Chamber and committees

The guidance to support the provision of the £400 one-off payment to teachers is available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-employers-on-one-off-gbp400-payment-for-teachers/

This exceptional payment is being made in recognition of the additional workload for teachers who have supported the delivery of the Alternative Certification Model (ACM) in the unique circumstances brought about by Covid-19 in 2020/21.

This will be paid through a grant arrangement to education authorities and directly from the Scottish Government through a grant to independent and grant-aided schools, further to claims being received.

Amending Regulations were made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 today.

These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.

These Regulations remove the travel restrictions which are currently in place in relation to travel between Scotland and Manchester, Bolton and Salford. These restrictions are being removed due to changes in the epidemiological position for those areas. These changes will take effect on 30 June 2021.

The Regulations have been published at www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ssi/2021/255 .

The information requested can be found here: Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Please note the figures provided for each local authority area do not differentiate between the different types of empty property.

We remain on track to deliver the disability benefits to the timetable announced in November last year, starting with Child Disability Payment which will be piloted in summer this year and rolled out fully from the autumn.

Adult Disability Payment, our replacement for the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payment, will begin with a pilot for new applications in spring 2022 ahead of national launch by summer 2022.

This is of course subject to the continuing impact of the pandemic on our partners in delivery including in health and social care, local authorities, and the UK Government. We continue to work closely with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions to re-plan delivery of the remaining devolved benefits with this in mind.

We will be removing the travel restrictions which are currently in place in relation to travel between Scotland and Manchester, Bolton and Salford. These restrictions are being removed due to changes in the epidemiological position for those areas. Regulations amending the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 will be made today and will take effect on 30 June 2021. Restrictions between Scotland and Blackburn with Darwen will remain in place.

Travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

Travellers arriving into England from green and amber list countries are allowed to book private sector tests.

To date, there are concerns with the flow of data from private sector providers into Public Health England/Public Health Scotland to help with contact tracing and to identify Variants of Concern (VoCs). The UK Government has recently introduced key performance indicators (KPIs) for private providers to meet and is increasing the requirements on such providers to try to address these problems in England.

There are risks associated with the use of private sector tests. In particular, there have been concerns with the data flow from private laboratories into relevant contact tracing systems on either side of the border. There have been examples of it taking 30 days for positive test results to be transferred, making it impossible for contact tracing to be undertaken to interrupt chains of transmission.

We are currently exploring options to allow the use of private sector tests, provided this can be done safely and we can be assured that there aren’t any issues with the flow of data from the testing provider to Public Health Scotland regarding test results, as well as the need for positive test results to be analysed for evidence of any variants of concern. No decision has been made yet on this, however this is under review.

Travellers returning to Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

NHS Scotland has no role in setting the price of the kits. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Scotland’s daily PCR test capacity is over 66,000 per day. This is made up of a combination of the aggregate capacity of all testing sites/facilities and distribution/collection services where individuals can get a test, and laboratory capacity to process the samples taken.

As set out in our updated Testing Strategy, published on 22 June, testing is key to quickly identifying and isolating positive cases to break chains of transmission within a community. The testing system is designed to be completely flexible so neither sampling nor laboratory capacity is allocated to a specific local authority area. We work with Public Health Scotland to provide local decision makers with insights and data to target tests where they are most needed. We are also helping to maximise existing testing interventions at the request of local incident management teams (IMT). Local authorities’ testing response will vary as their approaches will be targeted to meet the needs of their communities.

Details of the daily number of tests carried out and number of positive cases in the Glasgow area are available from the Public Health Scotland dashboard.

If an individual has specific concerns arising from the results of a test they have taken, including related to their immunological response following vaccination, they should consult their primary clinician, who can determine whether further investigation is necessary.

The results of serology (antibody) tests, while indicative, may not be definitive. The value of antibody tests is currently limited to answering the question of whether someone has had COVID-19 before and providing data and a greater understanding on the spread of the virus. An antibody test cannot tell you if you’re immune to COVID-19 or whether you can or cannot spread the virus to other people.

Some individuals may not develop a serologically detectable antibody response to vaccination. Additionally, vaccination does not have an immediate protective effect, but takes up to 3 weeks to produce an antibody response. This is particularly true for elderly, immunocompromised, or infirm people.

In addition to the individual level of protection against severe disease or hospitalisation afforded by vaccination, an additional benefit of the vaccination programme is to assist in developing widespread community immunity and thereby reduce the force of transmission and viral reproduction rate, controlling the prevalence of COVID-19. The inoculation of a large proportion of the population will help to provide a degree of passive protection in the community for those who may develop a weaker immune response, although further research into the impact on transmission is underway. The majority of those inoculated with two doses of vaccine develop a high level of protection.

Further research is being conducted on the effect of the vaccination programme on transmission both in relation to current and new variants of concern. Until we know more, it is essential that everyone continues to follow public health guidance and the COVID-19 protection level rules which apply in their Local Authority area.

The Scottish Government has remained engaged with the aviation sector throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so, including on testing of international travellers.

Travellers returning from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries due to concerns about the speed and reliability of the flow of data from private companies. We are having on-going discussion with the UK government on any issues with using private test providers and any risks attached to this. We are keen to understand fully the key performance indicators (KPIs) that have been recently set for these companies and the process should these not be met.