Chamber and committees

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice indicating all those aged 16 and 17 should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Anyone's who's 16 th birthday is on or after 1 August 2021 you can self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration, from 6 August, with drop in clinics available to everyone in these age groups from the week starting 9 August.

We have agreed with Health Boards and Higher and Further Education Institutions to appoint Single Points of Contacts in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

For second doses, individuals will get an invitation as normal, but if, for example, it goes to a previous address (as may be the case with students), they can rearrange this online or via the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 08000308013 (available 08:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week) to a new health board location. Those who can’t be vaccinated before they leave home, should register with a GP practice to allow their CHI registered address to be up to date, and use the appointment checker to ensure they have a vaccination appointment as soon as possible at their new location.

To counter the risk of letters going to old addresses, and to allow more advance notice of appointments, an appointment checker on NHS Inform will allow someone to view their scheduled appointment earlier than the letter arriving: Vaccine appointment checker | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . They can also use the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline to discuss their appointment.

The appointment checker also means those eligible can reschedule in advance, and can now also reschedule to anywhere in Scotland, to fit in with their work and life. In addition, there are drop-in clinics in various areas for certain age groups. Anyone looking for vaccination should check their local NHS website to see what is available in their area.

It is hoped that many new students will be vaccinated before they attend their new further education location. However, as we all know, it takes time for an immune response to develop to the vaccine (2-3 weeks), so even after individuals have received their first dose vaccination, they should continue to follow the FACTS guidance to help reduce the spread of the virus, and minimise the risk to themselves and those around them.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice indicating all those aged 16 and 17 should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Anyone's who's 16 th birthday is on or after 1 August 2021 you can self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration , from 6 August, with drop in clinics available to everyone in these age groups from the week starting 9 August.

We have agreed with Health Boards and Higher and Further Education Institutions to appoint Single Points of Contacts in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

Young people who will turn 18 before 31st October 2021 (the current cut-off date for Phase 2 of the vaccination programme) are now eligible for vaccination and can register on the online portal: Registering for a coronavirus vaccine | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) if they have not already received an appointment letter. Those turning 18 later in the year, will of course be part of the ongoing rolling vaccination programme. The self-registration online portal will stay open as we move into Phase 2 of vaccination in the Autumn.

For second doses, individuals will get an invitation as normal, but if, for example, it goes to a previous address (as may be the case with students), they can rearrange this online or via the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 08000308013 (available 08:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week) to a new health board location. Those who can’t be vaccinated before they leave home, should register with a GP practice to allow their CHI registered address to be up to date, and use the appointment checker to ensure they have a vaccination appointment as soon as possible at their new location.

To counter the risk of letters going to old addresses, and to allow more advance notice of appointments, an appointment checker on NHS Inform will allow someone to view their scheduled appointment earlier than the letter arriving: Vaccine appointment checker | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . They can also use the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline to discuss their appointment.

The appointment checker also means those eligible can reschedule in advance, and can now also reschedule to anywhere in Scotland, to fit in with their work and life. In addition, there are drop-in clinics in various areas for certain age groups. Anyone looking for vaccination should check their local NHS website to see what is available in their area.

It is hoped that many new students will be vaccinated before they attend their new further or higher education location. However, as we all know, it takes time for an immune response to develop to the vaccine (2-3 weeks), so even after individuals have received their first dose vaccination, they should continue to follow the FACTS guidance to help reduce the spread of the virus, and minimise the risk to themselves and those around them.

It is not possible to accurately quantify the future associated with COVID-19 related health problems at this time, as we are still in the midst of the pandemic. Some of these impacts may not be tangible immediately but are likely to become more evident over time.

We need a better understanding of the frequency, nature and impact of health complications caused by COVID before an assessment can be made of future costs. This includes the cost of providing support for people with long COVID.

The Scottish Government has invested £2.5 million funding for nine Scottish-led research projects relating to the long-term effects of COVID-19. We continue to engage with NHS Boards to identify their support needs in relation to delivering care and support to people with long COVID.

The Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent organisation that provides advice on vaccines and immunisation. Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has considered this advice as part of its decision making process in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Scottish Government has independent observers on the panel, Dr Syed Ahmed and representatives from Public Health Scotland. As part of the panel, we have the opportunity to put questions to the JCVI, on a range of topics in relation to COVID-19 including the subject of 12 to 15 years being vaccinated.

Following the recent JCVI advice, young people aged 12 to 15 with severe neuro-disabilities, Down’s Syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities, as well as people who are household contacts of individuals who are immunosuppressed, are eligible for vaccination.

The JCVI is not currently advising routine vaccination of children outside of these groups, based on the current evidence. The Chief Medical Officer has written to the JCVI asking them to keep this issue under regular review.

The National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) had a committed budget of £25m for 2020-21. Delivery of Year 1 projects completed at the end of July 2021 and a report on outcomes will be published later this year.

The First Minister announced a further £20m of funding on 16 June 2021, for an initial tranche of projects as part of the second year of the Fund. We continue to carefully monitor skills needs, particularly as the UK Government’s furlough scheme comes to an end.

Based on available data, between October 2020 – March 2021, the number of places delivered in Year 1 of NTTF was 6,327. Some projects are still to report final figures as delivery continued until end July 2021.

Final delivery figures for Year 1 will be published when all provision is complete. The sectors supported in Year 1 are listed below:

• Tourism and Hospitality
• Transport - Aviation
• Aerospace
• Rural
• Land-based/Aquaculture
• Forestry
• Seafood
• Screen
• Culture and Creative Industries
• Further education
• Higher education
• Energy
• Digital

As delivery under Year 2 has not started yet for many projects it is not possible to provide information on the number of applications that have been approved, rejected or are yet to be processed. The funding is being delivered through various sector-based projects which will have different application procedures and target audiences specific to the needs of the sector. The sectors supported in Year 2 are listed below:

• Transport - Aviation
• Seafood
• Tourism and Hospitality
• Adult Social Care
• Health and Social Care
• Land-based/Aquaculture
• Open University
• Childcare - Early Years
• Cyber Security
• Digital
• Rural
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Culture and Creative Industries
• Crofting
• Screen
• Aerospace
• Construction (Green)
• Energy
• Historic Environment (Green)
• Forestry
• Higher education
• Further education

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills announced that the government will create a children and young people’s education council as part of her Parliamentary statement on Scotland’s curriculum on 22 June.

Following that announcement, a meeting was held on 21 July between Scottish Government officials and representatives from the national children and young person organisations, including those who have recently been involved in supporting the Education Recovery Youth Panel and contributing to the Covid Education Recovery Group as young people. This allowed officials to gain the benefit of their insights into the principles, working methods and detailed arrangements for the new council.

The Scottish Government is developing plans for the Council utilising this feedback, with a view to holding the first meeting of the new council as soon as possible in the autumn.

HM Inspectors of Education will restart scrutiny activity of schools soon and an announcement will follow shortly. The annual scrutiny programme outlining the range of scrutiny activity, including school inspections which will be carried out by HM Inspectors of education this academic year will also be published on Education Scotland's website.

The programme school and early learning and childcare inspections was paused on 16 March 2020 in response to Covid-19. A pause in the programme inspections was to allow education establishments to concentrate on providing support for learning throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

My officials will conduct a trawl for the information requested and I will write to Mr Mundell when their findings are complete.

Limiting the incidence of long COVID is dependent on our ability to limit the spread of the virus. Throughout our response to the pandemic, all decisions taken by the Scottish Government have been clearly underpinned by the latest available clinical and scientific advice of the Advisory Sub-group on Education and Children’s Issues, which considered the latest evidence on long COVID when producing its latest advice on the return to school in August.

We have committed significant funding to local authorities and schools to deal with the impacts of the pandemic, which has included £90m of funding to meet the cost of necessary safety measures and infrastructure adjustments in schools, as well as over £60m funding to support partners to deliver a comprehensive package of wellbeing and outdoor activities. As we settle in to the new term, the most recent changes to policies on self-isolation, testing and contact tracing for under 18s will help reduce the risks of COVID-19 in schools as Scotland transitions to beyond level 0. We are providing a further £10m to support access to CO2 monitoring in schools and Early Learning Childcare settings and we have asked local authorities and schools to ensure staff and secondary pupils are advised to take Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests and record their results in the run-up to the return, and to keep testing and recording results thereafter. To ensure a safe and sustainable start to the school term, we are asking schools to continue with the majority of mitigations in schools for up to 6 weeks after the start of term.

These importance changes are set out in our latest guidance on Reducing risks in schools , which has drawn on feedback from the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG), wider workforce representatives, and children and young people. This represents a proportionate set of measures which has evolved throughout the pandemic to limit the spread and impact of the virus.

Every homicide represents the loss of a loved family member, a friend or a work colleague. The emotional cost of such loss cannot ever be captured by the financial costs arising.

Within this context, the Scottish Government does not make specific assessments of the public financial costs of individual crimes, including homicide. However, it does publish general information on financial costs of the justice system in the ‘Costs of the Criminal Justice System in Scotland’ publication (available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/costs-of-the-criminal-justice-system-in-scotland-dataset-2016-17-published-december-2019/ ).

The publication has financial information that may be useful in considering financial costs associated with a homicide (e.g. the average costs of prosecution or a prison place).

Further to this, table 4 of the publication discusses the “economic and social” cost of crime. It explains that UK Government research has estimated the total economic and social costs associated with a homicide in England and Wales at £3.3m. Based on this, it is estimated that the costs associated with all homicides in Scotland are around £200m per anum. However, these “economic and social” costs go far beyond the financial cost to the public sector – including both non-financial costs and impacts outside the public sector.