Chamber and committees

We want event organisers to be able to plan future activity with confidence, but we must continue to move very carefully to ensure continued suppression of COVID-19. The First Minister’s statement on 13 July confirmed that the size of events and stadia attendances will increase outdoors to 2,000 seated and 1,000 standing, and indoors to 400.

If event organisers want to organise an event when in Level 0 in excess of the relevant capacity limits, they must apply for approval to the relevant local authority.

This requires Event organisers to apply in line with the requirements of the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 as amended and provide the Local Authority with an application in writing (can be email) along with the minimum of:

• A description of the type of event (or events) proposed,
• An event plan for the event (or events) proposed, and
• A risk assessment for the event (or events) proposed, including what measures are proposed relating to the prevention or minimisation of the risk of the incidence and spread of coronavirus arising from the event (or events).

EURO 2020 was a flagship event approved by the Scottish Government through an events gateway process. Flagship events are internationally significant events which maintain Scotland’s longer-term profile as a host of major events, with an eye to recovery from the pandemic, and with appropriate Covid-19 mitigations in place which were supported by months of very detailed planning.

It is a matter for local authorities to consider/assess individual applications having considered particular circumstances of the current regulations and latest guidance.

Throughout the pandemic our approach and principles are set out in our Framework for Decision Making, based on clinical evidence, expert advice, and a balanced assessment of the risks. The Scottish Government, the Chief Medical Officer's Advisory Group and SAGE have used scientific evidence on transmission coupled with the social and economic benefits, which Ministers have then used to make decisions.

All viruses naturally mutate over time and therefore it is important that we spot any changes quickly to understand the potential risk any variant may pose. We already have a comprehensive surveillance infrastructure in place, harnessing genomic sequencing and collaboration across scientific bodies to continually assess the risk of new variants emerging. Variants are declared to be under investigation or of concern independently for the entire UK and risk assessments and technical briefings are made available. The public health agencies do not hesitate to designate a new VUI or VOC when the evidence demonstrates this, and our surveillance is working effectively.

The safety of fans attending the fan zone is paramount, that is why we have worked closely with Glasgow City Council and a range of partners to deploy a range of interventions to reduce the risk of transmission at the fan zone.

Whilst we have seen an increase in test positivity of younger males, Public Health Scotland’s analysis of the Test & Protect Case Management System data reveal that between 11 to 28 June 2021, only 55 of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Scotland reported attending the Glasgow Green Fan Zone, This amounts to 2.8% of the overall 1,991 confirmed cases associated with EURO 2020-related events. This low number is testament to the approach and effort of partners to deliver such a large scale event during these challenging times.

This report can be found at: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/8300/21-06-30-covid19-publication_report.pdf .

Since 2013 the Scottish Government has invested over £45 million to develop the ChargePlace Scotland network, which now has 1,845 publicly available chargers. UK Government’s Department for Transport statistics show that, with 43 chargers per 100,000 of population, Scotland has the highest number of chargepoints relative to population outside of London. Most chargers can charge 2 cars simultaneously, however some rapid chargers are only able to charge 1 car at a time. It is not possible to give a total number of electric vehicles that the ChargePlace Scotland can support, but this number is much greater than the number of individual charging connections. This figure would be influenced by a wide range of factors, importantly individual charging sessions will vary in duration from well under an hour to overnight charging and in part will be determined by the state of charge as the vehicle is plugged in. A critical factor will be distances travelled and how vehicles are used over any given period as this will significantly influence their charging requirements.

The Scottish Government only hold data on the ChargePlace Scotland network, and whilst it is the largest public charging network in Scotland other providers do operate in Scotland, so will increase the total number of charging points available to the public. Complementing the public charging network, Scottish Government, through the Energy Saving Trust, have now funded over 10,000 home and business chargepoints which will make a significant contribution to supporting Scotland’s transition to zero emission vehicles.

The Scottish Government continues to support the national development of the ChargePlace Scotland electric vehicle charging network. We have invested over £45 million since 2011 in the ChargePlace Scotland network, which now has over 1800 publicly available chargepoints.

Over £5.5M will be provided to local authorities this year to continue to invest in the growth of the ChargePlace Scotland network. Funds will be administered across a number of schemes including our Local Authority Install Programme, which will focus on improving the capacity and resilience of the network by bolstering electric vehicle charging provision at key sites across Scotland, retrofitting rapid chargers with contactless payment facilities and funding warranty and maintenance packages. Other programmes such as Switched on Towns and Cities and Low Carbon Travel and Transport Fund will continue to deliver additional chargepoints and we are providing additional funding to Scottish local authorities as top-up funding for the UK Government’s on-street charging funding programme.

We continue to support households and business who wish to install chargepoints by providing grant funding to support this. To date almost 10,000 household and workplace charge points have been installed.

We are currently working with Scottish Future Trust to consider new approaches to financing publicly available EV charging infrastructure and will shortly bring forward consultation on installing EV infrastructure in all new build properties and all existing properties undergoing major renovation.

Scottish Planning Policy makes clear that local and planning authorities should consider the re-use or re-development of brownfield land before new development takes place on greenfield sites. In November 2020 the Scottish Government issued a Position Statement setting out its current thinking on the issues that will need to be addressed when preparing Scotland's fourth National Planning Framework. The Position Statement includes a commitment to significantly enhance policies on the promotion of a brownfield-first approach to development, including for new homes.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme provides funding support to both local authorities and registered social landlords to bring forward high quality affordable housing projects across Scotland including support as appropriate for site acquisition, infrastructure and remediation costs for brownfield sites.

This year we opened our new £50m low carbon Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme to applications from all Scottish local authorities and Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company. It will help with unblocking the reuse of persistent vacant and derelict land, especially in disadvantaged areas, and bringing forward opportunities for new green infrastructure and low carbon living as part of place based regeneration.

The Scottish Government follows the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in the planning of vaccine delivery. This evidence-based guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age and that COVID-19 risk increases exponentially with age.

JCVI priority group 4 of the vaccines programme incorporates those considered Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) on the GP system and therefore at higher risk of severe illness with COVID-19.

First doses and second doses of vaccine are offered in accordance with the same clinical prioritisation guidelines outlined under the JCVI priority groups.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on‎ 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament