report to the Scottish Parliament was published on 11 August and the third report covering the period from 1 August to 30 September, was published on 6 October

These reports include an assessment of the impact of, and continued need for, these important provisions.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-acts-two-monthly-report-scottish-parliament/pages/0/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-acts-second-report-scottish-parliament/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-acts-third-report-scottish-parliament/

COVID-19 remains a huge challenge to Scotland’s economy and labour market. The latest Scottish Government State of the Economy report for September 2020 published by the Chief Economist estimates that unemployment in Scotland could peak at around 8.2% towards the end of 2020, with prospects for recovery remaining uncertain.

In response to this challenge, the Scottish Government announced in the Programme for Government 2020-21 that it is setting aside an initial £25 million to support up to 10,000 people aged 25 or over who have lost their jobs or are at risk of doing so to retrain under the National Training and Transition Fund.

We have relaunched Individual Training Accounts (ITA) to provide unemployed people, those not in education and those in low-paid work the opportunity to access a £200 grant towards training, this will help people build skills needed for a job or career progression.

The Scottish Government has also continued to invest in our employability services, including more than £20 million this financial year (2020-21) in Fair Start Scotland, ensuring it is appropriately funded to deliver for those who need support taking account of COVID-19 impacts.

We are providing significant levels of financial support for young people and adults throughout this unprecedented time. We have provided £5 million across FE and HE student support and early access to £11.4 million of HE Discretionary Funds. The Scottish Funding Council has also distributed £5 million of additional funding to help support learners facing digital hardship.

We worked closely with colleges, universities and trade unions on our sectoral guidance , which emphasises that colleges and universities should use risk and equality assessments to decide what a blended learning model looks like in their own individual circumstances.