Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold data about how many businesses have been ineligible for any form of assistance from its COVID-19 support schemes.

We do not hold the requested information centrally.

The health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and the economy are amongst our top priorities. Employers should follow Scottish guidance and have policies and practices in place that promote good health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace. We are raising awareness of support through investment in Healthy Working Lives , which provides information and advice on a range of wellbeing matters.

The Scottish Government also funds Working Health Services Scotland to support individuals working for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to return to work from sickness absence, ensuring they are aware of their employer’s statutory duty to ensure their health and safety is protected. This includes supporting employees to follow health protection advice and undertaking risk assessments of work activity to agree appropriate mitigating measures.

Further positive change will be progressed through in how fireworks are sold and used in Scotland, subject to the outcome of the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections. This will contribute towards a fundamental shift in the relationship that Scotland has with fireworks, as recommended by the Firework Review Group, and reduce the negative impact experienced by animals, individuals and communities due to fireworks.

The regulations laid in Parliament on 19 February 2021 are an important first step and will, along with a package of measures focussing on awareness raising and prevention, allow tangible change to be in place for autumn 2021.

The First Minister announced on 16 March that Stay at Home regulations will be lifted on 2 April and replaced with guidance to Stay Local, with more services able to open from 5 April. The First Minister also announced further expected easing’s from 26 April including the anticipated restarting of driving lessons and tests. The only current exceptions for driving lessons are lessons provided by a member of the same household and where an organisation has delegated authority to do so from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. This includes Scottish Fire and Rescue Services, Police Scotland and bus operators.

The Alcohol Framework 2018 commitment to further understand online and telephone sales remains important and it is crucial that these market routes are also viewed through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to investigate and report on alcohol consumption during the initial COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020. In February 2021, PHS published two reports and a briefing paper that explore how COVID-19 and related restrictions have impacted on alcohol sales and consumption in Scotland in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic:

Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy (MESAS) -
Alcohol - Health topics - Public Health Scotland .

In this work, PHS notes that its estimate of a reduction 6% in sales of pure alcohol per adult may be a slight overestimate, as online (and on-trade takeaway) sales were not captured. The Scottish Government has therefore asked PHS to consider further how it can understand this growing part of the alcohol sales market, and scoping work is currently underway to explore potential data sources and progress with analysis work.

The Scottish Government has engaged with animal welfare groups as new firework regulations have been progressed through secondary legislation. A meeting took place on 17 December 2020 with the Scottish SPCA to discuss the measures that were being introduced. The Scottish SPCA indicated support for the new regulations and the impact they will have on animal welfare.

The Scottish SPCA and British Veterinary Association were also represented on the Firework Review Group. Animal welfare concerns were a key area of consideration for the Group, including the impact fireworks use has on pets, wildlife and livestock. Both organisations supported the Group’s final recommendations for change in how fireworks are sold and used in Scotland.

The Scottish Government requires that green port operators and businesses directly benefitting from any new tax incentives will adopt the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First approach. We intend this as a condition of being permitted operator status, or being entitled to specific tax incentives related to operating within a green port.

Specifically, upon being awarded green port status operators will be expected to have become signatories to the Scottish Business Pledge. This will also be required of business who wish to set up in the green port and take advantage of the incentives on offer.

The Scottish Government welcomed the recommendations of the Fireworks Review Group and in February 2021 laid regulations in the Scottish Parliament amending the times of day and volume of fireworks that can be sold to the general public, and the times of day fireworks can be used by the general public. These regulations will contribute to ensuring fireworks are used safely, handled with care and reduce harm for individuals and communities going forward.

Further recommendations from the Fireworks Review Group, including the introduction of mandatory conditions before the purchase of consumer fireworks by the general public and the introduction of no fireworks areas or zones where it is not possible for the general public to set fireworks off, require further consideration. Subject to the forthcoming election in May 2021, the Scottish Government intends, as a matter of urgency, to ensure further positive change is in place for communities going forward.

The following table sets out the numbers of sudden, unexpected and unexplained deaths reported per month to the Procurator Fiscal from 01 June 2020 to 28 February 2021. Included within this table at Column (ii) is the number of deaths where the Procurator Fiscal instructed that a post mortem examination be held.

Toxicological analysis is required in the case of fatalities where the cause of death is not immediately clear, and when that analysis is required by the pathologist for preparation of the final post mortem report. The University of Glasgow, under contract with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), currently provides most of the toxicology services in Scotland, with the exception of deaths that are reported to the Procurator Fiscal from Grampian, Highland and Islands where toxicology services are provided by alternative providers.

Column (iii) sets out the number of post mortem examinations held, from those set out in column (ii), in which the Procurator Fiscal instructed a toxicology report from the University of Glasgow.

Column (iv) sets out the number of post mortem examinations held, from those set out in column (ii), where the death occurred within Grampian, Highland and Islands. It is not possible to identify from information held by COPFS if a toxicology report was instructed in relation to these post mortem examinations. That information could only be identified by reviewing individually each death comprised in the cohort referred to in that column.

Work on implementing the provisions of Part 3 (Bus Services) of the Transport (Scotland) 2019 Act was paused while officials had to prioritise the Scottish Government’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, work has now restarted and an online stakeholder workshop was held on 17 March 2021 which covered the range of options, including local authority run bus services. Stakeholder views will inform the development of a public consultation exercise to run later this year. This consultation will, in turn, inform the development of secondary legislation and guidance. The date of coming into force will depend on a number of factors including the time it takes to consider the outcomes of the consultation, as well as Parliamentary scheduling.