Chamber and committees

We are engaging with CoSLA and other key stakeholders about ongoing critical childcare requirements through the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group and its work streams. The Education Recovery Group will consider the issue of continued critical childcare provision for keyworkers and vulnerable children, alongside a phased re-opening of school, at its next meeting scheduled for 18th June.

Critical childcare for key workers will be continue to be provided until daycare of children services are fully reopened.

Currently the advice is that if you can work from home, you should. This applies to all sectors and occupations, including key workers. It remains the case that where children can be cared for at home then they should be.

We are clear within our sectoral workplace guidance that when employers are carrying out workforce planning, as a minimum we expect them to take account of travel to work considerations and childcare arrangements, in the case of early learning, childcare and schools not being fully operational.

The phased re-opening of schools and childcare provision will result in childcare becoming more widely available for all working families.

The Regional Testing Centre at Aberdeen Airport is part of the UK-wide programme of testing, led by the UK Government. Any symptomatic individual, aged 5 and over can access these testing facilities. These facilities are only for people within a 90-minute drive of the location. A number of Mobile Testing Units have been deployed in Scotland and move location every five days. Home testing kits can be requested for symptomatic individuals who are unable to access a drive-through testing site.

The current Covid-19 test is highly effective at detecting the virus in those who are symptomatic. The test is less effective at identifying those who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.

The Regional Testing Centre at Aberdeen Airport is part of the UK-wide programme of testing, led by the UK Government. Any symptomatic individual, aged 5 and over can access these testing facilities. The Scottish Government published a prioritisation matrix for key workers on 25 April and details of this are available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested/ .

The Regional Testing Centre at Aberdeen Airport is part of the UK-wide programme of testing, led by the UK Government. The cumulative total of tests conducted through the Regional Testing Centres is published on the Scottish Government website when the data is received from the UK Government.

We have published endorsed guidance for NHSScotland staff and managers https://www.staffgovernance.scot.nhs.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/guidance/ that includes advice on what you should do if you have a high-risk medical condition. This reflects the latest guidance on the NHS Inform website, which is regularly updated to reflect the latest scientific evidence: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/
infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-covid-19-physical-distancing .

The Chief Medical Officer’s Clinical Cell has also produced additional guidance for health and social care staff which adds further detail on some of these conditions, including severe asthma. It is currently under review by the Clinical Cell. https://www.staffgovernance.scot.nhs.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/other/

Those with severe asthma, as defined within the guidance, should be asked to work from home if possible, on the basis that individual circumstances should always be considered on a case by case basis.

I wrote to the Convention of Scotlands Local Authorities (COSLA) on 26 May to confirm that, in line with a request from COSLA Leaders, the allocation of the £155 million consequentials will be based on the normal distribution formula Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) plus Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA). Details of the allocations, which will be added to the General Revenue Grant payments to local authorities as soon as possible are set out in the following table.

The Scottish Government is going to great lengths to support businesses and organisations, and in designing the relief and grant systems had to make difficult decisions to balance helping as many as possible against what was affordable.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the effect COVID-19 has had on the recreational fisheries sector. Whilst no specific support package is available to angling associations, the proposed resumption of local angling under Phase 1 of the route map announced by the First Minister on 21 May should see the welcome return of regular income.

Veterinary practices have not been instructed to close and the Scottish Government has issued advice concerning ongoing veterinary surveillance activities and statutory testing of livestock to the effect that such work should continue provided all public health guidance can be adhered to.

There is no specific veterinary support scheme, however a wide range of business support measures have been made available to businesses. This includes support for non-domestic properties eligible for universal 1.6% rates relief, and veterinary practices in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme, and/or Rural Relief, will be eligible for a one-off £10,000 grant. Businesses are advised to contact their respective local council directly to determine their eligibility for financial assistance.

The Scottish Government's package of measures announced on 15 April included £120 million to extend the Small Business Grant scheme to ensure that small business rate payers, including eligible veterinary businesses, will be eligible for a 75% grant on subsequent properties, in addition to a 100% grant on the first property. £100m was also made available for self-employed people, including those in the veterinary sector, and viable micro and SME businesses in distress as a result of Covid-19. This fund is intended to ease difficulties for those businesses and individuals that are ineligible for UK Government support, or not currently in receipt of the funds they require to survive. This fund is channelled through local authorities and enterprise agencies to assist the recently self-employed and businesses currently ineligible for other support schemes.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and Scottish Government will continue to monitor its position and work with the UK Government, and engage with veterinary sector representative bodies, to consider where further support may be required.

The Scottish Government placed one contract with Macphie Ltd to fill 50,000 bottles with hand sanitiser manufactured by CalaChem Ltd. That contract was fulfilled. Separately, National Health Service National Services Scotland has purchased the filling of a further 68,488 bottles.

We are grateful to Macphie and all the companies who have rallied to support the NHS at this critical time. Scotland is now able to satisfy its current health and care needs for sanitiser and decisions about where to fill bottles will continue to reflect the needs of NHS clinicians and requirements to achieve the best possible value for money.

Access to medicines should not be affected by the current COVID-19 global pandemic. There are no known supply issues with hydroxychloroquine and it remains available from manufacturers for community pharmacies to order through wholesalers.

There are a number of established clinical trials to explore whether a number of medicines, including hydroxychloroquine, may provide a potential treatment for COVID-19. Public Health England has secured relatively large volumes of hydroxychloroquine specifically for any NHS clinical trials across the UK, including Scotland, and the NHS has been advised to order through established supply routes so that prescription supplies are not affected.

The Medicines Healthcare and products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published a reminder that hydroxychloroquine is not licensed to treat COVID-19 related symptoms or prevent infection and that it should only be used for this purpose within a clinical trial. The MHRA has also added hydroxychloroquine to the list of medicines that cannot be parallel exported from the UK in order to protect stock in the country for UK patients.