GMB welcomes announcement to bring forward home care testing roll-out – but warns any failure will be met with action
GMB has warned the Scottish Government and local authority health and social care partnership (HSCPs) that any failures in the roll-out of COVID-19 workplace testing for home care workers “will be met with collective action”.
Following the threat of a full industrial action ballot by GMB members in Glasgow HSCP, Scotland’s biggest home care service, Cabinet Secretary Jeane Freeman confirmed at Friday’s press briefing that testing for all home care workers will be brought forward from March to Monday 18 January.
And after meetings between GMB, Scottish Government and COSLA representatives this morning, where assurances were given on the delivery of testing kits and support measures, the union has agreed to suspend next week’s scheduled industrial action ballot in Glasgow HSCP.
Rhea Wolfson of GMB Scotland Women’s Campaigns Unit said: “It’s a significant step forward for the safety of home care workers across Scotland in the fight against COVID-19 – our members have fought hard for this.
“But the Scottish Government and local authority employers have done more in a week than they have for ten months on testing for home carers, and neither should be congratulating themselves here.
“People should be asking why it’s taken nearly a year of struggle, and in the case of Glasgow HSCP to the brink of a strike ballot, for a workforce of predominantly low-paid women to get COVID-19 testing at work?
“GMB called for a national plan for social care last March, we called for testing, but the First Minister told us that Scotland was prepared for COVID-19. We know now the country wasn’t prepared and what we got was negligence while home carers struggled with only PPE for safety.
“The Scottish Government and HSCPs across Scotland should be well-aware that we will be carefully monitoring the roll-out of testing for our members and any failure to protect their safety and rights will be met with collective action.”
People living in Lothian are being urged to seek the right medical help and to only go to A&E if it is a life threatening emergency. The call comes as hospitals are under increasing winter pressure and people are continuing to attend A&E and minor injury units with conditions that could be treated more quickly or closer to home by other health services.
Winter is always a busy period for the NHS, as last year demonstrated with more than 57,000 people attending A&E across the Lothians. This winter is no different despite Coronavirus.
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director of NHS Lothian explains: “Now more than ever it’s vital people access the right care in the right place.
“As the global pandemic continues, we need to avoid overcrowding in our hospitals which are extremely busy. People can get help more swiftly and safely from other health services.”
NHS Lothian is signposting people to the range of services on offer and how to access urgent care. If people think they need A&E but it is not life threatening they should now call NHS 24 on 111, day or night, to be directed to the right service or given an appointment to attend hospital if needed.
People can also call 111 if they have a minor injury, such as a sprain, strain or for a suspected broken arm or leg. If suitable they will arrange an appointment with Call MIA – NHS Lothian’s video consultation service – which facilities an online assessment with a qualified nurse practitioner who can recommend treatment.
For online guidance on minor conditions and a directory of local health services visit NHS Inform. Or for advice about minor illnesses, such as sore throats, headaches or stomach upsets, contact a local community pharmacy first who can also recommend medicine if they think it is needed.
GP practices should continue to be contacted during normal opening hours for an appointment or over the phone advice on routine or urgent care.
If people have COVID-19 symptoms of either a new continuous cough, fever or change to sense of taste or smell, they should self-isolate immediately and order a test on the NHS inform website www.nhsinform.scot. It is essential people continue to self-isolate if they receive a positive test result and do not attend A&E or visit any health service unless directed.
Dr Tracey Gillies added: “We want to thank the public for continuing to follow guidance to help stop the spread of Coronavirus. It really does make a difference. But we do, nevertheless, still have a lot of patients in our hospitals with Covid and this adds to the winter pressures we are experiencing.”
“We want everyone to stay safe and well this winter, so we’re asking people to make sure they know where to turn for help. There’s lots of help available for both physical and mental illnesses and by using it you can help yourself and protect our NHS.”
Anyone needing emotional or mental health support can call 111 and select the Mental Health Hub for advice and guidance. Or call the Breathing Space telephone helpline on 0800 83 85 87.
Concerns over new variant of coronavirus in Brazil
Following identification of a new variant of coronavirus in Brazil, the Scottish Government has imposed additional restrictions on all arrivals from South America, as well as several countries with strong travel links to affected countries.
In addition to the South American nations of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela, this will also apply to Portugal, including Azores and Madeira, Panama and Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) and British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.
These travel restrictions will replicate the measures that were put in place for Denmark and South Africa and came into force at 04:00am this morning (Friday 15 January).
Travellers who have been in any of these countries or territories in the 10 days prior to their arrival in Scotland must isolate, along with all members of their household. No exemptions from isolation will apply.
Qatar and the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are also removed from the country exemption list at the same time.
The UK Government has confirmed that implementation of pre-departure testing for arrivals into England is delayed until Monday morning, to allow carriers and passengers additional time to prepare.
The Scottish Government intended to introduce this additional measure on Friday 15 January, but it is necessary to also delay implementation to allow for coordination between the UK Government’s regulations and the relevant Scottish regulations.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “It is important that everyone follows the regulations that mean any travel must be for an essential purpose. Very few people should be travelling internationally, and then only for a genuinely essential reason.
“The emergence of concerning variants identified in Brazil, as well as South Africa and Denmark in recent months, means we must think carefully about restrictions on international travel.
“At this early stage of vaccine rollout, and with case rates at high levels across the UK, it is important we take the right steps to prevent importing new strains that can increase transmission or undermine the vaccine in Scotland.
“We are in close discussion with other administrations about additional measures we can put in place, including the timing of the introduction of pre-departure testing.”
As the country remains in lockdown with millions of parents, carers and students facing weeks of remote learning, Amazon is offering free and inspirational learning essentials to help while schools are closed.
Below we have listed a range of educational resources freely available from today across Science, Mathematics, English and Physical Education.
· Amazon Maths4All now offers hundreds of free maths games, apps and challenges on Alexa, worksheets for Kindle and Fire Tablets, and caters for a range of ages across primary and secondary school, learning styles and abilities.
· Students can tune into a maths lesson from Rachel Riley, Countdown presenter and the nation’s favourite mathematician, who joined our Very Important Breakfast Clubs to play the numbers game and show that maths is ‘easy as Pi’.
· You can even involve Alexa in learning from home. Get started by saying, “Alexa, ask the Maths Coach to start a test”, or “Alexa, ask the Maths Coach for a hard addition test”.
The Hour of Code Dance Party is the perfect feel-good Friday finish after a long week of remote learning. This interactive dance-themed online coding tutorial gives students the opportunity to build their computer science skills while have some fun coding characters to dance to songs from leading artists.
Dr Ranj Singh, the NHS doctor and BAFTA award-winning TV presenter, is providing a short brain-busting lesson in biology. Children in years 1 -7 can learn about the growing brain and how to keep your brain healthy.
Amazon Future Engineer is our comprehensive childhood-to-career programme designed to inspire, educate and enable children and young adults from lower-income backgrounds to try computer science. Earlier this year, Amazon Future Engineer launched free virtual coding programmes to help young people build computer science skills while learning at home.
Those aged 11-16 can enter the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize, which challenges students to develop technological innovations to help solve some of the world’s biggest issues (entries close 12th February 2021)
English
· Young people and parents can listen to stories at Stories.Audible.com, with specially curated categories such as ‘Littlest Listeners’ and ‘Elementary’ offering free audio books. Get whisked away to Alice In Wonderland (read by Scarlett Johansson), Jane Eyre (read by Thandie Newton), Anne of Green Gables (Read by Rachel McAdams) and Frankenstein (read by Dan Stevens).
Physical Education
· As breaktime moves from the playground to indoors, students can practise their football freestyle flair with Lia Lewis, British freestyle footballer and TikTok superstar, who will teach neck stalls, knee blocks and how to do a cross catch in her lesson.
Last weekend saw an increase in people gathering at parks and open spaces in the city, particularly at Portobello Beach and the Meadows.
We fully recognise the impact the restrictions are having on people’s lives, but it is clear that significant sacrifices are vital to help suppress the spread of coronavirus.
The Chief Constable has made it clear that our approach throughout the pandemic has not changed and officers will continue to support people to follow the regulations and encourage them to take personal responsibility.
We will have increased patrols in our communities to explain the regulations and to encourage people to do the right thing.
Where officers encounter wilful breaches they will act decisively to enforce the law.
For the latest guidelines from the Scottish Government, visit its website here: http://ow.ly/VCDa50D8jZb
Home carers in Glasgow City Council’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) will launch a ballot for industrial action next week, warning they have “no confidence” over plans for workplace testing of COVID-19 and amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the vaccination programme.
Over 1,700 GMB Scotland members will take part in a three-week ballot, running from Tuesday 19 January to Monday 8 February, meaning service delivery in the HSCP could be affected by action as early as the week beginning Monday 22 February.
It follows a massive 93 per cent support for action among GMB members in a consultative ballot last month, a direct response to the Scottish Government’s Winter Preparedness Plan which put home carers to the back of the queue in the roll-out of workplace testing delivery.
GMB Scotland Organiser David Hume said:“There is no confidence whatsoever among our members in their employer or the government to sufficiently protect their health and safety at work. And why should there be?
“They were failed on PPE at the outset of this pandemic, they have been left waiting ten months for workplace testing, and some are already encountering problems getting their first vaccine.
“The HSCP should have been fighting tooth and nail for every resource to protect the safety of their employees and their service users. Instead they have been sitting on zoom calls for nearly a year waiting on guidance from the Scottish Government, only for Ministers to leave councils carrying the can for testing delivery.
“The interests of these key workers have been consistently forgotten and they are being treated negligently by their employer, and this government.”
A new package of £45 million will help local authorities to provide support to schools and families as they deal with the challenges of remote learning during lockdown, Education Secretary John Swinney confirmed yesterday.
Councils may use the funding – sufficient to fund 2,000 additional teachers – for purposes including recruitment of additional staff, additional digital devices or to provide additional family support.
This is on top of £160 million already committed for education recovery since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total additional support provided to more than £200 million since the start of the pandemic. Private and third sector day care of children settings will also receive almost £4 million in temporary financial support.
Mr Swinney has also asked HM Inspectors of Education to commence with a national review of the quality and effectiveness of remote learning across the country with the first report published next Friday, 22 January.
The Scottish Government will ensure all appropriate mitigations are in place to support a safe return including enhancing our testing programme in schools. We expect that pilots of two different testing models – one using in-school testing with Lateral Flow Devices (LFD), and another involving at-home testing using PCR tests – will begin in a small number of schools from next week.
Mr Swinney said: “I appreciate only too well the additional burden home learning is placing on many of our children and their families. After the last period of school building closures we commissioned an Equity Audit, published today, to better understand the impact on children’s learning and health and wellbeing, particularly disadvantaged pupils.
“Since the start of the pandemic our funding has led to an additional 1,400 teachers and over 200 support staff being appointed. The new funding can be used to recruit further staff – which might include teachers, classroom assistants, administrative staff, home/school link workers or other support workers – as well as the resources that families and schools need to support home learning, including additional digital devices where there is any remaining unmet need, and other home learning resources.
“The quality and effectiveness of remote learning across the country will be reviewed by HM Inspectors of Education. A programme of ‘national overviews’, will commence immediately and last for the duration of remote learning. These will seek to identify what is working well and where further improvement is required. These overviews will be published weekly to ensure they are available for everyone to learn and build from, starting week ending 22 January.
“I am aware that remaining open for very small numbers of children creates pressure for some childcare providers, and I can therefore confirm we will make temporary financial support of up to £3.8 million available for each four week period of restrictions to day care of children providers and childminding settings caring for 12 or more children who remain open for vulnerable and keyworker children during these restrictions. We will confirm details as soon as possible.
“If the evidence tells us we can get some pupils back safely, we will do that, and we will ensure the package of mitigations in schools remains robust and tailored to the circumstances we face. As part of that work, we expect that pilots of two different testing models – one using in-school testing with Lateral Flow Devices, and another involving at-home testing using PCR tests – will begin in a small number of schools from next week, helping to inform options for wider rollout.
“I am grateful to our hardworking, dedicated teaching professionals for their intense work to plan, organise and deliver learning. The virus will be beaten, and schools will return fully to intensify our efforts to achieve excellence and equity for all of Scotland’s children.”
Advice and support for parents and carers is available at the Parent Club.
Over two thirds of student renters (69 per cent) are concerned about their ability to pay their rent
A third of students believe that they would not be allowed to leave their tenancy agreement early due to the pandemic
57 per cent of those who have been self-isolating have not received any support from their accommodation provider
22 per cent of students have been unable to pay their rent in full over the past 4 month
Over two thirds of student renters (69 per cent) are worried about their ability to pay rent with around a quarter having been unable to pay rent (22 per cent) or bills (27 per cent) during the pandemic, a new survey from NUS (National Union of Students) has found. International students and students of colour are most likely to be extremely concerned.
Almost half of students live in rented accommodation of some sort, with around a third believing they would not be allowed to leave their tenancy agreement early due to the pandemic.
These problems are likely to be exacerbated with the most recent lockdown announcement that has left the majority of student renters still liable to pay for accommodation that they are not allowed to access.
The Coronavirus and Students Survey phase III took place in November and involved over 4,000 students, building upon the previous research issued by NUS in April and September 2020. A quarter of students have had to self-isolate during last (Autumn) term, or are currently self-isolating, while a small proportion have had to lockdown.
57 per cent of those who have been self-isolating have not received any support from their accommodation provider. Students have called for more regular check-ins, financial support and food deliveries to support them.
The proportion of students living with parents/guardians has gone up since September, now representing 30 per cent of students compared to 21 per cent. Prior to the pandemic a quarter of students were living with parents indicating some students have had to reconsider their living arrangements as a result of the pandemic.
Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, NUS Vice-President for Higher Education, said: “It is astonishing that the UK government has placed students under lockdown yet are still requiring them to pay rent for accommodation that they cannot legally access. It goes to show the level of disregard that this government has for students.
“We need rent rebates immediately to ensure that students are not out of pocket for rental payments of properties they are not living in. Over two-thirds of students are already concerned about their ability to make rental payments, and this will have only increased with the most recent lockdown announcement.
“Students deserve better than to be financially punished for following public health guidance.”
Ellen Fearon, NUS-USI President, said: “Governments have been dodging the problems facing student renters throughout the whole of this pandemic. We have consistently raised the fact that students are in a unique situation, being unable to claim Universal Credit and therefore unable to access housing support if they lose their income, but these calls have fallen on deaf ears.
“In September students were brought back onto campuses only for many classes to be moved online in a matter of weeks and for some students to find themselves effectively locked in their halls. It’s not surprising that so many students feel they have been exploited for profit. Students deserve better than to be used to prop up a failing business model.”
Over 50,000 working mums respond to new TUC survey on challenges of managing work and childcare during lockdown
Working mums report huge levels of anxiety and stress following school closures
TUC calls for an emergency temporary right to furlough for working parents – and for government to promote this new right to mums and dads
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of working mums who have applied for furlough following the latest school closures have had their requests turned down, according to a new TUC survey carried out in the past week and published today (Thursday).
The job retention scheme currently allows bosses to furlough parents who can’t work due to a lack of childcare.
But the TUC says many mums are missing out on this financial lifeline as the scheme is not promoted to parents.
The union body is also concerned some employers are refusing to furlough those who request it, leaving mums in an impossible situation where they are forced to reduce their hours at work, take unpaid leave and annual leave to cope, or leave their job altogether.
TUC survey
Last week, the TUC and campaigner Mother Pukka launched a call for evidence for working mums to share their experiences of how they are managing their work and childcare commitments during lockdown.
More than 50,000 mums got in touch – an unprecedented response to a survey of this kind.
Of those working mums who contacted the TUC:
Nearly three-quarters (71%) who asked for furlough had their requests refused.
Most (78%) hadn’t been offered furlough by their employers.
And 2 in 5 (40%) of all mums who replied were unaware that the furlough scheme was available to parents affected by school or nursery closures.
Impact on working mums
Working mums told the TUC they were struggling with the strain of being expected to carry out their jobs as normal, while balancing childcare and home-schooling. They were also concerned about being treated badly by their employers as a result:
Nearly all (90%) of those who replied said that their anxiety and stress levels had increased during this latest lockdown.
And almost half (48%) were worried about being treated negatively by their employers because of their childcare responsibilities.
Financial strain
Around half (44%) of mums told the TUC they were worried about the impact having to take time off work would have on their household finances.
A quarter (25%) of mums were using annual leave to manage their childcare – but nearly 1 in 5 (18%) had been forced to reduce their working hours and around 1 in 14 (7%) were taking unpaid leave from work and receiving no income.
An emergency right to furlough
The TUC says that the UK’s inadequate system of parental leave and woefully low level of sick pay is leaving parents in impossible situations, where they risk losing their job or facing a catastrophic loss of income.
To support these workers, the TUC is calling on ministers to introduce a temporary right to furlough for groups who cannot work because of coronavirus restrictions – both parents and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and required to shield. And ministers should clarify that furlough can be used by both private and public sector employers for these purposes.
The union body says employers should first explore with parents and those shielding whether other measures – such as offering additional paid leave, changes to working hours or other flexibilities like working from home, and offering alternative work – could help the worker balance their responsibilities, but that as a last resort, workers should have the right to be furloughed.
Ministers should encourage employers to use the furlough scheme for parents and those shielding where other arrangements cannot be made, and run a major advertising campaign so that parents and shielders understand that they can use furlough.
The TUC says this situation results from the UK’s failure to help families balance paid work and childcare. Alongside a temporary right to furlough, it is calling on the government to introduce:
Ten days’ paid carers leave, from day one in a job, for all parents. Currently parents have no statutory right to paid leave to look after their children.
A right to flexible work for all parents. Flexible working can take lots of different forms, including having predictable or set hours, working from home, job-sharing, compressed hours and term-time working.
An increase in sick pay to at least the level of the real Living Wage, for everyone in work, to ensure workers can afford to self-isolate if they need to.
Newly self-employed parents to have access the self-employment income support scheme (SEISS).
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:“The safety of school staff and children must always come first. But the government’s lack of support for working parents is causing huge financial hardship and stress – and hitting low-paid mums and single parents hardest.
“Just like in the first lockdown, mums are shouldering the majority of childcare. Tens of thousands of mums have told us they are despairing. It’s neither possible nor sustainable for them to work as normal, while looking after their children and supervising schoolwork.
“Making staff take weeks of unpaid leave isn’t the answer. Bosses must do the right thing and offer maximum flexibility to mums and dads who can’t work because of childcare. And as a last resort, parents must have a temporary right to be furloughed where their boss will not agree.
“The UK’s parental leave system is one of the worst in Europe. It’s time for the government to give all parents the right to work flexibly, plus at least ten days’ paid carers leave each year.”
Founder of Mother Pukka Anna Whitehouse said: “What working parents have been tasked with in lockdown is not humanly possible. You’re looking at an average eight hour working day, six hour school day, 12 hours of parenting wrapped around that – that’s 26 hours in a 24 hour day. And I’m hearing daily from women who are stepping back, standing down and logging off because they’re burning out.
“Some are quitting out of choice, many not. Because who looks after kids home-schooling? Who looks after pandemic patients when out of hospital? Who takes a Tesco shop to elderly neighbours? Who runs community What’s App groups making sure everyone has everything they need?
“This unpaid labour is mainly strapped to female shoulders because – for all the International Women’s Days Sellotaped together – that’s the current working world we live in.
“One thing that can change right now is seeing the Government supporting all businesses to enable them to offer a much more flexible solution and furlough. The system needs to step up for parents before we step back to the 1950s.”
Founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed Joeli Brearley said: “The parents of young children are currently being asked to either sacrifice their income or their child’s education and care; placing them in an impossible situation.
“We know that this burden is predominantly falling to mothers, and the consequences for maternal employment will be disastrous.
“What we are seeing here is a cry for help on a massive scale. Our advice lines are awash with mothers who have no idea how to care for their children and maintain their paid employment when their employer is refusing to furlough them.
“This is an emergency and if the government doesn’t step in soon there will be a generational roll back in maternal employment that will take us decades to repair.”
Further measures to help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and limit non-essential contact will be introduced this weekend.
Nobody who lives in a Level 4 area should leave or remain outside their home except for essential purposes.
Working from home arrangements will be strengthened through updated statutory guidance. Working from home should now be the default position for all businesses and services, and only those who cannot do their job from home should be asked to go to the workplace.
From Saturday non-essential click and collect retail services will be prohibited in Level 4 areas and further changes will be put in place to how services open for essential purposes operate.
Timeslots will be required for collection and people should not enter a store to collect an item.
Businesses providing takeaway food will also operate on a ‘non-entry’ basis only, meaning customers cannot enter the premises when placing or collecting orders.
Restrictions banning the consumption of alcohol in public places will also be introduced.
In a statement to Parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The situation we face in relation to the virus remains extremely serious.
“We must continue to do everything possible to reduce case numbers – this is essential to relieve the pressure on our NHS and to save lives.
“Both individually and collectively, these additional measures – in further reducing the interactions that allow the virus to spread – will help our essential efforts to suppress it.
“At this critical and dangerous moment, please: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.”
The new regulations apply to all parts of Scotland currently in lockdown and will come into effect at 00.01 on Saturday
Responding to the latest announcements, David Lonsdale, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “The situation with the pandemic is fast moving and we fully recognise government wants people to stay home. However these further revenue-crushing restrictions and the fresh complexity they bring, together with constant chopping and changing to the Covid Strategic Framework, are disconcerting and come at an incredibly difficult time for retail.
“Firms operating click and collect or food-to-go takeaway have taken every reasonable step to make their operations as safe as possible, complying with every twist and turn to government guidance and often at pitifully short notice. They have demonstrated they can operate safely and have invested significantly to make their premises Covid-secure, and it appears no evidence to the contrary has accompanied this announcement.
“The businesses affected – who have already lost much of their income during the crisis – are trying to make the best fist possible of the current severely curtailed trading conditions, and that just got even harder as a result of this decision which will add to their cash flow woes.
“The blunt reality is that the taxpayer-funded grant support on offer won’t make up for lost sales and firms’ mounting bills and debt during this pandemic. Even when we eventually emerge from lockdown shops will be unable to trade at capacity due to physical distancing and caps on numbers in stores, while the threat of a return to full business rates liability in April still looms. Decisive action is urgently required to extend rates relief into 2021-22 and avoid April’s reverse cliff edge which will see 100% reinstatement of business rates.”
“It’s vital shoppers continue to play their part, by shopping considerately, where possible alone, wearing face coverings, and following in-store signage. These are incredibly difficult times and it’s up to everyone to follow the rules to keep us safe and the virus at bay.”
Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:“Today’s announcement will be very disappointing to those who have carefully adapted their businesses to be COVID safe and continue the trading that has kept them afloat up to this point.
“The lack of any certainty over when currently closed shops would be allowed to re-open added to the importance of Click and Collect services propping up many small and independent retailers.
“The Scottish Government must provide detailed evidence on how these new measures will support public health restrictions and urgently provide sufficient finance to support Scottish businesses if they are to get through yet more rules suddenly imposed upon them without prior consultation.
“Otherwise, it will only add to the growing desperation of businesses who have put finance and time aside to make their business COVID compliant, only to have to close anyway, with no clear route back to reopening.’’
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer has voiced union frustration at the absence of definitive new restrictions to meet the upsurge in infection risk and new virus strain.
She condemned the refusal to require closure of non-essential manufacturing and construction. The STUC welcomed the pledge to strengthen the obligation on employers to allow their staff to work from home whenever possible but said it would seek urgent engagement on how this will be implemented.
Roz Foyer said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that the Government has a blind-spot in some sectors when it comes to introducing similar safeguards to last year’s first lockdown. This is causing confusion for workers and, in too many cases, allowing employers to play fast and loose with government advice.
“We have been contacted with a wide range of worker concerns about employers who are choosing to interpret the government’s position to allow them to stay open and/or require staff to attend work rather than operate from home.
“We will be urgently seeking details on how the Government intends to legislate for employers to default to home working.”
CAMRA’s Scotland Director Joe Crawford said: “Pubs are a force for good in our communities and they deserve to be supported through these latest restrictions, which have dealt another devastating blow to trade for hospitality businesses. When this nightmare is over, pubs and social clubs will be vital to the nation’s healing process – so long as they are still standing.
“Whilst no one wants to see irresponsible drinking in the streets during a lockdown, it is good that the Scottish Government is allowing pubs and breweries to continue selling alcohol in sealed containers for people to take home. This helps pubs, clubs and brewers to compete with the large supermarkets, and means that people can still get cask beer, which is under threat due to months of forced pub closures.
“I’d encourage everyone to safely and responsibly support their local breweries, clubs and pubs where they are still able to act as an off-licence and sell beer and cider to enjoy at home.”
Industry representatives wrote to the Scottish Government on Tuesday, insistingtakeaways should remain permitted. Some had feared the worst, so yesterday’s announcement offers at least some respite.
Ten representative organisations from across Scotland’s Food and Drink industry wrote a joint letter to the Scottish Government’s Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing MSP, to request that food and drink takeaway services be permitted to continue.
The letter stated:-
“Dear Mr Ewing,
Potential Restrictions on Food and Drink Takeaway
Last Thursday the First Minister stated she wanted takeaway businesses to switch to delivery where possible, and we understand from subsequent media reports Ministers are considering prohibiting food takeaway activity from taking place.
Food and drink, hospitality, and catering businesses are concerned at the move away from the transparency and certainty which the Government was able to provide in the final months of last year through the Strategic Framework.
It is worrying we appear to be returning to a less considered approach – one which doesn’t effectively engage affected businesses in advance – which is less likely to provide the benefits of consultation and rounded decision making provided by the earlier approach.
It goes without saying food and drink businesses are facing an incredibly difficult time. The desired outcome of the current restrictions, with people broadly staying at home, means footfall for businesses has collapsed.
The inability to offer sit-in facilities should hopefully help prevent the spread of Covid – but it comes at a very high economic price. In the context of a very uncertain economic outlook, these are very challenging trading conditions.
One of the few chinks of light in this dim outlook has been the ability for food and drink businesses to provide takeaway and click/telephone and collect services to customers. These services allow local businesses and suppliers to keep colleagues employed, provides a service to people – many of whom now are essential workers doing vital tasks – and of course are easy for smaller businesses to operate and establish. Limiting trade to home delivery only will force some businesses to close – and also ensure customers are more likely to purchase food and drink from grocers – ensuring more people are congregating in a smaller number of places.
Beyond this we are concerned at how any measures would be implemented into legislation. From our point of view how you would distinguish between a sandwich or sausage roll or hot or cold drink sold from a pub, bakery, café, restaurant, carry-out, newsagent, petrol station, or grocery store seems impossible to ascertain, but all are providing fundamentally the same service. The same applies across hundreds of product categories and thousands of businesses.
With these points in mind we remain very concerned at the suggestion this commercial activity could be suspended – especially as there is no indication when these businesses will be able to return to normal trading. Our members undertaking these services have complied with every change to government guidance and put in place many mitigation measures and invested significantly to keep shoppers and workers as safe as possible. They are providing an important service in difficult circumstances, helping to support key workers as well as the Scottish food and drink industry.
Of course, we all support every effort to tackle Covid. If there is clear and unequivocal evidence measures in this area will proportionately suppress the virus we would recognise that. However, we haven’t been sighted on any data or public health evidence as to why takeaway services are a risk. As such, forced closure seems somewhat arbitrary and marginal in terms of contributing to the suppression of the virus – not least as the new ‘stay at home’ order has just come into effect and is substantially reducing footfall.
Finally, it is only a week since the First Minister announced the new stay at home restrictions, which explicitly allowed takeaway businesses to trade. It’s very difficult for businesses to plan in any sense when government announcements emerge without warning, providing a metaphorical damoclean sword above any business trading right now.
These are very difficult circumstances for government. We want to work with you and your officials to continue to develop and deliver the proportionate measures which will suppress Covid and keep everyone safe. We hope you will look to engage constructively with us over the next few months.
Yours sincerely
Alasdair Smith, Chief Executive, Scottish Bakers
Colin Wilkinson, Managing Director; Scottish Licensed Trade Association
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Head of Policy; Scottish Retail Consortium Jim Winship, Director; The British Sandwich & Food to Go Association
Jim Winship, Director; The Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association
Marc Crothall, Chief Executive; Scottish Tourism Alliance
Paul Togneri, Senior Policy Manager; Scottish Beer & Pub Association
Dr Pete Cheema OBE, Chief Executive; Scottish Grocers’ Federation Stuart Reddish, National President; NFRN
Willie Macleod, Executive Director, Scotland; UK Hospitality
