The Secretary of State for Scotland and his team ‘play a vital role in promoting the best interests of Scotland within a strong United Kingdom, and represent effectively Scottish interests at the heart of the UK Government’, according to the UK Government.
The annual report and accounts of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (OSSS) and Office of the Advocate General for Scotland (OAG) have been published today [21 July 2020].
The report provides an overview of a busy year from April 2019 to March 2020. Highlights include:
supporting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented global crisis which has profound implications for Scotland and the whole United Kingdom. This includes helping to drive our economy recovery strategy, which will be vital in the months and years ahead
delivering a public information campaign to inform and support Scottish businesses, EU nationals resident in Scotland, and the wider public on preparing for a EU exit
working with local authorities and the devolved administration in Scotland to deliver the City Region and Growth Deal programme to boost investment, create new jobs and drive forward economic growth right across Scotland
overseeing the move to Queen Elizabeth House, the UK Government’s new flagship hub in Scotland which will open in September 2020
Commenting on the report, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack (above) said: “I am very pleased to present our annual report and accounts to Parliament, for the first time since I was appointed to the role last year.
“The past 12 months have seen a period of monumental change across Scotland and the rest of the UK. We have left the EU, are tackling a global pandemic, and are getting ready for the end of the EU transition period.
“As we look forward to ensuring our economy can bounce back after coronavirus, and making the most of new global opportunities outside of the EU, the case for the Union has never been stronger. I am proud to be playing a part in sustaining and strengthening our Union”.
FAIR WORKS PRACTICES HIGHLIGHT NEED FOR COLLABORATION
Business groups, trades unions and leaders from local government and the third sector have committed to putting fair work at the heart of Scotland’s economic recovery.
As Scotland continues to ease lockdown restrictions, organisations including the Institute of Directors (IoD), SCDI, STUC, COSLA and SCVO have signed a statement underlining the collaborative approach needed between employers, unions and workers to ensure workplaces can operate safely.
Fair Work Minister Jamie Hepburn said: “There is no doubt that Scotland’s economy faces an enormous challenge as we emerge from the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. However, I firmly believe that with employers across all sectors of the economy working in partnership with unions and workers we can use the crisis as an opportunity build fairer and more inclusive workplaces.
“In March we published a statement of Fair Work Principles, setting out our high expectation for keeping fair work at the heart of our national response to COVID-19 during lockdown. Now, as these restrictions continue to ease, we must maintain the momentum we have started to build, ensuring collaboration between workers, employers, representative groups and trades unions.
“This new statement will help employers and employees make decisions that are in everyone’s interest as we carefully reopen the economy. I have been deeply impressed by the work already done in this area, and I want to offer my sincere gratitude to workers and employers for reacting with such agility and dynamism to the challenges thrown up by the pandemic.”
Malcolm Cannon, IoD National Director, Scotland, said: “It is absolutely critical for the recovery of the Scottish economy that the Government works closely with Business Organisations, and the IOD is happy to support this fair work initiative.”
The revised Fair Work Statement was signed by the Institute of Directors, Scottish Council for Development and Industry, COSLA, SCVO, the STUC and Scottish Government.
Last week, the Unite trade union criticised Centrica’s employment plans.
The plan by Centrica, owner of British Gas, ‘to fire and rehire’ its 20,000 employees is the latest example of organisations using the coronavirus emergency as a smokescreen to shed jobs, and erode pay and conditions of workers.
Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union, said the decision of the energy giant follows on from other high profile employers, such as British Airways and the University of Sheffield, which have also adopted similar ‘deplorable’ employment practices during the pandemic.
Unite represents Centrica workers including electrical services’ engineers, as well as those employed at power stations and at Centrica Storage Ltd.
Unite regional officer Mark Pettifer said: “The notice that Centrica has given the trade unions that it is going to ‘fire and rehire’ its 20,000 staff on what, we believe, will be inferior pay and employment conditions is deplorable.
“It is part of a disturbing trend where employers are using the pandemic to shed staff and erode employment conditions.
“Centrica is adopting the same tactics as BA and is using Covid-19 as a smokescreen to cut jobs of loyal and dedicated staff who have worked through the lockdown providing energy to the nation.
“Centrica has been in consultations with the unions for the last fortnight over its future plans and now in an act of bad faith unveils its ‘fire and rehire’ plans. It smacks of blackmail – ‘If you don’t do what we want, we will issue notice of dismissals’.
“Unite urges the Centrica management to have an urgent rethink and engage constructively with the trade unions to tackle the specific issues facing Centrica and, more generally, the UK energy sector post-Covid-19.”
In June, Centrica announced that it would be axing of 5,000 jobs, primarily at management level. Before lockdown the company faced a situation of customers leaving to go to smaller suppliers, the energy price cap and falling gas prices.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a statement on coronavirus this morning:
Good morning,
In the two weeks since I last addressed you from this podium, I am pleased to report that we have continued to make steady progress in our collective effort to beat the coronavirus.
For 3 weeks now, the number of new cases identified through testing each day has been below 1,000.
The latest SAGE advice is that, across the UK, the R rate remains between 0.7 and 0.9.
SAGE also assess that the number of infections is shrinking by between 5 and 1 per cent every day.
The latest ONS data shows prevalence and new infections to be stable and low.
The number of patients newly admitted to hospital with coronavirus each day, and the number of coronavirus patients in mechanical ventilation beds, have both fallen by more than 90% from their peak in early April.
And while we mourn every death, the average daily death rate continues, steadily, to fall.
This progress is testament to the phenomenal efforts of our NHS and social care staff working tirelessly on the frontline.
And it has only been possible thanks to the character and fortitude with which you, the British people, have made fundamental changes to the way you all live and work.
When we set out our plan to rebuild on 11 May, we said our goal was to return life to as close to normal as possible, for as many people as possible, as fast and as fairly as possible, in a way that is safe and continues to protect our NHS.
That goal remains the same – but the tools we use to achieve it are changing.
At the start of the pandemic, when we knew far less about the nature and spread of the virus, we had to take blanket, national measures.
National lockdown was undoubtedly the right thing to do and has saved many thousands of lives.
Now however, we know more about the virus – we understand the epidemiology better and our intelligence on where it is spreading is vastly improved. That means we can control it through targeted, local action instead.
In England, this work is led by NHS Test and Trace and within it the Joint Biosecurity Centre. My sincere thanks go to Dido Harding who oversees this work and who joins me today.
This approach is already working.
In Weston-super-Mare and Kirklees, we took swift and successful action to contain outbreaks at specific premises.
In Bradford and Blackburn with Darwen, we identified troubling trends in the data and worked closely with the respective local authorities to increase testing and take targeted action. That work continues.
And in Leicester, we instituted a local lockdown in order to bear down on stubborn rates of infection. As the Health Secretary announced last night, we will begin to relax the restrictions there next week. We can do so because the data is improving – with the percentage of people testing positive falling from a weekly rate of 12.2% on 29 June to 4.8% yesterday.
The approach varies in different parts of the UK, but all parts of the UK benefit from the support of our armed forces, additional testing facilities, and billions of pounds of support provided by this Government.
Today we are publishing our framework for containing and controlling future outbreaks in England, which will enable national and local government to work closely together.
From tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas. They will be able to close specific premises, shut public outdoor spaces, and cancel events. These powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks, where speed is paramount.
Action by local councils will not always be sufficient. So next week we will publish draft regulations which clearly set out how central government can intervene more effectively at a local level.
Where justified by the evidence, ministers will be able to close whole sectors or types of premises in an area, introduce local “stay at home” orders, prevent people entering or leaving defined areas, reduce the maximum size of gatherings beyond national rules, or restrict transport systems serving local areas.
I know that it will be hard going for people affected by these local measures. It isn’t easy, and for some it may seem unjust that people just a short distance away can live their lives closer to normal.
But it has to be right that we take local action in response to local outbreaks – there is no point shutting down a city in one part of the country to contain an outbreak in another part of the country.
Now of course, this local approach relies on having an effective testing regime in place.
And here we have made substantial progress.
Antigen test capacity – that’s the test which tells you if you currently have the virus – has increased 100-fold since the start of March, from fewer than 2,000 tests a day to more than 200,000 tests a day now.
Publicly available data suggests we are now carrying out our tests more than anywhere else in Europe in total, and more tests than Germany, France, Italy and Spain per capita.
We have set up testing sites around the UK and now have 200 mobile units which can be rapidly deployed wherever they are needed.
It is now the case, and has been for some time, that anyone, anywhere in the UK with symptoms can get a test without delay. We are also testing increasing numbers of people who don’t have symptoms but who are at higher risk.
As we approach winter, we will need to go further – not least as many more people will show Covid-like symptoms as a result of seasonal illnesses, and therefore require a test.
So we will further increase testing capacity to at least half a million antigen tests a day – 3.5 million antigen tests a week – by the end of October.
Demand for testing is not the only challenge that winter will bring.
It is possible that the virus will be more virulent in the winter months – and it is certain that the NHS will face the usual, annual winter pressures.
We have taken a number of steps therefore to get the NHS ready for winter.
We have massively increased the number of ventilators available to patients across the UK – up from 9,000 before the pandemic to nearly 30,000 now.
We have substantially increased the pipeline of personal protective equipment for the NHS and social care -constituting over 30 billion items of PPE over the course of the pandemic.
We will be rolling out the biggest ever flu vaccination programme in the history of the U.K.
And we will also of course give the NHS the resources it needs.
And today, I can confirm that we are providing an additional £3 billion of funding to the NHS in England to get ready for winter. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also receive additional funds.
This will allow the NHS to continue to use the extra hospital capacity acquired from the independent sector and also to maintain the Nightingale hospitals until the end of March.
This new funding comes on top of the additional £30 billion of funding for health and social care that we have already announced this year.
So we are making sure we are ready for winter, and planning for the worst.
But even as we plan for the worst, I strongly believe we should also hope for the best.
That means looking ahead with optimism – now extending our plan to lift the remaining national measures which have restricted our lives since March so we can get back to something closer to normal life.
Now I must stress, the timetable I am about to set out is conditional. It is contingent on every one of us staying alert and acting responsibly. It relies on our continued success in controlling the virus. And we will not proceed if doing so risks a second peak that would overwhelm the NHS.
Nonetheless, it is important to give people hope and to give business confidence.
So in England, from today we are making clear that anybody may use public transport, while of course encouraging people to consider alternative means of transport where they are available.
From 25 July, we have already committed to reopening the indoor gyms, pools and other sports facilities.
From 1 August, we will update our advice on going to work. Instead of government telling people to work from home, we are going to give employers more discretion, and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely.
That could mean of course continuing to work from home, which is one way of working safely and which has worked for many employers and employees.
Or it could mean making workplaces safe by following Covid Secure guidelines. Whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees, and only ask people to return to their place of work if it is safe.
As we reopen our society and economy, it’s right that we give employers more discretion while continuing to ensure employees are kept safe.
Also from 1 August, we will reopen most remaining leisure settings, namely bowling, skating rinks and casinos, and we will enable all close contact services such as beauticians to resume.
Nightclubs and soft play areas will sadly need to remain closed for now – although this will be kept under review.
We will restart indoor performances to a live audience, subject to the success of pilots, and we will also pilot larger gatherings in venues like sports stadia, with a view to wider reopening in the Autumn.
We will also allow wedding receptions for up to 30 people.
All of these measures for 1 August should be done in a Covid Secure way.
In September, schools, nurseries and colleges will be open for all children and young people on a full-time basis, as planned.
And universities are also working to reopen as fully as possible.
From October, we intend to bring back audiences in stadia and to allow conferences and other business events to recommence – again, these changes must be done in a Covid Secure way, subject to the successful outcome of pilots.
Throughout this period, we will look to allow more close contact between friends and family when we can.
It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November at the earliest – possibly in time for Christmas.
At all times, we will continue to work with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support and care for those at risk, wherever they live in the UK.
We have said that the shielding programme for those most at risk in England, the clinically extremely vulnerable, will be paused at the end of this month. We will stay constantly vigilant and be sure to restart shielding at any point if required.
Now I know some will say this plan is too optimistic, that the risks are too great and that we won’t overcome the virus in time.
And of course, if they are right in saying that, and we cannot exclude that they are, let me reassure them, and reassure you: that we will not hesitate at any stage to put on the brakes.
From May 11 onwards, this plan has been conditional, and it remains conditional.
But if we continue to pull together as we have done so far, I know we can beat this virus.
Hoping for the best, but planning for the worst – and it’s in that spirit that we must carry on waging this long, hard fight against Coronavirus.
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, speaking in response to the Prime Minister’s press conference today, said:“We all want society to reopen, we all want our economy to start growing again. So we’ll look at the details of this plan.
“But the key now is confidence. Do the public have confidence in the measures the Government have put in place? Do businesses have confidence in the advice that’s been given? And can we have confidence that the Government’s scientific advisers support these measures? This can’t be done on a wing and a prayer. It requires a credible plan, and national leadership.”
On local lockdowns:
“Labour has long been arguing that we need local control of lockdown. We need data to our local representatives, our local authorities. They need the powers to take the necessary measures. This is what will drive confidence, and this work with local authorities should have be done a long time ago.
“Mayors across the country, local authority leaders across the country, are saying what we need is the data so we know precisely what’s going on, on a day-to-day basis, on a street-by-street basis, or we need the power to take action, rapidly. That’s what they want most of all.”
On NHS winter funding:
“What I didn’t hear from the Prime Minister this morning was any extra money and funding for social care. And what we can’t do again is to leave social care out of the priorities as we go into the autumn and the winter. So where was the money for social care?”
Responding to Boris Johnson’s announcement today, allowing employers to start bringing home-working staff back to the workplace from next month, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We all want to get the economy up and running as quickly as possible. Returns to workplaces must happen in a phased and safe way.
“The government is passing the buck on this big decision to employers. Getting back to work safely requires a functioning NHS Test and Trace system. Yet progress on test and trace is still patchy, and the government is still refusing to support workers who have to self-isolate by raising statutory sick pay from just £95pw to a rate people can live on.
“A safe return to workplaces also requires much greater investment in public transport if people are to be able to commute to workplaces.
“Before reopening any workplace, every employer must complete a risk assessment, and make plans to reduce the risk to workers through enabling social distancing. They must consult their staff trade unions, and larger employers should publish the risk assessment on their website.
“Not everyone will be able to return to workplaces full-time or immediately. People who have been advised to shield and those without enough childcare may need to work fully from home for the foreseeable future.
“Many businesses have seen the benefits of flexible approaches to working during this pandemic. This progress must not be lost. All staff should have the right to work flexibly from their first day in the job.”
The TUC is calling on employers to do the following before asking staff to return to the workplace:
Complete their Covid-Secure risk assessments as required by law, in consultation with unions and their workforces
Publish their Covid-Secure risk assessment on their website, as the government expects. The TUC is collating links to published risk assessments at covidsecurecheck.uk
Take the actions from the risk assessment to enable safer working, such as requiring social distancing and supplying PPE if it is required
Show flexibility and consideration for workers’ individual circumstances, including considering caring responsibilities, those who are shielding, and those who have other health conditions, including mental health
Allow workers who rely on public transport to have staggered start times to prevent a rush hour crush.
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Monday 13th July:
Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I want to start by providing my usual update on the most recent Covid-19 statistics for Scotland.
An additional 6 positive cases were confirmed yesterday which takes the total now in Scotland to 18,365.
It’s maybe worth noting that on Friday and Sunday we saw higher numbers of new cases than has been the norm in recent weeks. Yesterday, 19 new cases were reported.
On any occasion when there is an increase like that, we look very thoroughly to see if there are any patterns or particular causes for concern.
With respect to the cases reported yesterday, 12 of the 19 cases were in Glasgow, and 7 cases – all of which were asymptomatic – related to one care home. That is being looked at in much more detail, and all necessary follow up tests, checks and precautions are being undertaken.
I can also report that a total of 550 patients are currently in hospital with the virus – either confirmed or suspected. That is 13 fewer than yesterday, but it includes an increase of 6 in the number of confirmed cases.
A total of 6 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. That is the same number as yesterday.
And since 5 March, a total of 4,125 patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 have been able to leave hospital.
I am pleased to say that during the last 24 hours, 0 deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19. The total number of deaths under that measurement therefore remains 2,490.
This is the fifth day in a row on which no deaths have been reported, but it is worth providing just a little bit of context for the last two days.
At the start of the Covid outbreak, registration offices took special steps to allow for 7 day operations. I am very grateful to them and their staff for doing so.
But some offices are now going back to their usual pattern of being open only on weekdays – although for emergency situations, they continue to provide weekend arrangements.
Yesterday’s figure of 0 deaths is therefore welcome – but it has to be seen in that context.
And of course, regardless of the figures for any specific day, it is still important to remember the enormous impact the virus has had. I want to pass on my condolences once again to everyone who has lost a loved one in this process.
And again, I want to thank our health and care workers for the incredible work that you are doing.
In a few minutes the Cabinet Secretary for Health will talk about the resumption of breast cancer screening programmes. The National Clinical Director is going to say a little bit about the resumption of outdoor contact sports
I’ve got three issues I want to talk about briefly before then. The first is to tell you briefly about a new contract that NHS Scotland has signed with a Scottish biotechnology firm – E&O Laboratories.
E&O have succeeded in developing a new solution which can be placed within test tubes – the solution helps to make samples of Covid safe, so that each sample can be tested as soon as it arrives at a lab. It therefore improves the efficiency of the testing process.
E&O – who have come up with this product in just a matter of months – are now producing their first batch of the solution for NHS Scotland, and are also looking to supply to other parts of the UK.
Their success has already created 11 jobs, and they are looking to recruit for 10 more. That’s small in the context of the overall impact that Covid is having on employment in Scotland – but it is still welcome, and it is still significant.
This is a good example – and we have seen a lot of them in recent months – of a Scottish company innovating in a way which directly helps our response to Covid, while also supporting jobs.
The second issue I want to highlight is travel. In the coming weeks, we will inevitably start to travel a bit more – as more people return to work, and as some take the opportunity to make shopping trips, to visit friends, or to visit different bits of the country.
That is good news – but please do think about how and when you travel.
First of all – and this perhaps applies especially in relation to leisure travel at the weekend – if you go somewhere and it looks busy, our advice is to go somewhere else.
Yesterday, for example, at least one road had to be closed in the Trossachs, because it was being blocked by parked cars. We have also heard concerns in other areas – for example about large numbers of people wild camping in particular spots.
So we are asking you to, please, use your common sense – if car parks are full, move on, and if places look busy, then also move on.
Camp sites will start to open up from Wednesday onwards, so please if you intend to use them, book ahead of time.
And while public transport services are now returning more to normal, and physical distancing – with safety measures in place – is being relaxed to 1 metre for some services, in spite of all of that we know capacity is still likely to be restricted compared to pre-covid levels.
That is one reason why we are still asking you to work from home if you can. And if you can’t, employers and employees might want to think about other measures – such as staggered or flexible working times – which can help to reduce the pressure on our public transport network.
But I’d also ask people who are in a position to, to think about active travel.
I completely understand why for many journeys, people immediately think about using the car. But if your journey is a local one, think about whether it can be made by walking, cycling or wheeling. That won’t always be possible – but in quite a few cases, it will be a healthy and enjoyable alternative.
So as we all travel a bit more – think about how and why you are travelling.
If you are able to shop locally or work from home, continue do that.
And also, as I said, consider active travel.
And if you’re using public transport, plan ahead. If you’re able to travel at less busy times of day, that will help you and others. And at all times follow safety guidance – including of course by wearing a face covering.
That brings me on to the final point I want to cover today. Saturday and yesterday was the first full weekend when face coverings were mandatory in shops.
Everything I have seen or heard – through social media, through other reports, and through my own brief visit to a couple of shops yesterday – everything suggests that compliance with the new law has been very high indeed and I want to thank everyone for that.
It is exactly what I would have expected – but it is still very welcome.
Face coverings are mandatory in shops and on public transport – but it’s also worth remembering that they can also be useful in other indoor enclosed spaces. So if you are inside somewhere and it’s not easy to maintain physical distancing, it’s always a good idea to put your face covering on.
Indoor shopping malls open today, and you should wear the face covering not just in the shops, but also inside the shared spaces in the mall.
So my thanks to everyone who is now wearing a face covering. It is an important way in which all of us can help to protect each other.
That basic message – of solidarity, of protecting each other – is the note I want to end on. Today sees some more steps in our emergence from lockdown and later this week we will see some of the most significant steps yet.
As I’ve mentioned, indoor shopping malls open up; organised outdoor sport and play resumes for children; and some routine dental treatment restarts.
As these services reopen – and as we all leave the house a bit more it becomes more and more important for us to ensure that we are not creating possible bridges by which the virus can spread.
So I would ask you to remember the Facts. It summarises the five key things all of us should remember in everything we do.
Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces such as shops and public transport.
Avoid crowded places, whether indoors or outdoors.
Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly.
Two metres distancing remains the general rule we’re asking you to abide by.
and Self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.
If all of us remember and abide by these 5 steps then as we get out and about a bit more we can still help to keep the virus under control.
My thanks for your co-operation so far and I appeal to you to continue to co-operate with that basic public advice.
Brexit. It dominated headlines for so, so long and it took a global pandemic to knock it off the front pages. Now, the UK Government wants to move on from coronavirus and, like it or not, leaving the EU looks set to feature prominently in the media once again …
The UK government has launched a new campaign to help businesses and individuals prepare for the end of the transition period.
New campaign to help businesses and individuals prepare for the end of the transition period.
The campaign will ensure ‘we are all ready to seize the opportunities available for the first time in nearly fifty years as a fully sovereign United Kingdom’.
Business and citizens may need to take action regardless of the type of agreement reached with the EU.
Today the government is launching a major new public information campaign, ‘The UK’s new start: let’s get going’.
It will clearly set out the actions businesses and individuals need to take to prepare for the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and ensure they are ready to seize the opportunities that it will bring.
Campaign advertisements will include the “Check, Change, Go” strapline which directs people and businesses to a straightforward checker tool at gov.uk/transition which quickly identifies the necessary next steps they need to take.
The campaign will run across the full range of communication channels, including TV advertising and radio, out of home, digital, print, and direct channels such as text messages and Webinars. The campaign will also see the launch of a ‘field force team’ which will give one-to-one support in person or over the phone to businesses and their supply chains to minimise disruption to the movement of goods.
The campaign will target UK citizens intending to travel to Europe from 1st January 2021 and all importers to and exporters from the EU, alongside UK nationals living in the EU and EU, EEA or Swiss citizens living in the UK.
The actions people and business owners need to take vary based on their circumstances. They include:
Making sure you are ready to travel to Europe from 1 January 2021, for example by getting comprehensive travel insurance, ensuring your passport is valid, and checking your roaming policy with your mobile phone provider.
If you want to travel to Europe with your pet from 1 January 2021, contact your vet at least 4 months before you travel.
Making sure your business is ready to export or import from/to the EU, for example by getting an EU EORI number or registering with the relevant Customs Authority.
The UK Government says the campaign isn’t being run just to prepare people and businesses for changes at the end of the year – it will also highlight the ‘significant opportunities ahead including for exporters through new free trade agreements, for small businesses through smarter regulation, and for fishermen as we take back control of our coastal waters’.
The campaign will run alongside the UK’s continued negotiations with the EU. The UK is leaving the single market and customs union at the end of the year, and so most of the actions businesses and citizens are being asked to take will need to be completed regardless of the outcome of negotiations.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove (above) said: “At the end of this year we are leaving the single market and Customs Union regardless of the type of agreement we reach with the EU. This will bring changes and significant opportunities for which we all need to prepare.
“While we have already made great progress in getting ready for this moment, there are actions that businesses and citizens must take now to ensure we are ready to hit the ground running as a fully independent United Kingdom.
“This is a new start for everyone in the UK – British and European citizens alike – so let’s get going.”
Details of the key actions that businesses and individuals need to take before the end of the transition period can be found on gov.uk/transition.
Chancellor’s statement welcomed by Scottish Secretarybut Scottish Government saysthepackage is a huge opportunity missed.
The Chancellor yesterday set out the next steps in the UK Government’s strategy to secure Scotland’s economic recovery from coronavirus – announcing a “Plan for Jobs” to level up, spread opportunity and unite the UK.
Rishi Sunak outlined how he would focus on protecting, supporting and creating jobs as the UK enters the next phase in its recovery following the outbreak.
Delivering his Summer Economic Update, he said: “Our plan has a clear goal: to protect, support and create jobs. It will give businesses the confidence to retain and hire. To create jobs in every part of our country. To give young people a better start. To give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start.”
As part of a series of landmark measures the Chancellor announced that the government will:
support jobs with the Job Retention Bonus to help businesses keep furloughed workers. UK Employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed as of 31 January 2021.
expand Worksearch Support including a Flexible Support Fund and a £2 billion Kickstart scheme to subsidise jobs for young people
create jobs in the construction and housing sectors through funding to decarbonise public sector buildings, a demonstrator project to decarbonise social housing and funding to support research and development for Direct Air Capture (as announced by the PM on 30 June)
protect jobs with VAT cuts for hospitality and tourism, as well as a Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme.
The Summer Economic Update confirms an additional £800 million of Covid-19 funding for the Scottish Government through the Barnett formula.
The UK Government is now providing £4.6 billion through the Barnett formula to help the Scottish Government support individuals, businesses and public services through Covid-19.
Rishi Sunak said the plan for jobs was the second phase of a three-phase plan to secure the UK’s economic recovery from coronavirus.
The first phase, beginning in March, focused on protection with a £160 billion package of support – one of the largest and most comprehensive economic responses in the world. In Scotland this package has so far protected more than 620,000 jobs, helped thousands of businesses and paid £425 million to 146,000 self-employed people.
The Chancellor outlined that following the second phase focusing on jobs, there would come a third phase focusing on rebuilding, with a Budget and Spending Review in the autumn.
Speaking about the impact for Scotland, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Since this crisis started, our wide-ranging package of support for Scotland has protected more than 620,000 jobs, thousands of businesses and paid £425 million to self-employed people.
“Today I’ve set out our plan to protect, create and support jobs across Scotland – to level up opportunity, safely reopen our economy and strengthen the Union.
“With a massive funding boost for Jobcentre Plus, doubling the number of work coaches, more people will now benefit from personalised and tailored job support. We’re investing £800m through the Barnett formula, giving Scotland the funds to create green news jobs. And we’re protecting the thousands of existing jobs in the hospitality sector with a cut to VAT and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.”
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “The measures announced by the Chancellor to support the country’s post-coronavirus economic recovery delivers for all parts of the UK.
“The UK Government’s ambitious plan for jobs, with its strong emphasis on our young people, is great news for young Scots.
“The VAT cut for tourism and hospitality will be a huge boost for Scotland. It is now absolutely essential that Scotland’s world-class tourism and hospitality industry can properly open for business.
“The stamp duty cut gives a helping hand to the housing market and building trades in England. I urge the devolved administration to use their powers to do the same in Scotland.
“And, thanks to UK Government spending decisions in the rest of the UK, Holyrood will get a £800 million cash boost, bringing their total additional coronavirus support funding to £4.6 billion.”
“The Chancellor has set out a fantastic package of support. The devolved administration now need to play its part and show they are serious about Scotland’s economic recovery.”
Responding the UK Chancellor’s Summer Statement, Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “We called for an £80bn stimulus package to build a strong, green and inclusive economic recovery and while there are elements in this announcement to be welcomed, in particular the measures on VAT for tourism and hospitality, overall this
“It falls well short of delivering what is needed to boost the economy and protect jobs.
“There is no new capital spend, no extension to the furlough scheme for hard-hit sectors and no further support for households in financial difficulty. A half price meal out does not help those struggling to put food on the table.
“Many of the initiatives are short-lived and do not provide long term certainty for business or households. Instead they will simply push the problems back to the end of the year when we will also have to deal with the end of the transition period with the EU.
“Despite announcing new funding measures worth up to £30bn today, most of it bypasses devolution and does not provide the Scottish Government with the funding we need to enable us to tailor an economic response that meets Scotland’s needs.
“Like all governments, we are facing huge spending pressures but we do not have the tools that others have to meet them. Along with the Governments of Wales and Northern Ireland, we set out a reasonable, proportionate set of new financial powers that would enable the Scottish Government to respond effectively.
“Regrettably, the UK Government has turned a deaf ear to those needs.”
Andrew McRae, Federation of Small Business’s (FSBx) Scotland policy chair said: “Good news has been in short supply for nearly four months. We needed action to help protect jobs and stimulate local economies across Scotland and that is exactly what the Chancellor has set out to do.
“However, it should be noted that there are many small businesses that were not supported by the Chancellor’s package – with company directors once again overlooked. Given these businesses have had little to no support in over 100 days, FSB is hoping that support can be provided in the near future.”
On the “kickstart” jobs scheme, Andrew said: “The jobs scheme will hopefully prevent a lost generation of young people, but for it to work in local economies, it must focus on the small employers who employ around one million people in Scotland. We can’t have a situation where local businesses are behind a queue of big corporates because of a target-driven approach.”
On the temporary VAT cut for hospitality and tourism sectors, he added: “Reducing VAT in sectors hit especially hard by the pandemic is an astute move. It will make everyday activities like grabbing a coffee and cake more affordable for budget conscious consumers – while making the country a more attractive destination for tourists home and abroad.”
On the discount to encourage people to eat out, Andrew said: “Scotland is fortunate to have an array of fantastic food offerings in restaurants, cafes and pubs across the country. We need to encourage more people to get back out into the community and spending money, so any moves to do this are welcome.”
The Poverty Alliance has also responded to the Chancellor’s Summer Statement. Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said:“Young workers have been hard hit by Covid-19 job disruption, so the Chancellor’s announcement of a kickstart jobs scheme is welcome.
“But as the pandemic has highlighted, for too long people have been locked into poverty by low pay and insecure work.So these jobs should pay at least the real Living Wage and should have been accompanied by measures to tackle the precarious work that too many young people have to rely on.
“Part-time jobs that pay only the minimum wage cannot be a long-term solution to the problems in our labour market.
“Our recovery should be based on principles of fair work; that means redesigning jobs not reinforcing current problems.
“With the confirmation that the Job Retention Scheme is to end in October, the statement was an opportunity to fix our social security system before an expected surge in applications in autumn.
“Increasing the numbers of Work Coaches is welcome, but if we want our economic recovery to be a recovery for all, we need a social security system that loosens – not tightens – the grip of poverty on people’s lives. That means ending the benefit cap, making advance Universal Credit payments non-repayable, and ensuring that benefits actually meet people’s needs. “There is still time to make these changes before October and we urge the government to make them.
“The announcement of vouchers to support the hospitality sector falls short of expectations. At a time when more people than ever before are relying on emergency help from food banks, it is action to put cash in people’s pockets that is required, not the offer of a £10 discount on eating out.“
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement speech to the House of Commons this afternoon:
Mr Speaker,
I stood here in March saying I knew people were worried. And I know they’re worried still.
We have taken decisive action to protect our economy.
But people are anxious about losing their job, about unemployment rising. We’re not just going to accept this.
People need to know we will do all we can to give everyone the opportunity of good and secure work.
People need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope.
So, today, we act, with a Plan for Jobs.
Our plan has a clear goal: to protect, support and create jobs.
It will give businesses the confidence to retain and hire.
To create jobs in every part of our country.
To give young people a better start.
To give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start.
Where problems emerge, we will confront them.
Where support is justified, we will provide it.
Where challenges arise, we will overcome them.
We entered this crisis unencumbered by dogma and we continue in this spirit, driven always by the simple desire to do what is right.
Mr Speaker,
Before I turn to our Plan for Jobs, let me first outline the nature of the challenge.
Our economic response to coronavirus is moving through three phases.
In the first phase, beginning in March, the government announced social distancing measures and ordered businesses to close, halting the spread of the disease.
We put in place one of the largest and most comprehensive economic responses in the world.
Our £160 billion plan protects people’s jobs, incomes and businesses:
we supported more than 11 million people and jobs through the job retention and self-employment schemes, alongside billions of pounds for the most vulnerable
we supported over a million businesses to protect jobs, through tax cuts, tax deferrals, direct cash grants, and over a million government-backed loans
and we supported public services, with new funding for the NHS, schools, public transport, and local authorities
In total, we have now provided £49 billion to support public services since this crisis began.
Analysis I’m publishing today shows our interventions significantly protected people’s incomes, with the least well off in society supported the most.
And this crisis has highlighted the special bond which holds our country together.
Millions of people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been protected by the UK government’s economic interventions – and they will be supported by today’s Plan for Jobs.
No nationalist can ignore the undeniable truth: this help has only been possible because we are a United Kingdom.
Mr Speaker,
Four months on, as we carefully reopen our economy, we are entering the second phase of our economic response.
Despite the extraordinary support we’ve already provided, we face profound economic challenges:
world economic activity has slowed, with the IMF expecting the deepest global recession since records began
household consumption – the biggest component of our economy – has fallen steeply
businesses have stopped trading and stopped hiring
taken together, in just two months our economy contracted by 25% – the same amount it grew in the previous eighteen years.
And the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and Bank of England are both projecting significant job losses – the most urgent challenge we now face.
I want every person in this House and in the country to know that I will never accept unemployment as an unavoidable outcome.
We haven’t done everything we have so far just to step back now and say, ‘job done’. In truth, the job has only just begun.
Mr Speaker,
If the first phase of our economic response was about protection…
…and the second phase – the phase we are addressing today – is about jobs…
…there will come a third phase, where we will rebuild.
My Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister has set out our vision to level up, unite the country, spread opportunity, and repair and heal the wounds exposed through this crisis.
I can tell the House we will produce a Budget and Spending Review in the autumn.
And, we will deal too, with the challenges facing our public finances.
Over the medium-term, we must, and we will, put our public finances back on a sustainable footing.
In other words, our Plan for Jobs will not be the last action – it is merely the next – in our fight to recover and rebuild after coronavirus.
Mr Speaker, Let me now turn to the detail of our plan for jobs.
Central to our economic response has been the Jobs Retention Scheme.
Furlough has been a lifeline for millions, supporting people and businesses to protect jobs. But it cannot and should not go on forever.
I know that when furlough ends it will be a difficult moment. I’m also sure that if I say the scheme must end in October, critics will say it should end in November. If I say it should end in November, critics will just say December.
But the truth is: calling for endless extensions to the furlough is just as irresponsible as it would have been, back in June, to end the scheme overnight.
We have to be honest.
Leaving the furlough scheme open forever gives people false hope that it will always be possible to return to the jobs they had before.
And the longer people are on furlough, the more likely it is their skills could fade, and they will find it harder to get new opportunities.
It is in no-one’s long term interests for the scheme to continue forever … least of all those trapped in a job that can only exist because of a government subsidy.
So the furlough will wind down, flexibly and gradually, supporting businesses and people through to October.
But while we can’t protect every job, one of the most important things we can do to prevent unemployment is to get as many people as possible from furlough back to their jobs.
So, today, we’re introducing a new policy to reward and incentivise employers who successfully bring furloughed staff back – a new Jobs Retention Bonus.
If you’re an employer and you bring someone back who was furloughed – and you continuously employ them through to January – we will pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee.
It is vital people aren’t just returning for the sake of it – they need to be doing decent work.
So for businesses to get this bonus, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to January the equivalent of the lower earnings limit in National Insurance.
The House should understand the significance of this policy. We will pay the bonus for all furloughed employees.
So if employers bring back all nine million people who have been furloughed, this would be a £9 billion policy to retain people in work.
Our message to business is clear: if you stand by your workers, we will stand by you.
Mr Speaker, The furlough was the right policy to support people through the first phase of this crisis.
But now, in this new phase, we need to evolve our approach.
Today, I want to set out for the House a new three-point plan for jobs.
We need to:
first – support people to find jobs
second – create jobs
and third – protect jobs
Mr Speaker,
Let me start with supporting jobs, and in particular the help we want to provide for those who will be hardest hit by this crisis: younger people.
Over 700,000 people are leaving education this year.
Many more are just starting out in their careers.
Coronavirus has hit them hard – under 25s are two and a half times as likely to work in a sector that has been closed.
We cannot lose this generation, so today, I am announcing the Kickstart Scheme:
A new programme to give hundreds of thousands of young people, in every region and nation of Britain, the best possible chance of getting on and getting a job.
The Kickstart Scheme will directly pay employers to create new jobs for any 16 to 24-year-old at risk of long-term unemployment.
These will be new jobs – with the funding conditional on the firm proving these jobs are additional.
These will be decent jobs – with a minimum of 25 hours per week paid at least the National Minimum Wage.
And they will be good quality jobs – with employers providing Kickstarters with training and support to find a permanent job.
If employers meet these conditions, we will pay young people’s wages for six months, plus an amount to cover overheads.
That means, for a 24-year-old, the grant will be around £6,500.
Employers can apply to be part of the scheme from next month, with the first Kickstarters in their new jobs this autumn.
And I urge every employer, big or small, national or local, to hire as many Kickstarters as possible.
Today, I’m making available an initial £2 billion; enough to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs.
And I commit today: there will be no cap on the number of places available.
We can do more for young people:
traineeships are a proven scheme to get young people ready for work. We know they work, so for the first time ever we will pay employers £1,000 to take on new trainees, with triple the number of places
to support 18-19-year olds leaving school or college to find work in high-demand sectors like engineering, construction and social care, we’ll provide £100 million to create more places on Level 2 and 3 courses
and the evidence says careers advice works, so we will fund it, with enough new careers advisers to support over a quarter of a million more people.
We will also expand our universal skills offer:
Sector-Based Work Academies provide training, work placements, and a guaranteed job interview in high-demand sectors.
The evidence shows they work, so we will expand them – tripling the number of places.
And we know apprenticeships work, too – 91% of apprentices stay in work or do further training afterwards.
So for the next six months, we’re going to pay employers to create new apprenticeships.
We will pay businesses to hire young apprentices, with a new payment of £2,000 per apprentice.
And we will introduce a brand-new bonus for businesses to hire apprentices aged 25 and over, with a payment of £1,500.
And let me thank my Right Honourable Friend the Education Secretary for his support and commitment in developing these measures.
Mr Speaker,
We know the longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to return. Millions of people are moving onto Universal Credit – they need urgent support to get back to work.
So, we are:
doubling the number of Work Coaches in Job Centres
increasing the Flexible Support Fund
extending the Rapid Response Service
expanding the Work and Health Programme
and developing a new scheme to support the long-term unemployed
The academic and economic evidence tells us these are among the most effective things we can do.
So I’m investing an extra billion pounds in DWP, to support millions of people back to work.
And I’m grateful for everything my Right Honourable Friend the Work and Pensions secretary, and her incredible team, have done.
£1 billion of support for the unemployed; more money for skills, traineeships, and apprenticeships; and a new, good quality job for hundreds of thousands of new Kickstarters – the first part of our plan for jobs.
Mr Speaker,
The second part of our plan is to support job creation.
That begins with historic investment in infrastructure – creating jobs in every region and nation of the UK.
At Budget, I announced £88 billion of capital funding this year; and last week the Prime Minister announced our plans to accelerate £5 billion of additional investment projects.
We are doubling down on our ambition to level up…
…with better roads, better schools, better hospitals, better high streets, creating jobs in all four corners of our country.
Mr Speaker, As well as investing in infrastructure, we want to create green jobs.
This is going to be a green recovery with concern for our environment at its heart.
As part of that, I’m announcing today a new, £2 billion Green Homes Grant.
From September, homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for vouchers to make their homes more energy efficient and create local jobs.
The grants will cover at least two thirds of the cost, up to £5,000 per household.
And for low income households, we’ll go even further with vouchers covering the full cost – up to £10,000.
On top of the £2 billion voucher scheme, I am releasing £1 billion of funding to improve the energy efficiency of public sector buildings…
…alongside a £50 million fund to pilot the right approach to decarbonise social housing.
Taken together, we expect these measures to:
make over 650,000 homes more energy efficient
save households up to £300 a year on their bills
cut carbon by more than half a mega tonne per year, equivalent to taking 270,000 cars off the road
and, most importantly right now, support around 140,000 green jobs
A £3 billion green jobs plan to save money; cut carbon; and create jobs.
Mr Speaker, One of the most important sectors for job creation is housing.
The construction sector adds £39 billion a year to the UK economy;
House building alone supports nearly three quarter of a million jobs;
With millions more relying on the availability of housing to find work.
But property transactions fell by 50% in May.
House prices have fallen for the first time in eight years.
And uncertainty abounds in the market – a market we need to be thriving.
We need people feeling confident – confident to buy, sell, renovate, move and improve.
That will drive growth. That will create jobs.
So to catalyse the housing market and boost confidence, I have decided today to cut stamp duty.
Right now, there is no stamp duty on transactions below £125,000.
Today, I am increasing the threshold to half a million pounds.
This will be a temporary cut running until 31st March next year.
And, as is always the case, these changes to stamp duty will take effect immediately.
The average stamp duty bill will fall by £4,500.
And nearly nine out of ten people buying a main home this year, will pay no stamp duty at all.
Stamp duty cuts; A £5,000 Green Homes Grant; And tens of billions of pounds of new capital projects.
We are creating jobs, the second part of our Plan for Jobs.
Mr Speaker, The final part of our plan will protect jobs that already exist by helping some of our highest-employing but hardest-hit sectors: hospitality and tourism.
Our economy relies on consumption, especially social consumption:
The pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs that bring life to our villages, towns and cities.
Taken together these sectors employ over 2 million people disproportionately younger, women and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
And many rural and coastal communities rely on these industries.
80% of hospitality firms temporarily stopped trading in April and 1.4 million workers have been furloughed, the highest proportions of any sector.
So the best jobs programme we can do is to restart these sectors and get our pubs, restaurants, cafés and B&Bs bustling again.
I know people are cautious about going out.
But we wouldn’t have lifted the restrictions if we didn’t think we could do so safely.
And I’ve seen in the last few weeks how hard businesses are working to make their premises safe.
And if we follow the guidance, and respect what they ask us to do, we can all enjoy summer safely.
In turn, we need to give these businesses the confidence to know that if they open up, invest in making their premises safe, and protect jobs, demand will be there, and be there quickly.
So today, I’m announcing two new measures to get these sectors moving and protect jobs.
First, at the moment, VAT on hospitality and tourism is charged at 20%.
So I’ve decided, for the next six months, to cut VAT on food, accommodation and attractions.
Eat-in or hot takeaway food from restaurants, cafes and pubs;
Accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites and caravan sites;
Attractions like cinemas, theme parks and zoos;
All these and more will see VAT reduced from next Wednesday until January 12th, from 20% to 5%.
This is a £4 billion catalyst for the hospitality and tourism sectors, benefiting over 150,000 businesses, and consumers everywhere – all helping to protect 2.4 million jobs.
But, Mr Speaker, we will go further. The final measure I’m announcing today has never been tried in the UK before. This moment is unique. We need to be creative.
So, to get customers back into restaurants, cafes and pubs, and protect the 1.8 million people who work in them, I can announce today that, for the month of August, we will give everyone in the country an Eat Out to Help Out discount.
Meals eaten at any participating business, Monday to Wednesday, will be 50% off, up to a maximum discount of £10 per head for everyone, including children.
Businesses will need to register, and can do so through a simple website, open next Monday.
Each week in August, businesses can then claim the money back, with the funds in their bank account within 5 working days.
1.8 million people work in this industry. They need our support and with this measure we can all eat out to help out.
A VAT cut to 5%;
And a first-of-its-kind government-backed discount for all;
That’s the third part of our Plan for Jobs.
So, Mr Speaker,
A £1,000 Jobs Retention Bonus.
New, high quality jobs for hundreds of thousands of young Kickstarters.
£1bn to double the number of work coaches and support the unemployed.
More apprenticeships; more traineeships; more skills funding.
Billions of pounds for new, job creation projects around the country.
A £3 billion plan to support 140,000 green jobs.
And in this vital period, as we get going again:
VAT cut.
Stamp duty cut.
Meals out cut.
Mr Speaker, all part of our Plan for Jobs worth up to £30 billion.
Mr Speaker,
Governments, much less people, rarely get to choose the moments that define them. What choice there is comes in how we respond.
For me, this has never just been a question of economics, but of values:
I believe in the nobility of work.
I believe in the inspiring power of opportunity.
I believe in the British people’s fortitude and endurance.
And it is that value, endurance, more than any other, we need to embody now.
A patience to live with the uncertainty of the moment…
…to find that new balance between safety and normality.
We will not be defined by this crisis, but by our response to it.
It is an unambiguous choice to make this moment meaningful for our country in a way that transcends the frustration and loss of recent months.
It is a plan to turn our national recovery into millions of stories of personal renewal.
Mr Speaker, it is our Plan for Jobs and I commend it to this House.
Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Government’s ‘Plan for Jobs’, said:“Labour has repeatedly called on the government to match the ambitions of Labour’s Future Jobs Fund, to rise to the youth unemployment challenge.
“To the extent that the ‘Kickstart’ programme is based on the Future Jobs Fund model, it should help many young people to access work.
“However, the Government are yet to rise to the scale of the unemployment crisis. The urgent priority right now is to prevent additional unnecessary unemployment in the first place by abandoning the Government’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the removal of the Job Retention and Self-Employed schemes.
“In addition, older people who become unemployed, and those living in particularly hard-hit areas, will also need tailored support.
“Government also urgently needs to get test, track and isolate right, as ultimately the biggest drag on our economy has been the slow public health response, which threatens additional localised lockdowns and which has reduced consumer confidence.”
Responding the UK Chancellor’s Summer Statement today, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “We called for an £80bn stimulus package to build a strong, green and inclusive economic recovery and while there are elements in this announcement to be welcomed, in particular the measures on VAT for tourism and hospitality, overall this package is a huge opportunity missed. It falls well short of delivering what is needed to boost the economy and protect jobs.
“There is no new capital spend, no extension to the furlough scheme for hard-hit sectors and no further support for households in financial difficulty. A half price meal out does not help those struggling to put food on the table.
“Many of the initiatives are short-lived and do not provide long term certainty for business or households. Instead they will simply push the problems back to the end of the year when we will also have to deal with the end of the transition period with the EU.
“Despite announcing new funding measures worth up to £30bn today, most of it bypasses devolution and does not provide the Scottish Government with the funding we need to enable us to tailor an economic response that meets Scotland’s needs.
“Like all governments, we are facing huge spending pressures but we do not have the tools that others have to meet them. Along with the Governments of Wales and Northern Ireland, we set out a reasonable, proportionate set of new financial powers that would enable the Scottish Government to respond effectively. Regrettably, the UK Government has turned a deaf ear to those needs.”
Also responding to measures announced today by the chancellor in his summer statement, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Mass unemployment is now the biggest threat facing the UK, as shown by the thousands of job losses at British Airways, Airbus and elsewhere.
“The government must do far more to stem the rising tide of redundancies. We can’t afford to lose any more good skilled jobs.
“The chancellor should have announced targeted support for the hardest-hit sectors like manufacturing and aviation. Struggling businesses will need more than a one-off job retention bonus to survive and save jobs in the long-term.
“Unions campaigned for a job guarantee scheme. Kickstart is a good first step. But if the government allows vital industries to go the wall, unemployment will surge and the recession will last far longer.
“The more people we have in decent work, the faster we can work our way out of recession. We must create jobs through more new public investment in new homes, childcare, faster broadband, better transport and green tech.
“The government should have announced extra investment in jobs across all public services – starting with filling the 200,000 vacancies in the NHS and social care. And if the chancellor wants people to have the confidence to eat out, he should have announced a pay rise for hard-pressed key workers rather than dining out discounts for the well-off.”
On sick pay, Frances added: “The government missed an opportunity to strengthen their faltering Test and Trace programme.
“Statutory sick pay is too low for anyone to live on. It’s not viable to ask people to self-isolate if they will be pushed into financial hardship.
“We had hoped ministers would listen, raise the rate and change the rules so low-paid people could afford to do the right thing and comply with self-isolation. Once again, this government fails to understand the real lives of low-paid workers. It is clear that poverty wages and insecure contracts are a public health hazard.”
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Tuesday 7th July):
Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us. I will start with the usual update on the most recent COVID-19 statistics.
An additional 2 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland to 18,302.
A total of 699 patients are currently in hospital with either confirmed or suspected cases of the virus. That is 17 more than yesterday overall, but it includes a reduction of 8 in the number of confirmed cases.
A total of 7 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected covid. That is 1 fewer than yesterday.
Since 5 March, a total of 4,102 patients who had tested positive and been admitted to hospital, have now been discharged from hospital.
However, I am afraid that during the last 24 hours, 1 death was registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having COVID-19. That takes the total number of deaths in Scotland, under that measurement, to 2,489.
I, of course, want to send my condolences to that person’s loved ones – and of course to everyone who has lost a loved one to this illness over these past few months.
I also want to thank, as always, our health and care workers. The entire country continues is grateful to you for what you have done and continue to do.
Now, I have three things I want to briefly update you on today before taking questions.
The first relates to the cluster of new Covid cases in Dumfries and Galloway last week. In total, 12 cases were identified as part of that cluster, and 23 contacts have been traced.
There were no new cases relating to this cluster yesterday. The view of the Incident Management Team, is that all chains of infection within Dumfries and Galloway have now been identified and controlled.
As a result, I can confirm that we are today lifting the recommended travel restriction that had applied to people in certain postcodes around Gretna, Dumfries and Annan. Our advice now is that people in those areas – like everyone else in Scotland – can travel more than 5 miles for leisure purposes.
However, like everyone else, they must follow strict advice summarised in the FACTS campaign.
In addition, people can now visit care homes in those areas – in line with the same strict guidelines that apply elsewhere in Scotland.
I want to take the opportunity again today to thank everyone who has been involved – both in Dumfries and Galloway, and also in Cumbria – in controlling this outbreak and in implementing Test and Protect so effectively.
I also want to thank the employers who enabled the rapid testing of their workforces; the contacts who co-operated by self-isolating when asked; and everyone in the affected postcodes, who stuck to the travel restrictions.
Although we all have a part to play in seeking to avoid this, it is the case, as we continue to lift restrictions of lockdown, there will inevitably be more clusters like this one in the weeks and months ahead and so it is reassuring, while we are absolutely not complacent, to see that this one appears to have been controlled so rapidly and so effectively. I am very grateful to everyone who played a part in achieving that outcome.
The second issue I want to raise today relates to the economic statement being made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer tomorrow.
The Scottish Government wrote to the UK Government on Saturday, to highlight again our view that an £80 billion stimulus programme is needed for the UK economy. To put that in context, that would be roughly comparable in ambition to the programme that Germany has recently adopted.
We believe that the UK’s programme should tackle inequalities, support jobs, and have a strong focus on investment in low carbon and digital infrastructure.
We have also recommended an employment guarantee for young people – a policy the Scottish Government is looking at ourselves. And we have called for a temporary cut in VAT to boost consumption – with especially low rates for our hospitality and tourism sectors.
Finally, we have proposed that Scotland should have greater financial powers – for example over borrowing – so that we can play our own part in, and shape our own response to, the economic implications of the pandemic.
It’s worth stressing again that the Scottish Government has on several occasions welcomed policies adopted by the Treasury during this pandemic – for example the job retention scheme, and this week’s support for the culture sector and I want to again say how appreciated, how welcomed and how important these kinds of interventions are.
We hope that we will be able to give a welcome to tomorrow’s statement as well but for that to happen, the policies put forward must meet the scale of the economic challenges that the UK faces and I very much hope that they will do.
The proposals that we have put forward on a constructive basis, are ambitious, practical, and sustainable. They, as I say, have been put forward in a spirit of collaboration and partnership. And we believe they would benefit Scotland and the whole of the UK. I therefore hope that they will be adopted tomorrow.
The need for ambition in economic policy is demonstrated by the final issue I want to briefly update on.
The Scottish Government currently publishes information about the Scottish Welfare Fund on a monthly basis.
The most recent report has been published today, and includes information about crisis grants.
Those are the payments we make available for people on low incomes who are suffering an unexpected and unavoidable financial emergency – for example if they take on caring responsibilities suddenly, and have to pay an unforeseen bill; or if they face a sudden gap in income because they have been made unemployed, and await redundancy or benefit payments.
Today’s report shows that the total value of crisis grant payments in May was more than 40% higher than in May last year. It also shows, however, that the value of payments in May was slightly lower than in March and April of this year, when there was a very large increase at the beginning of lockdown.
These increases demonstrate why the Scottish Government more than doubled the Scottish Welfare Fund in March. We knew then that the necessary public health measures needed to control Covid, would cause financial, emotional and health difficulties in households across the country.
They also provide a further illustration of why we do need to see further economic and fiscal stimulus so we can minimise the economic harm that has been caused by lockdown. And to demonstrate once again, of course why emerging from lockdown for all of us is so essential. We cannot, and this is a statement of the obvious, we cannot go on indefinitely, with severe restrictions on our economy and our way of life.
That is why I hope to be able to confirm on Thursday that we are moving to phase 3, in our route map out of lockdown.
However, and this point is just as important, it is also why we are determined to ensure that our emergence from lockdown, is safe and sustainable. We must absolutely minimise the risk of going back into lockdown later on in the year because we have allowed the virus to run out of control again.
That risk is a very real one – and we must not ever lull ourselves into a sense that we are somehow immune from it. If you doubt that, I would encourage you to take a look at what’s happening in other parts of the world.
In recent days in Australia, Melbourne and its surrounding areas have gone back into lockdown – new cases from community transmission there appear to be higher than in March/April. In Spain, Galicia and Catalonia are reinstating lockdown measures. So is Belgrade in Serbia.
And we are continuing to see a surge in cases in many parts of the United States.
Covid cases in Scotland are currently very low, down to the collective efforts of anyone. But we are still seeing some cases every day. The virus is still out there and it will easily come back if we allow it to.
As we lift the measures that have kept it under control, the risks of transmission increase again. It stands to reason as we start to interact more, we provide more opportunities for the virus to spread.
Outbreaks and clusters – as I said earlier – will happen.
But it is down to all of us to minimise the chances of them happening and to make sure that when they do happen, they don’t spread.
So in everything we do – particularly as you get out and about a bit more – we should be conscious of every possible bridge you might be providing for the virus to spread from one person to another or one household to another, so that we can avoid giving it those opportunities.
That is why we keep on stressing our public health campaign – Facts. It summarises the five key things all of us must remember in everything we do. And if these five things are all you remember over this next period, please make sure that you do remember them and that you apply them in your everyday lives. So just to run through again what they are:
· Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces such as shops and public transport. From Friday – as we go into I hope phase 3 – face coverings will be mandatory by law in shops with obvious exceptions, for people with medical conditions or young children. They already are in public transport.
· Avoid crowded places – indoors and outdoors. · Clean your hands and any hard surfaces that you touch regularly. · Two metre distancing remains the general rule. · and self-isolate, and book a test, if you experience any symptoms of covid, don’t wait to do that, do that immediately.
If all of us remember these five basic measures, then we will minimise the opportunities for the virus to spread as we start to get back to normal and in doing that we will keep ourselves safe and will help to protect others and undoubtedly we will save lives.
So please continue to do all of these things as we slowly, carefully but steadily get our economy and our society back to normal. If we follow these measures then we will do that without giving the virus the chance to spread again which would take us back to the start of this.
So my thanks for your cooperation to date and please keep following these important public health rules.
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has hailed over £4 million worth of UK Government funding to Edinburgh to provide vital support for social care to deal with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP, who is also his party’s Shadow Health Secretary, says the UK Government have provided £58 million worth of direct funding to care homes in Scotland, with over £4 million allocated to the capital’s health and social care partnership.
Mr Briggs says the millions of pounds in funding will help to protect care home staff and residents and help to reduce any transmissions and highlights the UK Government’s commitment to provide care homes with the protection they need.
He added that he hopes that the funding will be backed up by urgency from the SNP Government in carrying out widespread testing of care home staff, which was promised back in May by Jeane Freeman.
Commenting, Miles Briggs MSP said:“The UK Government have shown a real commitment to supporting our care homes through the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With Edinburgh receiving over £4 million in direct funding, this is a hugely welcome funding boost to help our care homes and their staff who have been on the frontline during this unprecedented crisis.
“Our care homes have cared for our loved ones and they deserve our full support to stop transmission of the virus.
“With the UK Government stepping up to provide funding for the capital’s social care, it must be backed up by the SNP carrying out rigorous testing which has been sadly lacking since they promised it back in May.”
Meanwhile, Briggs’ Westminster boss PM Boris Johnson has blundered into a row about care homes. Johnson has been widely criticised for saying “too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures” during the coronavirus outbreak.
Mark Adams, CEO of charity Community Integrated Care, told the BBC the PM’s comments were “clumsy and cowardly” and he accused Mr Johnson of uttering ‘a massive untruth’.
Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Social Care Minister,said:“There have been 30,000 excess deaths in care homes and at least 20,000 of these caused by Covid-19. 25,000 elderly people were discharged from hospitals to care homes without any tests whatsoever and frontline care workers were left without vital PPE.
“Staff who have gone the extra mile to care for elderly people, and experienced things the rest of us can only imagine, will be appalled to hear the Prime Minister’s comments.
“Boris Johnson should be taking responsibility for his actions and fixing the crisis in social care, not blaming care homes for this Government’s mistakes.”
Joint statement from the head of the TUC and the UNISON, Unite, GMB and USDAW unions warns of “very short window” to save hundreds of thousands of jobs
Unions call for urgent action on furlough, infrastructure, public services and youth unemployment
