Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31110 on 28 August 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Transport Scotland meets regularly with the Office of Rail and Road and Network Rail to review the performance and resilience of the rail network in Scotland, including the Highland Mainline. The Office of Road and Rail is responsible for monitoring the safety and performance of the network and holds Network Rail to account for these matters.

The Scottish Government does not hold records of infrastructure failures, including flooding, as this is the responsibility of Network Rail.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31110 on 28 August 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government recognises how hard it has been for care home residents and their families not to have regular face to face contact during the pandemic.

On 8 August, we announced a move to stage 3 of the visiting pathway from 10 August. Stage 3 allows for weekly outdoor visits from up to 3 visitors from no more than 2 households, subject to certain conditions; one of those conditions is that the care home must have been COVID free for at least 28 days from the last date of a positive test or symptoms of any resident or staff member.

Indoor visits have been reintroduced for one designated visitor. Care homes will need to develop a plan to support this and the plan must be signed off by the local Director of Public Health before indoor visits can resume. The plan will only be signed off if the condition on the home being COVID free for 28 days since a positive test or symptoms in residents and staff members has been met and that the care home participants fully in weekly testing programme.

The safeguard requiring a care home to be COVID free or fully recovered for 28 days is based on the UK Government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) advice that 28 days is twice the extreme incubation period for the virus and, given the possibility for asymptomatic carriage, is the safest estimate for allowing visits. This safeguard will remain as scientific evidence indicates that it is safe to progress to the next stage. It will then be for local Health Protection and Care Home and Clinical Oversight teams, led by the Director of Public Health to make the decision on whether restrictions can be relaxed for care homes in their area.

I refer the member to my answer to question S5W-30892 on 26 August 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The full remit of the Ministerial Population Taskforce can be found within its terms of reference . The impact of COVID-19 will be an important element in the future work of the Population Taskforce.

The Ministerial Population Taskforce last met on 23 January 2020. The minutes from this meeting will be published following the next meeting, scheduled for September. The meeting focused on education, planning and health together with the development of a National Performance Framework (NPF) population indicator and dashboard.

Since the beginning of the year, the work on population overseen by the Ministerial Population Taskforce has included engagement with a wide range of key partners and stakeholders including local authorities and working with the Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population to further develop the evidence base to inform future development as well as mapping how existing policies impact population. As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to the Programme for Government to develop an action plan to support repopulation of our rural and island communities and to work with partners to test approaches using small scale pilots’ a workshop was held on 10 March in Aviemore to identify and develop potential repopulation interventions and the areas in which they may be piloted.

The dashboard and NPF indicator discussed at the January meeting were published in April, and can be used to monitor progress and understand the demographic challenges in Scotland. The dashboard includes the National Performance Framework (NPF) indicator as well as a number of other indicators focusing on population structure and population distribution.

The Scottish Government understands that since the outbreak of COVID-19, many businesses and organisations have put a lot of time and effort into supporting their staff to work remotely. This has seen some positive outcomes with some stating that they have had an increased ability to engage with partners due to online meetings becoming the norm.

We know from the 2019 Office for National Statistics Annual Population Survey that working from home is at least twice as prevalent amongst those living in rural communities compared to urban communities.

Through the implementation of the National Islands Plan we will ensure that infrastructure can support any increase in remote working and we have committed to display leadership in the public sector by demonstrating that jobs and careers progression can be successful on islands.

Further to a recommendation at the Convention of the Highlands and Islands (COHI) meeting in October 2019, the Scottish Government agreed to undertake analysis to explore the benefits and challenges of workforce dispersal and remote working. In particular, to assess how future workforce dispersal policy could support the repopulation of Scotland's rural and island communities. This work has been deferred as a result of COVID-19 resourcing pressures.

The Scottish Government has continued to gather information on the various challenges facing our Highlands and Islands communities. Recently published research including the Scotland's Rural College's Case Studies of Islands and Rural Repopulation Initiatives provides strong examples of the positive outcomes of marketing areas as places to live, work and study.

In addition to the Scottish examples such as the Rural Resettlement Fund launched by Argyll and Bute Council in October 2016, the Scottish Government is also considering International examples such as the Friederikshavn experience economy and Settlement Service in Denmark and from the Faroe Islands, the Vgur experience.

The Brand Scotland programme aims to promote Scotland as an aspirational place to live, work and study, which includes promotion of rural and island areas. We remain committed to developing a Welcome to Scotland Resource, the creation of which is currently in progress and will attract and assist people moving to all parts of Scotland, including the Highlands and Islands. This resource will provide practical information to those thinking about or who have decided to live, work or study in Scotland.

On 8 August, the Scottish Government updated its plan and guidance outlining a staged approach to the safe introduction of visiting in care homes during the COVID-19 outbreak. The guidance sets out a 4 stage pathway that care homes can progress through; with each of stage allowing further visiting options for family and friends. From 10 August, 2-3 visitors per resident are permitted outdoors, subject to appropriate physical distancing and Personal Protective Equipment requirements being satisfied. Indoor visits with one designated person for 30 minutes once a week will be permitted once plans have been developed by care homes and approved by the local Director of Public Health ideally by 24 August. Visiting will only be permitted in care homes which are established and declared free of all COVID19 cases by local health protection teams 28 days from last date of positive test result or where appropriate symptoms of any resident or staff member.

In respect of testing visitors, the guidance states that t here may be occasions when the local health protection team decides there is a need to test visitors for COVID-19 in an area or in a particular home. This should be considered as part of local risk assessment processes taking into account the prevalence and incidence of infection in the local community; outbreaks; hotspots which may increase risk of infection among visitors to care homes. The guidance also recommends that that care homes put in place a system to ensure that visitors do not attend with COVID-19 relevant symptoms including asking heath screening questions. This is alongside requirements to physically distance, use of face coverings and where appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and strict hand and respiratory hygiene.

The updated guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/

Through emergency legislation, we have taken action to address the payment of registration fees for social care workers during this COVID-19 outbreak by extending the period of time a new or returning worker is required to pay their fees, from 6 months to 12 months.

Workers who are required to register with a professional regulator, such as SSSC, are required to pay an annual registration fee and that remains the legal position. By offering an extended period of time in which to register we hope to encourage workers to return to the register during this emergency.

The emergency legislation will remain in place during the current pandemic.

Details can be found on the SSSC’s website www.sssc.uk.com