Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not plan to reimburse the travel costs of people who are unable to access public transport to attend their COVID-19 vaccination appointment. We are working with the voluntary and third sector to set up a centralised volunteer coordination hub to make good use of the locally offered support, and in particular for deployment at mass vaccination clinics and to help people who need assistance to access local clinics.

The focus of the national booking system is to ensure that all patients are able to attend an appointment as quickly as possible. Every effort has been made to minimise travel time where possible, but this may be impacted by individual circumstance such as the availability of transport.

Some vaccinations do need to be in larger centres to make use of the Pfizer vaccine which comes in bigger batches than AstraZeneca. The national booking line is in place for rescheduling appointments if the one offered is inappropriate or the patient is unable to attend. Booking line details are provided on every patient appointment letter.

The Scottish Government has emphasised to all Health Board Chief Executives, highlighting the importance of resourcing the Covid-19 vaccination service, including ensuring individuals contacting them for an appointment are offered alternative options for those who are clinically vulnerable and house bound.

I have made it clear in her recent correspondence to all the Health Boards and professionals that individuals who are unable to leave their own homes will receive their vaccination at home.

All Health Boards have included their housebound patients within their delivery models for each priority group, for example we have had confirmation that those aged 80 and over living in the community who are housebound have received their vaccination, with only small gaps for reasons such as illness or non-consent.

Staff at symptomatic test sites are now included as part of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) criteria cohort 2 and this is being communicated via a letter from the Chief Medical Officer which will be issued shortly.

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 JCVI.

The Scottish Government published an update to the strategic framework on 23 February 2021. The updated framework sets out our plans and conditions for easing restrictions within level 4 before returning to different protection levels in different parts of the country from the end of April.

The First Minister said in Parliament that she hoped weddings would be able to take place with greater numbers of people in the period after the end of April, but that the numbers will likely still be restricted.

We will set out more detail in mid-March on the indicators that will guide our decisions on protection levels, as well as on any revision to the content of each level.

The latest evidence and public health advice, including evidence of the impact on transmission from the initial phase of school return and vaccination, as well as progress on vaccinating more of the priority groups, will inform our next steps.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of marriage and civil partnership to couples and to society more widely, and we appreciate the difficulties caused by the restrictions in place. We will continue to keep the restrictions under close review and are committed to not keeping the restrictions in place any longer than is absolutely necessary.

The Scottish Government is working with a wide range of stakeholders, including organisations supporting and representing autistic people and people with learning disabilities, to ensure that a wide range of resources are available to help support autistic people and people with other additional support needs when attending for their vaccine.

The Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer wrote to Chief Executives, NHS Boards Chief Officers, Health And Social Care Partnerships on 25 February offering expertise of local learning disability nurses in providing reasonable adjustments for the COVID-19 Immunisation programme.

The Strategic Framework Update set out a plan for easing of restrictions based on data rather than dates. The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 require that driving lessons (unless all occupants are members of the same household) cease in an area under protection level 4 area (with the exception of lessons carried out by bodies with delegated authority from the DVSA). Driving lessons can resume when an area moves out of protection level 4.

The Strategic Framework Update set out a plan for easing of restrictions based on data rather than dates. The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 require that driving lessons (unless all occupants are members of the same household) and driving tests cease in an area under protection level 4 area (with the exception of tests carried out by bodies with delegated authority from the DVSA). Tests can resume when an area moves out of protection level 4. The detail of the reopening of test centres is be a matter for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

At this stage it is not possible to give a definitive date for all cases. The decision to offer support services in-person or remotely will be made on clinical grounds, based on assessed need alongside Covid-19 infection control considerations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35218 on‎ 1 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

We recognise the financial pressures that COVID-19 is placing on the English language tuition industry. Limits on the amount of funding made available to the Scottish Government to provide financial support to businesses means that we are simply unable to establish funds for every sector impacted. We have, however, allocated £120 million in discretionary business support funding to Local Authorities enabling them to direct funding towards those businesses unable to access other sources of financial support. I would encourage English language schools and tutors to seek support through this route.

A recent cross-sectional snapshot of the residential rehabilitation national landscape in Scotland identified 418 beds available for the treatment of both drug and alcohol addiction, across 20 providers including NHS, private and third sector. At the time of the survey a number of the rehabilitation providers reported running at a reduced total capacity as a result of the pandemic. A combined total of 268 beds were occupied. This indicates around 64% of their total maximum capacity pre COVID-19.

The full survey is published at Residential rehabilitation: status report on current levels of capacity - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)