Chamber and committees

Asymptomatic testing is a useful tool in our fight against coronavirus but it must be used in conjunction with other mitigations. All general and sectoral guidance must still be followed even where asymptomatic testing is taking place – including 2 metre distancing, hand washing, enhanced hygiene and self isolation of close contacts where cases are discovered.

The First Minister set out in parliament on Tuesday 3 rd Feb the approach to broadening the use of asymptomatic testing in Scotland. We are taking a targeted approach to introducing regular routine testing of those without symptoms, focussed on settings with higher transmission risks, such as food processing and distribution sites. We will provide tests for free until such time as we no longer believe there is a risk within that setting. Targeted community testing is also taking place in geographical areas which have high levels of prevalence and this community testing could include significant local employers where this is deemed appropriate by the relevant local authorities.

Our testing strategy will continue to be kept under review to ensure that testing continues to be used where appropriate to support efforts to suppress the virus.

The Scottish Government does not provide funding for the manufacture of munitions – either directly or via our enterprise agencies. The support provided is mainly focused on helping firms to diversify and develop non-military applications for their technology and ensure Scotland continues to benefit from the thousands of jobs in the defence, aerospace and shipbuilding sectors.

I have asked the enterprise agencies to respond to you direct with further details of the support provided.

Statistics on the number of additional support for learning teachers in each local authority for 2020 will be published in the 2020 Teacher Census Supplementary Statistics on 23rd March 2021.

The use of the term 'classroom assistant' varies between local authorities and is sometimes used interchangeably with 'additional support needs auxiliary or care assistant'. Therefore these two categories of school support staff are combined and reported as 'pupil support assistants' in the published statistics on school support staff.

Statistics on the number of pupil support assistants in each local authority for 2020 will be published in the 2020 School Support Staff Statistics on 23 March 2021.

On the 2 February, the First Minister confirmed that the Scottish Government will introduce a routine testing programme for schools and childcare staff. This includes all Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) and School-aged Childcare (SAC) staff.

The safety of children and childcare staff is a priority for the Scottish Government and, although the evidence continues to show that childcare settings are low risk environments, we understand the importance of offering staff and families as much reassurance as possible. Therefore, alongside the safety measures and mitigations settings are putting in place the regular testing of staff will help to further reduce risks in school, ELC and SAC environments. It will do so by helping to identify asymptomatic individuals in settings at the earliest possible opportunity, and asking them and their close contacts to self-isolate, thus minimising the likelihood of them passing on the virus.

The Scottish Government published supplementary guidance on 16 February regarding the first phase of children and young people returning to schools. This is in addition to the existing guidance on reducing risks in schools, which remains in place.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-schools-reopening/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-reducing-the-risks-in-schools/

There is also a range of advice and information for parents on the Parent Club website.

https://www.parentclub.scot/topics/coronavirus

As set out in the remit agreed for the Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence, published on 26 February 2020, the OECD has been undertaking the Review using its Implementing Policies: Supporting Change in Education Framework .

The OECD uses this framework to provide tailored support to individual countries and education systems to analyse and support the development and implementation of education policies. This methodology has been used by the OECD in previous reviews, and set a very clear framework for the Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland.

In terms of the OECD’s approach to evidence gathering on this Review, the OECD established a team of core OECD staff and international experts with experience in curriculum and assessment implementation. The Team began the Review with a comprehensive desk-based analysis of policy documents, evidence and research on CfE implementation, which included, amongst other documents, the initial evidence base provided by the Scottish Government in July 2020, papers published as part of the Education & Skills Committee’s Inquiry on Subject Choice and published academic articles and research.

Following this review of documentation, the OECD team conducted a series of interviews and virtual school visits to gather primary data. The first round of national stakeholder interviews took place from 28 th September - 2 nd October. During this visit the OECD met virtually with: myself, the Scottish Parliament’s Education & Skills Committee, Scottish Government officials, the Scottish Practitioner Forum, national agencies, local government representatives, college bodies, DYW regional employer groups, university bodies, academics/researchers, organisations responsible for teacher professional learning & leadership, teacher and headteacher professional associations, parent organisations, young people organisations, Gaelic education groups, subject specific interest groups, members of the Curriculum & Assessment Board, and members of the Scottish Education Council.

The second week of engagement with schools, learners and parents ran from 2 nd - 5 th November. As part of this engagement, the OECD held in-depth virtual visits with four schools, as well as a number of on-line focus group sessions with headteachers, teachers, partners, learners and parents. Both engagement weeks were taken forward based on clear guidelines provided by the OECD and following discussions with the Scottish Practitioner Forum.

In response to a request by OECD for a project advisory group to guide the work and discuss progress and deliverables, the Scottish Government established a Scottish Practitioner Forum. The role of this Forum has been to advise and guide the work on the Review and to ensure that this was based on the experience of current practitioners in Scotland. The Forum has met regularly to support the Review.

The OECD is not taking formal written submissions for the Review of Curriculum for Excellence. The Review is independent and the OECD are international experts in this type of work. This approach has been the OECD’s position from the outset.

The OECD has been clear that it is not feasible for the Review team to consider more information than what they asked for, nor is it the purpose of the Review to generate new written submissions or replace what would otherwise be a national consultation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35500 on 24 February 2021. 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 evidence based JCVI guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age, and that the risk increases exponentially with age. Additionally the committee considers frontline health and social care workers who provide direct care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination.
• Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of any workers other than frontline health and social care workers. This is because we don’t know if the vaccine prevents spread, but it does reduce the harm to those most at risk should they catch the virus. Individual members of your waste management workforce will be called forward for vaccination according to their position on the priority list, if they are eligible within the JCVI Cohorts (e.g. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality)
• Decisions to prioritise one population group over another are not taken lightly, nor are they straightforward. That is why our prioritisation decisions have been, and will continue to be, guided by the independent expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).