Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has published guidance for the retail sector which sets out our expectations on the steps which retail business will take before and after reopening. This includes an operational guide for retailers with actions to consider and states that retailers should consider operating a click and collect service.

Subject to scientific advice on the continued decline in the prevalence of Covid 19, it is our intention that schools should return for all pupils full time at the start of the autumn term. This will greatly enhance the wellbeing of children and young people throughout Scotland. A number of measures are being developed to ensure this can happen safely. Any consideration of testing as part of those measures will take account of the impact of the process of testing itself on those who are being tested.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on this matter for all public buildings. Local Authorities are required to keep building warrant records in Part 2 of the building standards register. Requirements for cladding systems set through building regulations do not require non-combustible cladding on all public buildings. This provision is based upon the level of fire risk associated with a building type and occupancy profile. Employers and persons with control of most public buildings (owners, managing agents, etc) have fire safety responsibilities under Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and associated Regulations and may also hold records of cladding. The risk of fire spread on external walls is only one in a broad range of fire safety elements considered under building and fire safety regulations.

It is important to distinguish between aluminium composite material (ACM) panels that are combustible and ACM panels that have the appropriate resistance to fire. Some buildings will have partial ACM cladding deemed not to constitute a risk to life, following a comprehensive fire risk assessment.

Following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 a data collection exercise on the presence of aluminium composite material (ACM) was undertaken on the following public buildings:

• Healthcare premises; One hospital confirmed partial cladding with combustible ACM panels that have since been replaced;
• Prisons; The Scottish Prison Service has confirmed that no Scottish prison has identified the use of ACM panels on any of its buildings.
• Schools; 30 school buildings under 18m in height were identified as having ACM panels. Local Authorities are responsible for fire safety in their school buildings. All 32 authorities advised that their school buildings were considered safe in terms of fire safety following a review of their fire risk assessments.

High pressure laminate (HPL) is a common type of cladding material also being considered. A data collection exercise on the presence of HPL across a range of building sectors is ongoing but is currently paused due to difficulties with gaining physical access to data as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antibody tests can tell us whether an individual has had COVID-19. However, there is currently insufficient clinical evidence to conclude that people who have recovered from COVID-19 are protected from a second infection or from infecting others. Therefore, health boards in Scotland have been advised by the Chief Medical Officer to focus on using antibody tests to improve our understanding of COVID-19 and in the clinical management of patients. As of 19th June 2020, 4,431 antibody tests have been used. Public Health Scotland are considering how to include suitable elements of this data in their wider reporting.

The Test and Protect data, which was successfully rolled out across all Health Boards from 28 May. From 28 May to 14 June, provisional Test and Protect figures are: 992 cases (of which 891 have completed contact tracing), and 1,239 contacts traced from completed and in-progress cases.

The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the number of care homes notifying cases of COVID-19 and the number of suspected cases of COVID-19 in care homes. The data also includes the daily number of people in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 but does not include details on how many of these are care home residents or staff.

Test and Protect was rolled out across Scotland on 28 May 2020 and the Test and Protect data is published on Public Health Scotland's website at:

https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/ .

The cumulative number of people tested and the number of positive and negative tests is also provided. You can find figures updated every day at 2pm (including care home data) here: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Daily data for Scotland .

Following the First Minister’s statement on 18 June 2020, a group of up to 8 people from two different households can meet up outside. Coaches can now therefore coach up to 7 people from two different households at one time, ensuring social distancing measures were still adhered too.

Alternatively, a coach can hold separate sessions for two different households on the same day but only a maximum of up to 7 people between the two sessions.

The Scottish Government has provided clear guidance in accordance with public health advice and physical distancing measures on the safe use of all outdoor areas. This covers all outdoor spaces including the use of communal or shared tenement gardens.

The reopening of dental services in Scotland presents a number of specific challenges which the Chief Dental Officer and officials continue to strive to address in collaboration with NHS colleagues. At the present time the position of the Scottish Government remains the same as that when answering the question from Neil Bibby MSP of 21 May (SW5-29259) viz.:

“On 2 June 2020 the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport made a statement to the Scottish Parliament concerning the on-going delivery of NHS services as part of the Scottish Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this statement she indicated that work is being undertaken with dental teams to prepare for a phased introduction of dental services over the course of this month.

“The Chief Dental Officer for Scotland wrote to all dental contractors providing NHS dental services on 20 May with details of the remobilisation plan which is now to be implemented as circumstances permit.

“Remobilisation of NHS dental practices is an extremely complex process. We need to be mindful of the oral health needs of patients balanced against the wider situation with COVID-19, and the essential requirement that we reduce the risk of community transmission and protect both patients and dental teams. When making the decision on reopening dental practices in Scotland we will take into consideration the added risk of aerosol generating procedures on COVID-19 transmission and the availability of appropriate PPE.”

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

In all our decisions on the phasing of changes to restrictions, we have to be conscious of the need to avoid the rapid spread of the virus and the NHS being overwhelmed. We appreciate that the current physical distancing measures are difficult, particularly for those who have been unable to see family, friends and partners. We will not keep them in place any longer than is necessary.

At each review stage, we are drawing on scientific evidence to inform which restrictions, if any, we are able to ease, and to shape the associated guidance. We hope that in Phase 2 we will be able to relax rules to allow people to meet with another household indoors, with appropriate guidance being issued and followed on physical distancing and hygiene measures to contain the spread of the virus. We are looking at the issue of couples who live apart in particular to see if we can provide some guidance that allows people to live their lives sensibly, but also in a way that is as safe as possible.

Until then, there remains a risk of the virus rapidly spreading and overwhelming our NHS if physical distancing is not observed. For that reason, the advice remains where possible to stay at home and to maintain a 2 metre distance when meeting members of another household outdoors. We will continue to monitor the situation and will advise when it is safe to relax restrictions further.