Chamber and committees

The Covid-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues discussed the issue of face coverings in secondary schools at its meeting on 1 June. While vaccination is being rolled out, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as face coverings are the main public health tool against COVID-19. There is a wealth of evidence supporting the efficacy of face coverings, and their use is supported by the WHO in its checklist to support school re-opening . Given the current uncertainty around the transmissibility and impact of the new variant of concern (B.1.617.2) the sub-group felt it was best to take a precautionary approach and has advised, therefore, that the current guidance on face coverings in school settings should remain in place. The sub-group will continue to keep the issue under review. You will find all the minutes of sub-group meetings, as well as the sub-group's advice and associated evidence at Coronavirus (COVID 19): Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Advice from clinicians is to continue to use PCR testing for international travellers coming to Scotland, which is more accurate than other forms of testing. We will consider lateral flow testing further as technology improves and more data is available. Regardless of any testing regime, individuals should be following strict protocols set out to minimise transmission.

For outbound travel, each country has its own requirements for entry and lateral flow test kits may not meet the required standard of test for certain countries. It is the responsibility of the individual to determine what is needed before travelling to another country and we would encourage people to carefully check those requirements before travelling. NHS test kits cannot be used for people travelling to another country to ensure that all testing capacity is used for the benefit of Scotland’s communities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on‎ 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It would be a matter for individual GP practices in England to decide whether or not to register patients outside their practice areas.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing all of the recommendations of Baroness Cumberlege’s Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, entitled First Do No Harm, where they relate to the responsibilities of the Scottish Government. The steps being taken to achieve this are set out in the Scottish Government’s Delivery Plan - published on 24 March..

The Delivery Plan describes a programme of work based on a multi-layered approach to rapidly reduce, and eventually eradicate, harm associated with mesh, sodium valproate and Primidos applicable and relevant to the Scottish context. To do this, the Scottish Government will work collaboratively with colleagues across the NHS and representative groups to agree and implement this work programme across Scotland.

In relation to sodium valproate specifically, through implementation of the Neurological Care and Support Framework , the Scottish Government is funding the development of an epilepsy register in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Tayside and NHS Lanarkshire, with a view to roll out across all NHS Boards in Scotland. Initial discussions have been held regarding the potential to link with UK-wide data sets facilitated by MHRA, in order to ensure alignment with a UK-wide valproate registry.

Our commitment to tackling the climate emergency and transitioning to a net-zero society by 2045 is unwavering. In 2019, the whole-life carbon impact of Scotland’s household waste reached its lowest level since official recording began.

To help achieve this, building Scotland’s circular economy and reducing, recycling and reusing resources is vital. With this and our world leading climate change targets in mind, the Scottish Government have committed to review the role that incineration plays in Scotland’s waste hierarchy and will update Parliament on plans for this in due course.

To further accelerate progress, Scottish Ministers are fully committed to ending the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill by 2025. This is in line with recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change.

We still need capacity to dispose of residual waste, which cannot be reused or recycled, while we make the transition to a circular economy in Scotland.

It is worth nothing, responsibility for dealing with any planning applications rests, in the first instance, with the local council as planning authority.

There is no externally assessed and marked examination diet this year. However, it is necessary for learners to be assessed to provide evidence to demonstrate their level of attainment and to allow teachers and lecturers to use their professional judgement to determine each learner’s provisional results.

The timing and nature of the assessments has been decided by local authorities, individual schools and colleges, providing flexibility to assess individual learners at different times and in different ways. This allows teachers and lecturers to take account of the variable disruption to learning that their pupils have experienced as a result of the pandemic.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group was established in October 2020 with members from across the education system. The group is comprised of representatives of teachers, lecturers, learners and parents, working alongside Local Authorities, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Scottish Government. The organisations on the National Qualifications Group agreed the model for this year, which has been co-produced by them, and is the fairest possible approach for our young people in the challenging circumstances resulting from the pandemic.

SQA carried out a public consultation on proposed modification to the assessment of National Courses. They received over 20,000 responses and as a result introduced reductions to the assessment of all National Courses to take account of learning disruption, whilst still maintaining the credibility of the qualifications for learners and end users. Within that context, SQA has provided subject-specific guidance documents for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses. These documents support teachers and lecturers in gathering key assessment evidence as the basis for provisional results. The documents also give guidance on the modifications that were made to courses, after public consultation, to streamline requirements to support teachers and learners and mitigate the impact of disruption.

The unavoidable second period of remote learning due to the pandemic has unfortunately meant that assessments are taking place over a shorter period than was first anticipated.

To help address this, the framework allows for a significant degree of local flexibility in which assessment tools are used in ways and at times which suit local circumstances and the specific needs of learners.

The deadline for submission of provisional grades has been extended to 25 June 2021 to allow for teaching and learning to be completed and to provide a longer opportunity for the gathering of assessment evidence.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group has been very clear that certification must be based on demonstrated attainment.

We intend to carry out the Gateway Review into the go-live date for DRS by the end of the summer and provide an update to Parliament following summer recess.

While industry has made good progress towards implementing DRS, we recognise the unique and significant pressures that COVID-19 has placed on relevant sectors over the past year. The Gateway Review will assess the impact of the pandemic on the go-live date for the scheme.

Plans on the assessment approach for National courses in 2021-2022 are being considered by the National Qualifications 2021 Group based on the latest public health advice. SQA has also been engaging on assessment modifications for next year with teachers through its National Qualifications Support Teams for each subject. Contingency arrangements will be considered to allow for any further disruption to learning that may occur.

A decision will be made in time to allow schools and colleges to plan for delivery from the start of the 2021-2022 academic session.