£540 million in benefit payments since launch of new system
The Scottish Government has provided people who need it with over £540 million in payments since launch in September 2018 up to 31 March 2020, according to the Social Security Scotland’s annual report published today.
From 1 September 2018 to 31 March 2020, benefits were delivered that support low income families during key stages in a child’s life, people struggling to pay for funerals and unpaid carer
The support paid over the course of the financial year reporting period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 totalled £346.7 million.
A further three benefits have been introduced since March 2020. Job Start Payment, Child Winter Heating Assistance and the Scottish Child Payment which is estimated could pay an extra £142 million to people in Scotland every year.
Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Social security is the most significant new public service to be created in Scotland since devolution.
“Social Security Scotland’s latest annual report shows that our new service is already supporting thousands of low income people including families with young children, carers and those who have lost loved ones.
“It paid out £346.7 million in the last financial year and we expect this to be much higher when we report again next year given the introduction of three more benefits – including the game changing Scottish Child Payment.
“What’s also encouraging is that over 80% of clients who rated their experience of applying for Scotland’s benefits said it was good. Making sure we get money to those who need it is our priority but to truly do things differently we want to make sure that people have a good experience – that they are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.
“Of the ten benefits we currently offer, seven are completely new forms of assistance and the others are more generous than the UK benefits they replace. And despite the impact of Covid-19, we have introduced three new benefits in the last four months and our new Scottish Child Payment that will provide eligible parents and carers with an additional £10 per child per week is open to applications and will be paid from the end of February 2021.
“Over the course of this year, the service has continued to grow and take on new responsibilities. And next year will bring even greater challenges with the introducing of the more complex disability benefits. People can be reassured that we will continue to ensure that our social security system is there for people when they need it, and is something they can be proud of.”
Chief Executive of Social Security Scotland, David Wallace said: “I’m very proud of what we have achieved during the 2019/20 reporting period and since launching our brand new public service. And I’m pleased we have been able to effectively get money to so many people in Scotland who need it.
“There is still a lot more to do as we prepare to start to deliver the more complex disability payments and our service will continue to grow.
“The annual report demonstrates all that we have accomplished. Looking forward, our new Corporate Plan sets out what we will do to deliver on our responsibilities in the future.
“And our Charter Measurement Framework co-designed by people with lived experience of benefits – will help us measure our success.”
Background
Payments made during the reporting period of 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 include Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment, Best Start Grant School Age Payment, Best Start Foods, Carer’s Allowance Supplement, Young Carer Grant and Funeral Support Payment.
Social Security Scotland also reports on Carer’s Allowance payments that are made on its behalf through the Department for Work and Pensions.
Over £537 million in benefit expenditure was recorded in the Social Security Scotland annual report (£346.7 million in 2019/20 and £190.9 million in the seven months of 2018/19) with an additional £6.9 million in 2019/20 Best Start Foods payments coming from the Scottish Government’s health budget. Best Start Foods spend is accounted for in the Scottish Government’s annual accounts.
As of 23 November 2020, Social Security Scotland now directly administers ten benefits. Benefits introduced in 2020/21 include Job Start Payment (introduced August 2020), Scottish Child Payment (applications accepted from November 2020 with payments to start end February 2021) and Child Winter Heating Assistance (introduced November 2020)
The £500 Self-Isolation Support Grant is being extended to include parents on low incomes whose children are asked to self-isolate, Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville announced yesterday.
The grant will also become available to those who may be eligible for Universal Credit, but have not yet applied.
Both changes will be introduced from 7 December.
Ms Somerville said: “We introduced this grant at unprecedented speed, and I am grateful for the work of COSLA and councils to ensure it is up and running.
“While self-isolation can be difficult for everyone, we know there are particular financial barriers to complying faced by some people.
“We always said we would review this grant to make sure it worked for people who face hardship as a result of self-isolation. That is why we are making changes for some people who are not currently eligible.
“We are extending it to parents of children aged under 16 who need to take time off work because their child is told to self-isolate, and also to people who are eligible for Universal Credit, but have not claimed it – providing they fulfil all of the other criteria for the grant.
“Supporting people to self-isolate is critical to controlling the spread of the virus. These are important changes, and I am grateful to councils for their continued work to support those who can claim this grant.”
COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokesperson Councillor Kelly Parry said: “COSLA welcomes the Self-Isolation Support Grant being extended to parents and carers of children who have been asked to stay home from school because of the virus and that it will also include those with an underlying eligibility for benefits.
“Council staff across the country have been working really hard to ensure the grant is accessible to people who have experienced a loss in income after being asked to self-isolate.
“By extending the eligibility for the grants, more people will be helped to stop the spread of the virus over the winter period.”
The Self-Isolation Support Grant provides £500 for low income workers who are in receipt of Universal Credit or other benefits and will lose earnings as a result of having to self-isolate.
Parents or carers of children under 16 who are asked to self-isolate, but who are not required to self-isolate themselves, are not currently eligible for the grant.
This is why the grant will be extended to those parents and carers, where they fulfil the other eligibility criteria:
employed or self-employed and unable to work from home
in receipt of Universal Credit or one of those which will be replaced by UC (legacy benefits)
facing a loss of income from looking after the child during the period of self-isolation
Only one claim per household can be made, where a parent or primary carer is required to look after a child who must isolate.
Eligibility will also be extended to people with a low level of income which means they would be entitled to Universal Credit.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced a one-off payment for Scotland’s lifesavers and care-givers on the frontline throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A pro rated payment of £500 will be made as soon as is practicable to all NHS and social care workers employed since 17 March 2020 – including staff who have had to shield, or who have since retired.
This investment of around £180 million will see over 300,000 staff gain some benefit from this bonus, including nurses, porters, doctors, primary care staff, homecare workers, care home staff, hospice staff and residential child care staff.
The First Minister said: “Back in the spring, at the height of the first wave of COVID, many of us publicly – and often loudly – showed our appreciation for the work our NHS and social care staff were doing.
“The applause was important, but it was never enough. Our appreciation must be shown in a more tangible way.
“We’re in the early stages of negotiating a new pay deal for NHS Agenda for Change staff for 2021/22. The UK Government’s public sector pay policy will not make that task easy, but we will do our level best to give NHS staff the pay increase they deserve. However, these negotiations will take time to conclude.
“Those who have worked in our hospitals and care homes – at the sharpest end of the COVID trauma – deserve recognition now.
“So I can announce today that, on behalf of us all, the Scottish Government will give every full time NHS and social care worker £500 as a one-off thank you payment for their extraordinary service in this toughest of years. Those who work part time will get a proportionate share.
“The money will be paid in this financial year and it will be separate from any negotiations about pay for the longer term. There are no strings attached.
“Of course, a payment like this can never come close to expressing our full admiration for those who have cared for us so heroically. But to our health and care workers, it is a demonstration of what we collectively owe you – and a heartfelt thank you for the sacrifices you have made.”
The pro rata £500 bonus scheme, which will be funded from the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 support package, applies to employees employed since March 17, for:
All NHS Employees, including:
staff who have been active in the NHS since 17 March 2020 but who have since left NHS employment, including retirees
staff who accepted and worked on temporary contracts since 17 March to aid pandemic response but who have since left NHS employment, including students who worked under temporary contracts but who have since returned to University
staff covered by the Two Tier Agreement
General Practitioners and their practice teams, including 2C practices
Staff providing NHS services under independent contractor arrangements including:
GP surgery staff
NHS Dental surgery staff
NHS pharmacy services staff
NHS optometry staff
Staff working in Adult Social Care including:
Care home staff
Homecare staff
Palliative care/hospice staff
Adult Personal Assistants
Social care staff in residential child care settings
Social Workers (including those working with children and families and in criminal justice)
People aged 60 – 64 will be invited to receive the seasonal flu vaccine from 1 December as part of the largest flu immunisation program ever delivered in Scotland.
The most effective way to protect against flu this winter is continuing to prioritise those who are most at risk, especially in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
With vaccination for the first phase of the flu programme well under way, eligibility is being extended next to those aged 60-64.
Those entitled to the flu vaccine will receive an invitation letter by post from their health board letting them know where they can receive the vaccine and how to book an appointment.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nicola Steedman said: “Flu is serious in itself, but with COVID-19 also circulating in the community, getting a flu jab is more important than ever.
“For those who may be concerned about going to get the flu vaccine, we can assure you that there will be strict infection and prevention control measures in place at delivery sites to protect you.
“The vaccine is safe, and the best protection we have against flu. This year more than ever it is important that those invited for vaccination take up the offer to protect themselves, their family and, where possible, the NHS. I’ve had my vaccine already, and would urge all of those who are eligible, including the new group of 60-64 year olds, to get one too.
“We will continue to adapt our approach to any changes that occur throughout flu season, always prioritising those most at risk from flu, as well as seeking to protect the NHS.”
£100 million package will help communities at risk
Funding to help people pay for food, heating, warm clothing and shelter during the winter is part of a new £100m support package.
The fund will help those on low incomes, children and people at risk of homelessness or social isolation cope with winter weather and the economic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) and Brexit.
The Winter Plan for Social Protection, announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, will also address domestic abuse and digital exclusion.
COVID-19 has had a significant negative effect on Scotland’s economy hitting jobs and living standards hard – and Brexit will exacerbate the situation.
With winter approaching, some of Scotland’s most at-risk communities are facing rising costs for food, fuel and other essentials.
Key elements of the plan include:
£22m for low income families including £16m to give the low income families of an estimated 156,000 children in receipt of free school meals a one-off £100 payment by Christmas
£23.5m to help vulnerable children through additional support for residential and care homes, social work, and the Children’s Hearing system
£15m for the Communities and Third Sector Recovery Programme to support the work of local organisations
£5.9m to promote digital inclusion for older people, support social isolation and loneliness and to promote equality
£7m to help people who are struggling to pay fuel bills
£5m to help those at risk of homelessness find a settled home
The Winter Plan for Social Protection also includes £15m of flexible funding for local authorities entering COVID-19 protection level 4 – announced by the First Minister earlier this month – which can be used to pay for food and essentials.
The First Minister said: “We will shortly become the only part of the UK to give low income families an extra £10 per week for every child – initially for children up to age 6 and then for every child up to age 16.
“This has been described as a game changer in the fight to end child poverty. The first payments will be made in February, but I know that for families struggling now, February is still a long way off.
“So I am announcing today a £100 million package to bridge that gap, and help others struggling most with the impact of COVID over the winter months.
“It will include money to help people pay their fuel bills and make sure children don’t go hungry. It will offer additional help for the homeless, and fund an initiative to get older people online and connected. And it will provide a cash grant of £100 for every family with children in receipt of free school meals.
“The money will be paid before Christmas and families can use it for whatever will help them through the winter.
“That could be food, new shoes or a winter coat for the kids. Families will know best what they need – that’s not for government to decide.
“Initiatives like this are not just about providing practical help to those who need it most – they are an expression of our values and of the kind of country we are seeking to build.”
The £100m Winter Plan for Social Protection has been developed to mitigate social harms posed by the concurrent risks of COVID-19, winter cost of living increases and EU exit, as well as to promote equality and human rights.
The full breakdown of the £100m fund is:
Support for families on low incomes (£22m)
Supporting services for children and young people (£23.5m)
Enhancing capacity within the third sector and communities (£15m)
Funds for local authorities moving into level 4 (£15m)
Further help with fuel costs (£7m)
Further investment in strategic national food activity (£2m)
Further investment to support people affected by homelessness (£5.14m)
Increased digital inclusion through Connecting Scotland for older people, support for social isolation and loneliness and strategic investment to promote equality (£5.91m)
A campaign on benefit uptake and income maximisation (£0.25m)
Reserve fund to meet potential pressures (£4.2m)
End Child Poverty members in Scotland welcomed the First Minister’s announcement today committing to provide low-income families entitled to free school meals in Scotland with a £100 per child payment.
Amidst rising child poverty and the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, this package of financial support for families whose children are eligible for free school meals will bring some welcome relief.
Speaking on behalf of End Child Poverty members in Scotland, Peter Kelly, Director of Poverty Alliance in Scotland, said: “It has been clear that children and families struggling to stay afloat through the pandemic cannot wait for the Scottish Child Payment for the lifeline support they need.
“So, it is very welcome that the Scottish Government has listened to people living on low incomes and organisations across Scotland, by committing to cash grants to support families through winter.
“For many fighting to keep their heads above water amid a rising tide of poverty, the cold winter months are bringing deeper hardship. This payment will act as an anchor to help them weather the storm until the rollout of the Scottish Child Payment.”
For many months End Child Poverty members in Scotland have been calling on both the Scottish and UK Governments to act urgently to get money into the pockets of struggling families, to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic and consequently the concerning rise in child poverty. We are pleased that the Scottish Government has listened to our calls and committed to supporting families most in need.
Getting cash directly into the pockets of families ensures dignity, respect and choice for families, recognising that families themselves are best placed to decide how to provide for their children. Working directly with children and families every day, they tell us the difference having money in their pockets means for them.
Many families across Scotland have been facing a long and difficult winter of increasing financial uncertainty and anxiety about how to pay their bills or feed their children. The Scottish Child Payment will not be fully rolled out until 2022, so this additional payment for those families will help bridge the gap between now and then.
Today’s announcement will go some way to alleviating the financial stress and anxiety for many families over the coming weeks and months.
However, there is currently no detail about how families with only pre-school aged children will benefit from today’s commitment or families with ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’, and this must be clarified. We also continue to call on the Scottish Government to commit further to increasing household incomes for struggling families who will continue to face much more uncertainty and financial insecurity during the pandemic and beyond.
We also continue to call on the UK Government to commit to making the temporary uplift to Universal Credit of £20 per week a permanent lifeline for families, beyond April next year. This permanent uplift should also be applied to legacy benefits and Tax Credits.
We believe today’s announcement is a good first step towards getting the desperately needed and vital financial support into families’ pockets. As we look towards next year and beyond there is much more needed if Scotland is to meet its child poverty targets. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to help them achieve this.
St Andrew’s Day, 30 November 2020 is our national day and the perfect opportunity for everyone across the country to come together and celebrate the resilience, community spirit and shared goodwill that has helped us through these difficult times.
We may not be able to travel and get together right now but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to look out for each other. Whether you’re a Scot or a Scot at heart, at home or overseas, let’s celebrate St Andrew’s Day and make connections with others through acts of kindness, sharing a message of hope and positivity from Scotland to the rest of the world.
A St Andrew’s Day message from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1333350208495869952
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack celebrates how much we have collectively achieved, thanking everyone who has done their bit to help us all get through 2020 so far:
St Andrew’s Day is a chance for us to celebrate all that is great about Scotland, and Scots, and to reflect on what it means to be Scottish.
In 2020, St Andrew’s Day will feel very different.
We are living through a global pandemic. Our lives are almost unrecognisable from a year ago.
But I believe that, this year more than ever, we should take the time to mark just how much we have collectively achieved.
Over the past few months, we have risen to the challenge of the, frankly terrifying, virus. We have, and are, all doing our bit to defeat it. We have made huge personal sacrifices because we know it will save lives and protect our precious NHS.
Our frontline workers – from health care staff to supermarket workers, teachers and everyone in between – have been nothing short of heroic. Looking after the ill, supporting the vulnerable, and keeping the country going. You are an inspiration to us all.
So many others have also done their bit. From picking up shopping and prescriptions, to organising spirit-lifting video chats and amazing charity fundraisers – individuals up and down the land have gone out of their way to look after friends, relatives and neighbours, and also strangers in need.
We have much to be proud of. In 2020, it seems to me, being Scottish is about fortitude and kindness. And also optimism. With new vaccines on the way we are starting to see some light at the end of the covid tunnel.
So, this St Andrew’s Day, I ask you to join me in thanking everyone who has done their bit to help us all get through 2020 so far. I have never felt more proud to be Scottish.
85% of teachers working in level 3 and 4 areas believe schools should move to a blended or remote learning model to protect the safety and welfare of pupils and staff, and over three-quarters (77%) believe their school remaining fully open is a political decision, rather than one based on safety.
76% of teachers across the whole of Scotland said they do not feel the Government is providing the necessary support for them and their school during the pandemic.
A survey of over 700 teachers across Scotland by NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, found serious concerns over the adequacy of the health and safety measures in place in schools and the level of protection currently being afforded to pupils and staff.
67% reported that pupils in their school have displayed symptoms of Covid-19, with just over half (51%) saying that classes or year groups had been sent home because of suspected or confirmed cases of the virus.
57% said staff in their school have displayed Covid symptoms.
Only a quarter (25%) of teachers feel the control measures introduced in their school are adequate with only just over a third (34%) saying they feel confident in the way their school is dealing with suspected or confirmed cases of Covid.
Just under half (49%) of teachers say they feel unsafe or very unsafe in their school, versus 16% who say they feel safe or very safe.
The survey also highlights the impact of the pandemic on teachers’ workloads, with nearly four in five (79%) saying their workload has increased or substantially increased compared to the same point last year. Remote learning preparation was cited as the biggest driver of increased workloads, with 74% saying they have been expected to develop and deliver remote learning provision in addition to their existing workload.
74% cited their current levels of stress and anxiety around work as high or very high.
Patrick Roach,NASUWT General Secretary,said:
“The NASUWT wants schools to remain open, but to remain open safely, with additional measures which prioritise the safety and welfare of pupils and staff.
“We believe that a move to blended learning with smaller class sizes in areas with the highest rates of Covid should be part of the strategy to managing and suppressing the virus, along with greater protections for clinically vulnerable staff and enhanced safety mitigations.
“We need better data on case numbers in schools, a system of inspection and enforcement of safety measures, rigorous protocols on self-isolation when cases do occur and more funding and resources for schools to ensure safety is not compromised on the grounds of cost.
“The challenges of developing and adopting blended and remote learning are clearly having an unsustainable impact on teachers’ workloads, which is why funding for additional supply teachers is needed so that schools can maintain consistent and high-quality learning provision for pupils learning in the classroom and at home.”
Jane Peckham, NASUWT National Official Scotland, said:
“Teachers do not feel the Government is doing enough to support their safety and that of the pupils they teach and feel ministers are failing to fully recognise the tremendous pressures they are facing in continuing to provide education to children and young people in these unprecedented circumstances.
“The failure to address these realities is risking the health and safety of pupils and school staff.
“Without action we will see more pupils being absent from school and more teachers being absent from work because of illness or because they need to self-isolate. We will also see more teachers succumbing to mental and physical burnout.
“We have already set out to minister the additional actions we believe need to be taken to protect the education of children and young people whilst ensuring that our schools can continue to operate safely.
“It is now incumbent on Government to fulfil its responsibilities to protect children, young people and all those who work in our schools.”
A debut poetry collection, a collaborative funk and soul album, and the publication of four new books by female authors are among the Edinburgh-based creative projects and research and development initiatives sharing in over £820K of National Lottery and Scottish Government funding through Creative Scotland in the latest round of Open Fund awards.
Award-winning poet Sam Buchan-Watts has received funding towards debut collection Path Through Woods, which draws on the writer’s experience of working with asylum seekers and oral histories. The funds will also support Sam to widen the audience for his work by building on relationships with small publishers.
Sam Buchan-Watts said: “This funding has made possible the development and completion of my first book-length poetry collection, centred on the means of listening to vulnerable subjects.
“I am enormously grateful for the work Creative Scotland does to make writers and artists feel valued – especially in a time when many struggle to stay buoyant, spiritually and materially.”
Funk and soul band James Brown is Annie have also received funds to create a collaborative album with award-winning jazz and folk artists.
Featuring eight original tracks written during lockdown, the album will be produced by platinum-selling Scottish musician Hamish Stuart. Hamish is best known as the frontman of Average White Band and has previously worked with artists including Sir Paul McCartney and Aretha Franklin.
Polygon have also been awarded funds to publish four new works from female authors at various stages of their careers.
Iain Munro, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said: “The Open Fund is enabling creative people and organisations to explore ways of working that is helping them to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances brought about as a result of Covid-19.
“From researching and developing new work and practices, to exploring safe ways to reach and engage audiences, these projects reflect the resilience, innovation and determination of Scotland’s creative community in the face of extremely challenging circumstances.
“Made possible by the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, and the Scottish Government, these awards are helping to sustain the immense value that creativity adds to our lives.”
GMB slams “Shameful” Scottish Government update on Home Care Testing
Responding to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman’s statement to parliament yesterday, confirming that COVID-19 testing for home care workers will be ‘phased-in from mid-January’, Rhea Wolfson of GMB Scotland’s Women’s Campaign Unit said:“This is a shameful admission from the Scottish Government. Our members delivering home care services across the country will be outraged to be left at the back of the queue again.
“In all probability it will be March 2021 before every home care worker has testing at work and staff could very well be receiving their vaccinations before they ever receive a test.
“Last March the First Minister told us that Scotland was prepared for this pandemic and that Scotland had among the best testing capacity in the world. This was a tissue of lies.
“COVID has exposed how poorly Scotland’s carers are valued and today’s statement is the equivalent of kicking an exhausted workforce when they are already down.”
Statement given by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman to Parliament on Wednesday 25 November:
Last week in this chamber, I updated members on our plans to deliver COVID vaccinations. Today, I am grateful for the opportunity to update on our plans to significantly expand testing.
This further expansion is possible because of increases in our testing capacity – coming from the 3 new NHS regional hub laboratories, from Lighthouse laboratories, and from new testing options.
Yesterday the Glasgow Lighthouse Laboratory reached the remarkable milestone of 5 million tests processed. Work on our three new Regional Hubs in NHS Scotland is progressing and I want to thank our microbiology, virology and healthcare science workforces who have built the largest diagnostic capacity and are a critical part of Scotland’s COVID response
New options come from innovation in testing outside our labs – notably the new lateral flow devices – bringing us significantly greater capability to test more people, more often.
I will come on to how we will use this capability, but first, I would like to say a few words on these new tests.
Lateral Flow Devices are rapid turnaround tests, where samples are processed on site with no lab required and results are available in under half an hour. The type we are using first in our expansion – the Innova lateral flow test – has had extensive clinical validation by Public Health England and Oxford University.
This validation found the Innova lateral flow test has an overall sensitivity of 76.8% – meaning it will identify more than 7 in 10 positive cases of COVID. That rises to over 95% of those with high viral loads – those that are likely to be those most infectious.
Understanding this matters, because as we have said consistently from the outset, no test is 100% accurate, and testing on its own, does not reduce transmission. It only helps stop transmission through the actions taken following the result – to isolate if positive and give contact tracers all the information about where we have been in the period when you may have been infectious, so close contacts can be identified and told to isolate, all of that aimed at killing off the chain of transmission.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced plans to expand #coronavirus testing in Scotland’s health and social care sector, as well as across the wider community.
Testing is one layer of protection. All the others from reducing contacts, keeping our distance, wearing face coverings, enhanced infection prevention and control in our NHS and care settings to vaccines when they come all of them only work to greatest effect when they work together.
Our senior clinical and scientific advisers recently reviewed our Testing Strategy, and their advice was clear and unanimous: test people with symptoms, test for clinical care, and when capacity allows – prioritise to protect those most vulnerable from the worst harm. We now have that increased capacity and will extend testing now to many more people
By the start of December we will extend testing to all hospital admissions to emergency departments, acute assessment centres, maternity units and emergency mental health units. By mid-December we will extend that testing to all medical and surgical elective admissions.
We will extend our routine testing of healthcare workers. Everyone working in patient facing roles in all of our hospitals, the Scottish Ambulance Service, Covid Assessment Centres in the community and the healthcare professionals who visit care homes, will receive twice weekly testing.
The scale of this challenge is not to be underestimated – NHS Scotland employs over 170,000 people – and, while not all are in patient facing roles, the number who are is considerable.
We know our frontline NHS staff are at the highest risk of being exposed to COVID-19. We know when community transmission rises, so too does the risk of outbreaks in our hospitals.
So we will phase in this extension from the start of December, to be completed by the end of that month.
I know that all those NHS staff who continue to deliver an extraordinary service and understand so well all they need to do to protect themselves and the patients they care for will welcome this additional layer of protection.
We will extend testing in social care. There are up to 42,000 care home residents across Scotland, all of whom are entitled to a designated visitor. We will use lateral flow testing on the day of the visit, so that if that test is positive family members can take immediate action to isolate and avert the harm that could have arisen.
We will roll out lateral flow testing to up to 12 early adopter care homes across 4 local authority areas from 7th December. Learning from that we will roll out to a further number of homes across an additional 7 local authorities before the 21st December, with full roll out across all homes completed over January and early February.
Whilst this is positive progress and I hope it is good news, I am mindful of the approaching Christmas period and I do not want any resident or family member to be disadvantaged. So for those not included in the lateral flow early adopters before Christmas, we will provide access to PCR testing in the weeks beginning 21, 28 December and 4 January.
Family and loved ones know better than anyone that testing provides an additional layer of protection. On its own it doesn’t give risk-free visiting but combined with appropriate PPE and strict hand hygiene I hope it allows more relatives to visit their loved ones, reduces isolation and loneliness for care home residents and gives providers the additional confidence they need to facilitate more visits
There can be no question that the home care workforce do one of the most critical jobs – supporting and caring for people so they can continue to live as independently as possible in their own home.
From mid-January, we are extending our testing programme to them, including permanent and visiting staff and personal assistants to a person’s home and covering residential settings, sheltered housing and day care.
This is a large group of people doing very important jobs but the very nature of the job they do means they work individually in a number of different homes and settings.
The logistics of this are not straightforward and we will phase this in for care at home staff also from mid-January, starting in those local authority areas with the highest virus prevalence at the time and expanding out from there to cover the whole sector by March.
With the significant capability now available to us we are also extending asymptomatic testing to entire groups and communities – to help us find positive cases even before a person develops symptoms.
As members know, we are doing this first in partnership with our universities so that tens of thousands of students can travel to their family homes safely at the end of this term.
All students leaving their term-time address will be offered two lateral flow tests, three days apart, from next week.
And as part of the details to be set out shortly for the staggered return of University students in the New Year, testing will be put in place for them once more
All school staff can currently access testing if they are concerned they have been at risk from infection and we have enhanced surveillance in schools undertaken by PHS.
But I know that as transmission has risen or stayed stubbornly high in some of our communities, especially those now in Level 4, school staff may have had concerns about risk. We will maintain current access to asymptomatic testing but last week the Deputy First Minister also gave a clear commitment to explore extending testing further.
I am pleased to confirm that from the return of the school term in January, we will undertake a number of pathfinder testing programmes on deliverability in the school environment with the objective of establishing a sustainable programme of asymptomatic testing amongst school staff.
Our testing capability now enables us to work with local partners to trial whole community testing in exactly those areas where transmission has stayed stubbornly high. Next week we will be deploying up to six additional MTUs and 20,000 home test kits to support work in five local authority areas – Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East and South Ayrshire and Clackmannanshire.
We will also set up an asymptomatic test site using lateral flow testing in Johnstone in Renfrewshire, which has one of the highest new cases per 100,000 of any local authority in Scotland.
This centre will have the capacity to test up to 12,000 people over the course of the week. And we are actively planning wider targeted deployment for early January, including further asymptomatic test sites.
In deploying mobile units, home test kits and trialling the Asymptomatic Test site, we will work closely with local communities to harness their expertise to encourage high participation.
Presiding Officer, testing is undeniably important, but it is just one layer of protection. Many layers are needed to fight this virus.
Our increased capability now to test more people, more often is potentially powerful as we navigate our way through the coming months as safely as we can and alongside our nation-wide vaccination programme.
With the plans I have set out in this chamber today, we will move to testing hundreds of thousands of people without symptoms to actively find the virus and with the continuing cooperation of people across Scotland, prevent and break down chains of transmission before COVID-19 can cause the harm we know it is capable of.
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House on Wednesday 25 November:
Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us. I will give you today’s statistics first of all as usual.
There were 880 positive cases reported yesterday which is 6.8% of the total number of tests that were carried out. That means the total number of confirmed cases so far throughout the entire pandemic is 90,961.
260 of the new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 190 in Lanarkshire, 122 in Grampian and 94 in Lothian.
The remaining cases were across 8 other health board areas. 1,161 people are currently in hospital – that is 36 fewer than yesterday. 84 people are in intensive care, that’s the same as yesterday.
And finally, I regret to report that 44 additional deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive in the previous 28 day period. The total number of deaths under this measurement that we use on a daily basis is now 3,588.
However, National Records of Scotland, as it does every Wednesday, has just published its weekly update, that you will recall includes cases where COVID is a suspected or contributory cause of death in addition to those that we report daily where COVID has been confirmed through a test.
Today’s update shows that by Sunday just past, the total number of registered deaths linked to COVID under that wider definition, was 5,380.
244 of those deaths were registered over the course of the last week, that is actually 35 fewer than in the week before.
And that is the first decrease in the weekly number of deaths that we have seen since the end of September. Any reduction in the number of people dying is of course good news, but any feeling of relief that we feel about that must be tempered by a recognition that the number of deaths is still far too high.
160 of last week’s deaths occurred in hospitals, 67 occurred in care homes, and 17 at home or in another non-institutional setting.
Now every single one of those deaths was of an individual who will be right now mourned by friends and family. So again today, as it is important to do every day, I want to convey my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one as a result of this virus.
Now I have a couple of issues I want to cover today before I, with Professor Leitch, will take questions from the media.
The first is that literally as we will be speaking here today the Chancellor of the Exchequer will, in the House of Commons, be delivering his autumn statement.
Over the course of this pandemic, the Scottish Government and the UK Government have worked together constructively on many issues and I will come on to talk about arrangements for the Christmas period in a moment and that is one of those issues.
But we have also welcomed several of the Chancellor’s recent decisions; for example the extension of the Job Retention Scheme until the spring.
But we do believe there are several areas where families and businesses are likely, as a result of the pandemic, to continue to need help even after April of next year and that’s when many of the current support mechanisms are scheduled to end.
Now the kind of areas I am talking about would include rates relief for businesses, and the uplift to universal credit for households and individuals.
So we are very much hoping that today’s statement brings clarity and positive news on these issues.
That would be very important in providing certainty as all of us continue to cope with the immediate impact of COVID. And of course it would provide the Scottish Government with greater clarity as we prepare our own budget which will be presented to the Scottish Parliament in January – and that budget will provide more details of the support we are able to provide for businesses and individuals into the next financial year so the more clarity we have from the Chancellor about the overall spending envelope would be very welcome.
Now the second issue I want to cover and perhaps take a few moments to dwell on today is yesterday’s announcement about arrangements for the forthcoming Festive period.
Let me tell you that the Scottish Government will be publishing more detailed guidance fleshing out what we said yesterday, we will do that later this week, hopefully tomorrow (Thursday), and I will set out some further details in Parliament ahead of the weekly session of First Minister’s questions.
The festive period will be different for us all this year.
Watch our video on the changes we’re making to address isolation and loneliness ⬇️
Remember, just because you will be able to meet people indoors doesn’t mean you have to.
However as you will undoubtedly have heard yesterday the four UK nations decided that for a five day window over Christmas – that means from 23 December to 27 December inclusive – we will relax slightly the current rules on travel and household meetings.
This relaxation will enable you – if you feel it is necessary and that is a point I want to stress and I will come back to that point shortly – if you feel it is necessary the relaxation will enable you to form a bubble of up to three households over that five day period.
Now let me stress, if you choose to do that, it has to be just one bubble. You can’t chop and change it over the 5 day period. And none of the households in a bubble can form another bubble with other households.
Now, as is the case with most of these COVID decisions, some of you will think this a reasonable decision that we have arrived at, others of you will think it doesn’t go far enough, and many of you will think it is a terrible decision and it goes way too far and my email inbox has all of these views expressed within it today.
But I think that just reflects a reality that none of what we are dealing with right now, none of what we are seeking to steer and navigate our way through, is straightforward. And speaking as First Minister, as head of the Scottish Government, we agonise over all of these decisions and often we are trying to balance all sorts of different factors and come to, not a perfect outcome, because in a pandemic I am not sure there is such a thing, but come to the outcome that balances best all of these competing factors and desires that people have.
And on this particular occasion what we are trying to do is reflect a reality that for some people, whether I like it or not, sticking rigidly to the current rules over Christmas – if that means, for example, leaving loved ones on their own – is something that some people might not be prepared to do.
So rather than just leave everyone to try navigate that themselves and decide their own boundaries, we came to a decision to try to set out some outer limits and some boundaries that we are asking people to work within.
But and this is the key point. Notwithstanding that decision which is trying to recognise a reality that I have just set out, that does not mean that we are positively encouraging people to get together.
I want to stress today that just because we are allowing people to create a bubble it does not mean you have to do it. And, if you do choose to do it at all you don’t have to do it the maximum permitted.
We are relying on people, as we have been throughout this entire pandemic, but maybe particularly over these next few weeks, we are relying on people across the country, to make informed choices about whether or not to come together at all over the Christmas period.
We recognise that for many people, supporting others and their families by being with them, will be something that they feel is essential. But for others, it won’t be essential, and you might choose this year therefore to mark Christmas very differently to how you normally would.
Because the virus will not have gone away by Christmas and it is really important that I am very straight with you about that and we know bringing people together at home, carries risk.
That is why we are asking people not to meet in each other’s homes right now. And of course after 8 months of very hard and very painful sacrifice, of keeping loved ones as safe as possible, and now that we are so close to a possible vaccine, we all have to ask ourselves if that is a risk we personally want to take.
So as I say we will produce guidance to help you come to these decisions and to minimise risks for those of you who do choose to come together albeit in a limited way over the Christmas period.
As I said before we will set out more detail tomorrow. But let me repeat some key points which you will no doubt hear me reiterate over the weeks between now and Christmas.
The first point is this. If you can get through this Christmas staying in your own home, within your own household, please do so. That would be the safest decision and that I guess is the default advice that I am giving to people.
However, If you feel you need to see somebody from another household, please limit that as much as possible.
Remember what I said about the five days, three households. That is the outer limits. That should be seen as a maximum. Stay as far within that as you possibly can.
And if you feel it is essential to see others, think about how you do that think about whether you could do that differently to how most of us traditionally celebrate Christmas, particularly Christmas Day.
So for example and I know this is something I am thinking in my own personal circumstances, instead of meeting indoors for Christmas go for a family walk together, exchange presents on the way, see each other outside. All of this sounds difficult and strange, but we are living in difficult and strange times.
And of course if you are indoors with people from other households during this limited window, keep the literal windows open. Follow all the hygiene rules. It will be difficult to remember that I know, but wash your hands, clean the hard surfaces in the house that you are in and keep a physical distance as much as you can.
That will be the hardest thing of all if you are with loved ones. Not hugging them. And trying to keep apart, but it is really important we all remember and don’t allow to go by the wayside these really important rules we have been living by.
The fact that I am stressing all of this, despite the announcement we have made yesterday, underlines that yesterday’s decision was not an easy one in fact it was a really difficult one I am sure for all of the governments involved.
We know that the festive period means a lot to people, it means a lot to us as well as individuals, and we know in particular it can be an especially difficult time to be alone or to feel isolated.
Because of that, many people – in seeking to do the right thing over Christmas – will come to the view that for them that means spending some time with friends and loved ones.
And it is for that reason that we have decided to provide some rules and guidance that will minimise the risks of that. But these rules, if you exercise the flexibility they give you, still have a risk attached to them.
We know that people can be infectious without having symptoms of COVID, so all of us find it really hard to fathom and believe and comprehend that it might be our family gathering that is the one that has a risk attached to it. But it may well be, particularly if you are bringing together people in different generations that risk to vulnerable people can be great and that is exacerbated indoors.
So all of this is difficult. Governments agonise over these decisions and I am sure families will be coming to very difficult decisions as well. We are trying to give a framework in which we can all reach these decisions, but I will continue to ask you to err on the side of caution, to think about the safety of loved ones and not to forget how close we may now be to an end of this pandemic and if you have been making painful sacrifices for eight months to keep those you love safe then think about whether you want to take a risk with their safety at this eleventh hour in this horrible journey that we are all going through.
And one final point I want to stress before moving on to questions is this one.
While we are all thinking about Christmas as is inevitably the case as we get towards December Christmas is still four weeks away and the most important thing we can all do right now – to make not just Christmas as safe as possible but the period after Christmas as safe as possible – is to reduce the number of people that are infectious now and for all of us that means sticking to all of the rules and guidance that is in place right now.
