Chamber and committees

The list of events which I will hold or attend, as Minister for Europe and International Development, as part of the Scottish Government review of its approach to international development, are set out on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/international-development/2020-covid-19-review/ .

New events are being added as they are arranged, and these include open access events, both in Scotland and in our partner countries.

We are not running a formal written consultation in the way that we did in 2016, where at that time we were aiming to arrive at a new Scottish Government international development policy. Within this 2020 review, our partner countries are not changing. What we are looking at and reviewing instead is our approach to our work: to ensure that going forward we are re-focusing our work on areas where we can make the biggest contribution and difference in our partner countries against the backdrop of the new reality of COVID-19; and with a resulting refresh of our Strategy in mind.

A list of the academic institutions represented at the academics roundtable on 1 October, together with a summary note of the discussions at that meeting, can be found on this webpage: https://www.gov.scot/policies/international-development/2020-covid-19-review/ .

The list of events which I will hold or attend, as part of the Scottish Government review of its approach to international development, are set out on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/international-development/2020-covid-19-review/ .

New events are being added as they are arranged, and these include open access events with (a) civic society representatives in both Scotland and (b) in each of our African partner countries.

In terms of such open access and discussion events with civic society representatives in each of our partner countries, I:

• attended a roundtable hosted for the Scottish Government by the Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP) in Lilongwe with Malawi civil society on 14 October, to listen to their views in relation to prioritisation of thematic areas in light of COVID-19; and
• will similarly hear direct from Zambian and Rwandan civil society through a virtual roundtable to follow in each country.

In terms of open access and discussion events with civic society representatives in Scotland, I have for example most recently:

• attended the Scottish Parliament's Cross Party Group on Malawi, with its inclusion of civil society speakers, on 23 September, to discuss the review and take questions;
• given an opening address at Scotland's International Development Alliance annual conference "Digital Summit: Global Development Beyond COVID-19" on 24 September, followed by Q&A on the review;
• attended Scotland's International Development Alliance quarterly roundtable on 7 October, to discuss the review and other lives issues with their members; and
• hosted a civil society workshop with the Scottish international development sector, on 28 October, to reflect on, and discuss, the draft set of Principles underpinning our Review; this 2 hour workshop also included delegates from partner countries.

Further, over the coming weeks, I will:

• host a second Civil Society workshop with the Scottish international development sector, on 3 November, again to reflect on, and discuss, the draft set of Principles underpinning our Review; and
• attend the Scottish Parliament's International Development Cross Party Group, with its inclusion of civil society speakers, on 4 November.

In September we published experimental analysis modelling the potential impact of various aspects of COVID-19 on rates of fuel poverty, including increased energy usage due to being in the home more. The estimates are intended to provide an overall sense of the potential scale of the worst case impact due to different elements of the crisis rather than a precise estimate of the number of affected households. This research has been published on the Scottish Government's website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-house-condition-survey-additional-analysis/ .

Using more space heating through being in the home all day is likely to result in only a small increase in energy costs and, although a possible additional 6,000 households could become fuel poor as a result, this would have little impact on the overall rates of fuel poverty, which would remain the same. However, it is possible that using more energy for cooking, lighting and appliances will increase energy costs by a greater amount and drive more households into fuel poverty. This change on its own could lead to an increase in the fuel poverty rate of around 2 percentage points (a possible additional 41,000 households in fuel poverty).

For people concerned about their energy costs, whether due to homeworking or other reasons, we recommend contacting Home Energy Scotland (HES), the Scottish Government funded energy advice service. As well as providing advice and advocacy support to people struggling to pay their energy bills, HES also signpost or refer people to other Scottish Government funded sources of financial assistance, including the Scottish Welfare Fund and the Fuelbank Foundation. In addition HES act as the gateway to our energy efficiency schemes, which can help households install longer term improvements to make their homes warmer and more affordable to heat.

The Scottish Government is aware of the increases that many consumers will be seeing to their energy bills as a result of the COVID-19 situation.

In March 2020, we provided an additional £42 million for the Scottish Welfare Fund which provides crisis grants to those in immediate financial need. To widen this support, on October 20th we announced that local authorities will be able to utilise £20 million of this funding flexibly to ensure that those who are not immediately eligible for the Scottish Welfare Fund can access the support they need. In addition, through our Wellbeing and Supporting Communities Funds we are supporting a range of organisations including £432,000 to the Fuelbank Foundation for households at risk of being left without access to energy. Finally, our award winning Home Energy Scotland service continues to provide a range of free advice for anyone concerned about paying their energy bills.

The Scottish Government recognises that due to Covid-19, there will be increased pressures on many household energy bills both as a result of increased usage when people are spending more time at home, including for homeworking, and/or reduced incomes. We also recognise that households in or at risk of fuel poverty are often those that are most vulnerable to the Covid-19 outbreak (e.g. older people, adults and/or children with long term health conditions).

Households requiring urgent financial assistance can apply to their local authority for a crisis grant from the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF). That is why we have provided an extra £42 million for the SWF to meet additional demand arising as a consequence of COVID-19. That is on top of the £35.5 million already provided for 2020-21. On 20 October we announced that £20 million of the additional funding provided to the SWF in March will now be available for Local Authorities to use flexibly to ensure that households who are in need, but may not be immediately eligible, can nonetheless access support.

In addition, through our Wellbeing and Supporting Communities Funds, we are supporting over 100 organisations helping those struggling with their energy costs. This includes the Fuelbank Foundation, which has been working in conjunction with our advice service, Home Energy Scotland, to ensure help is available to households with pre-payment meters who are at risk of being left without access to energy, by offering them same-day top-ups.

The current position of no background sound in hospitality, including low level music and audio from television, is a measured and cautious approach to reduce risk. As per First Minister's comments, it is being kept under review and government has engaged with industry experts to consider how guidance can be developed to allow low level background sound to be managed safely when transmission rates are back to a manageable level.

Awards from the Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund were announced on 22 September. Disbursement started on 30 September, with all but one award made within two weeks. Almost 60% of awards were made within one week. The majority of those that were not paid within that timeframe were made by 14 October, following the provision of additional information to Creative Scotland. A single award remains to be paid, pending the provision of further information required to enable payment.