Chamber and committees

It is not the case that extra-curricular sports at schools, such as football, are unable to resume.

The Guidance on preparing for the start of the new school term in August 2020 emphasises the importance of the provision of activities and clubs outside the usual school timetable for wider health and development of children and young people and states that: “they can be conducted subject to following the guidance set out in this note, and guidance for the general public where applicable. Schools should consider the need for out of hours cleaning when scheduling activities”.

Since the publication of the 2017 Independent Review of Targets and Indicators in Health and Social Care there have been new developments, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (2018), which would make it extremely challenging to implement a national information system and protocol management of cases in a way that ensures that it is compliant with the laws of confidentiality, human rights and data protection. As a result, the Scottish Government does not plan to establish an information system to identify exposure to adverse childhood experiences. Instead, as part of the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) National Practice Model, services working with children and young people currently consider and assess wellbeing needs based on eight indicators of wellbeing. This National Practice Model provides the framework to guide assessment of the risks and effect of adversity on a child or young person and it also supports planning to resolve and mitigate such risks and adverse effects.

The Scottish Government “Staying Safe and Protecting Others” guidance on extended households sets out the circumstances in which we advise extended households could be formed. There is a section in this guidance entitled “Couples who do not live together”, where more information on forming an extended household in these circumstances can be found.

The regulations do not provide an additional exemption which would allow non-cohabiting couples to meet unless complying with the restrictions on public and private gatherings. Currently, non-cohabiting couples, who have not formed an extended household, can meet outdoors or in public indoor settings such as cafes but cannot meet inside private dwellings.

The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 introduced the most significant changes to private renting in over 30 years, including the new Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) which modernised the way landlords can recover possession of their properties. The new tenancy came into place on 1 December 2017 and a key part of understanding it’s impact on both landlords and tenants, will be to undertake effective monitoring and evaluation activity.

We are therefore participating in a research project, funded by the Nationwide Foundation, that seeks to understand the impacts on the sector of the new tenancy regime. The project – running over a three year period from 2019 to 2022 – aims to examine the impact of the changes on perceived and actual security of tenure, access to justice, affordability, landlord and tenant conduct, tenants on low incomes and tenants in housing need. This research is complimented by a wider monitoring and evaluation framework for the new tenancy regime being taken forward by the Scottish Government.

Furthermore, during the passage of the Private Housing Tenancies (Scotland) Bill through Parliament, the then Minister for Housing and Welfare, Margaret Burgess MSP, gave a commitment to review the grounds for repossession after the private residential tenancy had been in operation for 5 years (December 2022). To support this work, we are closely monitoring the eviction case decisions published by the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber).

You will be aware that the Scottish Government put in place a number of additional protections for renters in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including extending the notice period a landlord has to give before initiating eviction action and to introduce temporary pre-action requirements. We are also closely monitoring the impact of these measures to help inform further policy development within the private rented sector.

The supply of medicines is reserved to the UK Government and we continue to work closely with them and individual manufacturers to resolve supply issues and minimise any disruption to patients.

On 6 October 2020, the Competitions and Marketing Authority (CMA) announced that it had opened an investigation into possible abuse by Essential Pharma of a dominant position in the supply of lithium-based medicines used for bipolar disorder. Subsequently, Essential Pharma withdrew its Discontinuation Notice for Priadel ® and has agreed to continue to supply the medicine in the UK.

A Medicine Supply Alert Notice, MSAN (2020)100, issued on 15 October, provides an update to NHS Scotland prescribers, advising them that there is no longer a need to implement switching of patients from Priadel ® to an alternative lithium carbonate preparation until further notice.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that rail fares are affordable for passengers and taxpayers across Scotland. Therefore, we have taken action to minimise the impact on passengers by capping increases for regulated ScotRail peak fares at the level of the Retail Price Index (RPI), and ScotRail’s regulated off-peak fare increases are capped at one percent lower than inflation. This means, in Scotland, average fares increases are lower than England.

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, Transport Scotland, with the rail industry, is in the process of considering the options regarding future fares and tickets.

There is no specific restriction on students taking a driving test. They should have reference, however, to up to date guidance and any local restrictions that may apply.

The UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities groups businesses according to their economic activity; there is no standardised definition of “tradesperson”. The measures introduced on
‎ 22 September did not curtail retail or trade activities that were operating on or before that date.

Due to the current restrictions on households meeting up indoors or outdoors, it is recommended that services provided under the organised activities for children guidance are not carried out in a private dwelling at this time. Therefore private tutoring cannot take place if undertaken in this setting and different delivery methods should be considered.

Scotland’s National Cervical Screening Programme works closely with the National Gender Identity Clinical Network Scotland (NGICNS) to improve access to cervical screening services for trans men and non-binary people with a cervix. This work has included the development of dedicated information resources for trans and non-binary people on screening. These can be viewed on NHS inform at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/screening/screening-information-for-the-transgender-community . NGICNS has also worked with the cervical screening programme to amend cervical screening recall processes to be all-gender inclusive.

In addition, NGICNS has worked with NHS Education for Scotland on its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules for GPs, which include training on a specific scenario about sample taking for trans men or non-binary people with a cervix.