Chamber and committees

On 16 March the First Minister outlined some indicative dates for the resumption of sport and physical activity in Scotland. From Monday, 26 April indoor facilities including leisure centres, gyms, and swimming pools can reopen. When they reopen, children and young people under 18 can return to group classes and contact sport, and adults can resume activity in line with the rules around meeting other households. From Monday 17 May, adults can resume indoor group activity including non-contact sport. Indoor contact sport for adults is expected to resume in late June.

The indicative dates above are dependent on continued progress in suppressing the virus and rolling out vaccines.

From Friday 12 March, outdoor exercise classes can take place of groups up to 15 people, so a fitness coach can lead a class of 14 others.

The Respiratory Care Action Plan will set out the priorities and commitments to support the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory conditions including bronchiectasis. We are committed to building a data set to inform the implementation of the Plan and this will also allow us to monitor progress over time.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35928 on 24 March 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 information requested is not held centrally.

Public Health Scotland and Police Scotland have been exploring the sharing of more timely data recorded by Police Officers where they attend a possible death by suicide. The purpose of this work is to determine whether Police Scotland data on possible completed suicides can provide more timely and a valid proxy for confirmed deaths by suicide. It is now anticipated that this exploratory analysis will be completed by Summer 2021.

Police Scotland data on possible deaths by suicide may not include all deaths by suicide, as it might not always be obvious that the death is a result of completed suicide, or there might be a need to wait for toxicology reports. As such, it is unlikely to be appropriate for formal publication but rather to inform local and national approaches.

As part of the exploratory phase, the viability and timing of the implementation of this work will be confirmed.

As indicated in the responses to S5W-36124 and S5W-36125 on 24 March 2021, Public Health Scotland is currently considering how more timely data on possible deaths by suicide might be produced. This involves work with Police Scotland to explore the potential use of anonymised data from the STORM database. Exploratory work to determine the viability and implementation of such an approach is currently underway, and due to be completed in Summer 2021.

The National Statistics on probable suicides (deaths which are a result of intentional self-harm or events of undetermined intent) will continue to sit with the National Records of Scotland. The next release, covering data for 2020 will be published in June 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

Public Health Scotland (PHS) and Police Scotland have been exploring how data on possible deaths by suicide, as recorded by the police, could be provided more timeously, and act as a valid proxy for confirmed deaths by suicide. This data is intended to inform local and national responses and is not intended to be published. It is now anticipated that this exploratory analysis will be completed by Summer 2021. As part of the exploratory phase, the viability and timing of the implementation of this work will be confirmed.

National Records for Scotland (NRS) validate and publish data annually on confirmed deaths by suicide, usually in June for the previous calendar year. PHS use this data to publish additional analyses to inform suicide prevention, which includes trends by deprivation and comparison with other countries. These analyses are published via the Scottish Public Health Observatory and form part of the Scottish Suicide Information Database. The publication schedule is set each year once it is known when the data will be published by NRS. It can take time for NRS to accurately classify the cause of death as a death by suicide, particularly if post-mortem toxicology tests are needed.

As of 22 March 2021:

• 33,409 first dose vaccinations of all care home residents have now been completed, exceeding the initial target for all care home residents. This is a cumulative count of all residents since the vaccination programme began and may include some residents who have since died.
• 26,354 current care home residents in older adult care homes have received their first dose vaccination (96%) and 22,359 current care home residents in older adult homes have received 2 doses (82%).

There are individuals in care homes who have not received the vaccine for valid medical reasons, or where consent to receive the vaccination has not been received. Other reasons for some individuals in care homes not receiving a vaccination yet may include:

• clinical guidance sets out that where someone has tested positive, vaccination should be scheduled for four weeks later;
• If a care home has only one case of COVID-19 infection in a resident or staff member, other residents and care home staff may be offered vaccination as long as they have not been close contacts of the positive case. If a care home has more than one case in an ongoing outbreak or incident, residents who are symptomatic, positive or close contacts who are self-isolating would not be eligible for vaccination; and
• Care homes should undertake a risk assessment on whether or not the outbreak or incident cases are segregated sufficiently for other residents and care home staff to be offered vaccination. It may be safer to schedule the vaccinations once the outbreak or incident is over – this would be 14 after the last positive test or symptoms, and following a further risk assessment.

The Scottish Government has been clear that any decisions made with regard to lifting lockdown restrictions will be informed by the best available data, and this will be published where it is available. The Strategic Framework update announced to parliament by the First Minister on 23 February outlines a cautious approach to easing lockdown restrictions given the number of uncertainties which remain about the new variant of the virus (B.1.1.7 or ‘UK variant’) and the efficacy of the vaccination programmes on transmission of the virus and wider health outcomes. On 16 March, the First Minister announced the next milestones of our exit from lockdown. This includes an indicative timetable for the easing of measures, and from the 26 April will include a national move to Level 3 measures. However, we will continue to monitor case numbers and we are ready to adjust these plans should any evidence of a rise in cases occur. When we move down from Level 4 we want to try to do that as one country, because that will allow us to lift travel restrictions. However, we will consider the data and take final decisions nearer the time.

The Scottish Government recognises that graduation is an important moment in a student’s life, offering students a chance to celebrate their hard work and achievements. The hosting of graduation ceremonies is an operational matter for individual institutions to determine, and any ceremonies this year will of course have to be planned in line with public health measures. Many colleges and universities have adopted innovative approaches to hosting graduation ceremonies virtually to ensure that the hard work of students is rightly recognised.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with colleges, universities, NUS Scotland, and trade unions to ensure that guidance is in place to support the safe return of students, with decisions informed by the data on virus prevalence and in line with our updated Strategic Framework. To ensure the continued safety of staff and students, we have published sectoral guidance for colleges and universities, which also signposts to other relevant sectoral guidance for the range of activities institutions may be engaged in.