Chamber and committees

It is a matter for individual schools and local authorities to plan a Senior Phase that takes account of local circumstances and meets the needs and aspirations of learners, ensuring that young people can choose preferred subjects; however, timetabling, staffing and resourcing issues may mean that this is not always possible.

Where a subject cannot be offered by the school, national guidelines encourage flexibility, enabling schools to work collaboratively with other local schools or colleges or through on-line, digital approaches.

We expect this to continue but recognise that COVID-19 has presented many challenges and schools are rightly prioritising the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of learners during the recovery phase.

The Scottish Government’s Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance on preparing for the start of the new school term in August 2020, encourages schools to plan their curriculum with colleges, including looking at issues of timetabling, transport, and the use of digital resources.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority has published a report on the outcomes of the consultation that they carried out on proposed modifications to National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher course assessments in session 2021-21. The modifications took account of loss of learning and teaching time and public health advice as it applies to different subject areas. SQA has published information on the modifications for each subject and will consider any further modifications to take account of the evolving public health advice.

The Scottish Government is working with Education Scotland, Colleges and Local Authorities to monitor the impact of COVID 19 on the breadth of the Senior Phase curriculum offer and on collaboration between schools and with colleges, and will consider if further guidance is required in this area

The Improvement Service published a detailed report on delivery progress as of August on 11 November which showed that 93,438 children were accessing funded ELC as of the end of August 2020. Of these, 80% children were accessing more than the statutory entitlement of 600 hours, and 61% children were accessing 1140 hours funded ELC. Local authorities are continuing to offer expanded hours where they can, and to progress expansion plans ahead of setting a new statutory date.

The Scottish Government is working closely with councils to build on the data collected, to understand the impact of COVID on programmes, and to inform the Joint Delivery Board’s assessment of the appropriate date to reinstate the 1140 hours statutory duty. This assessment will be completed and a new implementation date communicated to Parliament and the public by the end of December 2020. The Scottish Government will bring forward legislation in this parliamentary session to reinstate the 1140 duty.

As at November 2020:

• 14 councils are offering 1140 hours to all families

Angus, Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee, East Renfrewshire, Eilean Siar, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Lanarkshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland, South Ayrshire, Stirling.

• 18 Councils are offering at least 600 hours of funded ELC to all families, and 1140 to some or most families

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Dumbarton, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Moray, North Ayrshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian.

At the end of September 2019, Disclosure Scotland replaced an obsolete IT system with its new processing system, Protecting and Safeguarding Scotland (PASS). This has been used since then to process all disclosure checks. PASS is continually being developed to improve our service. The newly introduced PVG Online service (which is currently being tested with a small number of stakeholders) is a major step forward, consistent with the digital plan for Disclosure Scotland. PVG Online provides a digital application platform for PVG members, new and existing, for the first time and demonstrates progress towards a digital first application service for all of our products.

The implementation of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 has been affected by the Covid 19 Pandemic, meaning that not all provisions of the Act will come into effect until the next parliamentary session. Officials have restarted work on parking provisions and are currently amending the timeline for implementing secondary legislation and consultation requirements.

Visiting is vital to the wellbeing of people in care homes and their loved ones and it is important that all steps are taken to enable visiting to resume safely. To support this, the Scottish Government published on 12 October updated visiting guidance which offers greater flexibility in visiting arrangements, and indoor visiting in particular, as winter approaches. The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/

We will continue to review the visiting guidance with the aim of maximising the amount of quality time that families can safely spend together.

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for the Pandemic, published on 23 October, sets out plans to develop the testing element of Test and Protect over the next three months which focusses on building capacity within NHS Scotland and deploying expansions in UK Government testing capacity and capability to its maximum effect in Scotland.

As set out in our Clinical and Scientific review of the Testing Strategy, the consensus clinical view of the prioritisation of capacity, over and above that required to meet symptomatic demand, clinical care requirements and existing commitments, is that the focus in any extension of routine regular asymptomatic testing should be on protecting those most vulnerable to severe harm. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-review-of-testing-strategy-october-2020/

As testing capacity builds over the next three months, and in line with clinical and public health priorities identified though the review of our testing strategy, this will include considering how best to introduce testing for visitors to those who live in care homes where this can add an additional layer of risk mitigation to enable safe visiting to continue. Further details on the Framework can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-scotlands-strategic-framework/

As I have already indicated to Parliament, I will set out the next phase of our testing roll out delivery plan to Parliament before the end of November 2020.

We continue to work closely with the college sector on the best approach on all matters relating to the current situation to ensure students receive the best educational experience whilst remaining safe. We are absolutely clear that learners should continue to have their achievements recognised and awarded, such that they can continue with their chosen pathways, whatever that may be.

We recognise that it is important that students have the opportunity to continue with their learning. Limiting access to education has a negative impact on their personal development, their wellbeing and life chances.

Responsibility for delivering the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in 2020-21 rests with Health Boards and Integration Authorities. Those who are entitled to a free seasonal flu vaccine will be contacted by their Health Board letting them know where they will receive the vaccine and how to book their appointment. The best source of information on this for the public is NHS Inform which can be found here: www.nhsinform.scot/flu or on the information line on: 0800 224488.

We have prioritised the older age group of 65+ along with those who are at risk. This is to ensure that all those who need it most will have access to an appointment and the opportunity to be vaccinated before the start of flu season.

The majority of invitation letters have now issued to people who are currently eligible for a free flu vaccine. We anticipate that the remaining letters will issue within the next two weeks.