Additional funding to help pandemic response and winter preparation
Scotland’s health and social care sector will receive £1.1 billion in additional funding to support its work through coronavirus (COVID-19) pressures, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced.
The funding will be allocated to NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships across Scotland to help them meet COVID-19 related costs such as additional staffing or sickness expenditure, enhanced infection prevention and control measures, and the purchase of PPE.
Ms Freeman said: “The health and social care sector has a critical frontline role in responding to the single greatest public health crisis of our lifetimes, and I want to pay tribute to all staff involved for their heroic efforts to overcome the many challenges presented by this pandemic.
“As we continue to safely remobilise our health and social care sector, the Scottish Government is taking action to support services’ capacity to deal with the ongoing presence of COVID 19, and continue preparations for the wider pressures of the winter season.
“This funding ensures the sector will continue to receive the support required to deal with the additional challenges of the pandemic, whilst still delivering the vital health, social care and hospital-based services the public rely on every day.”
Health and social care funding rose to more than £15 billion for the first time under the 2020-21 Budget, with more than £100 million delivered in excess of Barnett consequentials to support frontline services as part of the overall uplift.
To stop the virus spreading and save lives we need to act now. Stick with it Scotland, for yourselves and each other. pic.twitter.com/2RsHcgOpPb
Today, the Edinburgh Poverty Commission launches it’s final report, A Just Capital: Actions to End Poverty in Edinburgh.
In this blog, EPC Chair Dr Jim McCormick (below) sets out the Commission’s journey, what we have learned along the way, and what we are calling for next:
Our Call to Action in Edinburgh comes after almost two years of conversations across the city: with people experiencing poverty, the community anchors that support them, keyworkers, employers, councillors, public service officials, housing providers and taxi drivers.
This rich process has uncovered new insights on how poverty is experienced in Scotland’s capital city – some arising directly from the COVID-19 pandemic – but more stemming from long-established struggles. We set out much of what we had learned about the immediate impact of Covid in our interim report in May.
Since then, we have maintained a clear focus on addressing the root causes of poverty as well as mitigating the consequences. We have discovered common ground among people with different experiences and in different sectors: that poverty in Edinburgh is real, damaging and costly – but also that, despite the powerful currents that threaten to drive us further off course, there is enough determination in the city to embrace the twin challenges of solving poverty and reducing carbon emissions over the next decade.
We have identified six broad areas for action and one cultural challenge that should serve as a lens through which each action should be approached.
Our first proposition is that Edinburgh will only succeed in creating a prosperous city without poverty if it creates the conditions for good jobs, genuinely affordable housing, income security and meaningful opportunities that drive justice and boost prospects – above all, in the city’s schools.
In addition, a much sharper focus on connections across the city is needed – via digital participation, cheaper transport and creating neighbourhoods that work. These actions combined will flow through to reduced harm to people’s physical and mental health. Emergency food support should not become locked in as a fourth emergency service but serve as a gateway to other support that will ease isolation and build human connection and kindness where it has been lacking.
The common challenge running through all of our work is a cultural one. We call on the City Council and its partners in all sectors to shift towards a relationship-based way of working which gets alongside people and communities in a holistic way.
The experience of poverty is too often one of stigma, being assessed, referred and passed from pillar to post – a separate service and multiple workers for each need. This radical move would see public servants authorised to put poverty prevention at the heart of their day-to-day work.
It will mean new relationships with citizens, employees and third sector partners. It will take visible leadership and longer-term financial commitment. There are green shoots in Edinburgh and examples from beyond Scotland demonstrating how better outcomes for families can be achieved and fewer resources locked into multiple complex systems.
We call this ‘the right support in the places we live and work’ to signal the importance of local access to multiple forms of support under one roof and within walking or pram-pushing distance – for example money advice and family support offered in nurseries, schools, GP surgeries and libraries.
None of these challenges are new. The City Council and its partners can point to significant investment in recent years to turn the tide on poverty. But we are not persuaded that actions have been consistent, at scale, sustained over time or have poverty reduction as part of their purpose.
While Edinburgh has many of the powers to go further, we are not persuaded that it can deliver on the required social housing expansion without a new funding deal with the Scottish Government.
This is urgently needed to boost investment and to help unlock the supply of land at a reasonable price. Almost one in three families in Edinburgh in poverty are pulled below the water line solely due to their housing costs.
That compares with one in eight households in poverty across Scotland. Solving the city’s housing crisis will go a long way to delivering on affordable housing ambitions for the country as a whole.
At the same time, the UK Government has a critical role in creating an income lifeline for families in and out of work, by maintaining the currently temporary increase in Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance – both of which have become more significant as a result of damage to Edinburgh’s job market since March.
This Call to Action is not a list of recommendations or a menu of options. Reflecting our lives, each area is connected to the others. A plan for housing makes little sense in isolation from a plan for schools. Developing skills for employment will fall short if basic needs for secure, decent housing and food are neglected.
Nor is the ten-year horizon a get-out clause. We have worked on this basis because Scotland has committed to a significant cut in child poverty by 2030 and because many of the city’s existing plans run to the same schedule. We call on the City Council and the wider Edinburgh Partnership to set out its initial response by Christmas, as part of a first year of planning and early implementation.
And we are leaving a legacy through a new independent network, End Poverty Edinburgh. Led by Commission member Zoe Ferguson and our partners at Poverty Alliance, this brings together a core group of residents with first-hand experience of living on a low income and allies who want to be part of shaping the solutions.
Inspired by a similar approach in Edmonton (Alberta), they will stress test this report, challenge and add their own ideas, work with city partners to achieve progress but also hold the city to account on its response.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to our work in the hard graft of sharing painful stories, completing surveys and through organised and chance conversations.
Each member of the Commission gave their time, energy and ideas generously and for longer than originally asked. The quotes in this report reflect only a little of their brilliant contributions. Our work – and this report – was only possible due to the skill, care and patience brought by our secretariat team of Chris Adams, Nicola Elliott, Ciaran McDonald, and Gareth Dixon.
We have listened, been shocked and inspired – I hope we have done justice to what we have learned. Our Call to Action sets out something beyond hope: it is an expectation of what the city can and must now achieve.
Dr Jim McCormick, Chair of Edinburgh Poverty Commission
Read the final report here and the supplementary data and evidence paper here.
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, yesterday – Tuesday 29 September: the day coronavirus deaths topped one million worldwide.
Hello, and thanks for joining us. I will start with the daily update of COVID statistics. The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 806. I’m going to make some important contextual points on today’s figure shortly but I will report the rest of the statistics first.
That 806 represents 11.5% of people newly tested, and takes the total number of cases to 28,604.
I can confirm that 302 of today’s reported cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 180 in Lothian, 91 in Lanarkshire and 54 in Grampian. The remaining 179 cases are spread across 9 other health board areas.
I can also confirm that 123 people are in hospital – that is an increase of 1 from yesterday. 14 people are in intensive care, which is 2 fewer than yesterday.
No additional deaths have been confirmed of patients who had tested positive within the preceding 28 days.
That means that the total number of deaths, under the daily measurement, remains at 2,512.
That total of course reminds us of the impact this virus has had, and continues to have. I want once again to pass on my condolences to everybody who is grieving a loved one.
Let me now turn to some points of context about today’s figures.
First, as I have explained before our daily case numbers reflects test results reported in previous 24 hours. Each day’s figure therefore reflects test samples actually carried out over the previous couple of days.
You will recall me saying that yesterday’s figure of reported cases seemed lower than expected. So today’s total of 806 includes a high number of results from samples actually taken on Friday and Saturday that we would have expected to see reported yesterday.
So that perhaps partly explains the particularly high number of cases we’re seeing today. We continue to work with the UK government to ensure that turnaround times for test results, which after a bit of a problem a couple of weeks ago have improved, continue to be as speedy as they need to be.
The second point is that, while we are certainly seeing rising transmission – and I am not underplaying that – we are doing much more testing now than in the spring, so comparisons of daily case numbers now versus then are not really particularly valid.
And of course Test and Protect is able to follow up every person who tests positive to ensure their contacts are traced and told to self-isolate.
So when we know transmission is rising as it is right now, it is actually important to know that significant numbers are being reported every day – that means we know about these positive cases and their contacts are being traced by Test and Protect and all of the work that Test and Protect has to do to break chains of transmission is being done.
The final point to draw attention to about today’s numbers is the age range of the cases. The majority are in the under 40 age groups – with the bulk of those in the under 25 age group – and that is of course affected by university clusters we’ve been seeing in recent days.
But the point I want to make today which is one you’ve heard me make before is that the fact that many cases are now in the younger age groups and we know that younger people are less likely to die from COVID than older, more vulnerable people, that mustn’t give rise to complacency.
Firstly, because young people can become very unwell from this virus and, while their risk of dying is lower, they’re not non-existent and we hear almost every day of what is described as ‘long COVID’ – of younger otherwise healthy people having quite long lasting health impacts from having had the virus.
But the other point about this is that, while we’re seeing a significant number of cases in the younger age group which is a phenomenon we’ve seen across Europe in the latest surge of COVID, it is the case that transmission amongst older age groups is also rising.
Around a third of today’s cases are actually in the over 40 age group and there are a number in the over 60 age group so transmission is rising across the spectrum of age ranges and I’ll say more shortly therefore about what we must all do to guard against transmission.
However, I will briefly address a couple of other issues first.
The Scottish Government Chief Economist has published his regular State of the Economy report today.
The report highlights that – year on year – economic output is likely to decline by 10% over the course of 2020. In many ways that is unsurprising, given the disruption caused to so many businesses. Nevertheless, that would still be the biggest reduction in output in modern times.
That is why the Scottish Government welcomed some parts of the UK Government’s announcement last week about continued support for employment and businesses. It is vital that some support for employers continues, after the furlough scheme ends at the end of October.
But we believe much more is still required and we want to work with the UK government constructively to that end. We can’t get away from the fact that the pandemic will continue to have a significant and, to a large extent, an unavoidable impact on our economy and support provided must reflect that.
The second issue I want to cover relates to funding for health boards and our health and social care integration authorities.
The Health Secretary confirmed earlier today that we are making an additional £1.1 billion available for these bodies.
This will help them to meet additional costs associated with COVID – such as buying personal protective equipment (PPE), safeguarding against infection; and paying for additional staff, and providing cover for staff who are unwell or self-isolating.
The funding will play an important part in ensuring that our health and care services can continue to operate well in the weeks and months to come.
It should help them to prepare for the pressures of the winter, to care safely for patients who have COVID, as well as resume services that were paused during the early months of the pandemic for non-COVID treatments and procedures.
Now let me return to the central issue of the day, which is the current COVID position. As is said earlier, COVID is on the rise again across our population and across Scotland – just as it is across the UK, Europe and the world.
I want to return today to the key actions that we should all take to try and reduce transmission and in particular, the actions we all need to take if we get a positive test result.
This is absolutely vital in helping control the spread of the virus. And it is crucial for all of us, wherever we live – there has been lots of focus on students in halls of residence recently – but self-isolation is essential for all of us if we test positive no matter where we live.
Essentially, if you have any one of the three recognised symptoms of COVID, you should start to self-isolate immediately, and book a test.
You can do that through the NHS Inform website. And I want to be very clear, while we’re not complacent and monitor this carefully, there is good availability of and access to testing across Scotland so make sure you don’t delay booking a test if you have symptoms.
The symptoms are a new cough, a high temperature, or a loss of – or change in – your sense of taste or smell.
From the time you realise you have one of these symptoms, you should not leave your house, except if you need to do that to get tested. You should not use public transport to go to a testing centre – if you can avoid that, you should instead drive or get someone to drive you, request a home test, or use a walk-in centre if there is one nearby or a mobile testing unit.
When you get your test result, if you test negative, and don’t have COVID, you can stop self-isolating at that point.
However if you have COVID, you need to self-isolate for a further 10 days, starting from the day on which you took the test.
Other people in your household should self-isolate for 14 days. They need to self-isolate for longer because if they get COVID from you, their infectious period will probably start a few days after yours did.
In addition, if you test positive someone from Test and Protect will speak to you to identify other possible contacts of yours.
And of course if you have downloaded the Protect Scotland app, you should also enter the code you have been given with your test result.
Once that code is entered onto the app, contacts identified by the app will automatically be notified. This is really important. Since we launched the app a couple of weeks ago, hundreds of people – who might not otherwise have been identified – have received notifications in this way and been given advice to self-isolate.
If you find out that you are a contact of someone with COVID – either through a Test and Protect team, or from the app – you need to self-isolate for 14 days. You will be told when that 14 day period starts from.
And the key thing to stress here is that self-isolation really does mean self-isolation. It means not leaving your house at all.
Because we know that’s really tough, we are working to put as much support in place as possible. For example, we are working with local authorities to ensure that when someone is asked by Test and Protect to self-isolate, they are contacted and offered essential practical support – for example help with delivery of food and other essentials. You can also dial the national assistance hotline if you need to self-isolate and need some help on 0800 111 4000. That’s 0800 111 4000.
As I said last week, we are also introducing financial support of £500 for those on low incomes as a way of supporting people to do the right thing. More details of that will be available later this week.
But although self-isolation is tough, it is also essential.
So please do self-isolate when you need to. It is one of the key ways in which we can help ensure that the virus does not spread to new households. And it is one of the ways in which all of us, at various times, may well be required to play our part in tackling the spread of the virus.
Now I’ve spent some time on self-isolation because it is so important and we want to make sure people understand why it’s so important and also what needs to be done when you’re asked to self-isolate and the support that is available. But there are of course other steps we must all take to try to reduce transmission.
So let me end with a quick recap of what those other steps are:
With some limited exceptions, none of us should be visiting each other’s homes at the moment.
When we do meet other households – outdoors, or in indoor public places – we must not meet in groups of more than six people from a maximum of two households.
We should all try to limit our visits to, and social interactions in, places like pubs and restaurants.
We should work from home if we can.
We should all download the Protect Scotland app, if we can.
And finally, all of us in all our interactions, should remember FACTS:
face coverings
avoid crowded places
clean hands and hard surfaces
maintain a two metre distance from people from other households
and – as I have already talked about today – immediately self-isolate, and book a test, if you have any of the recognised symptoms
These rules are not easy to comply with and they are a huge inconvenience to all of us in our daily lives. But they are essential right now to ensure that all of us are playing our part in trying to stem the increase in COVID and bring the virus back under control.
So again, my thanks to everybody for all of the many sacrifices that I know are being made the length and breadth of the country.
Expertise and experience wanted to help tackle poverty and inequality
Ideas are being gathered to drive a fairer recovery in the wake of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Organisations and community groups are being asked to share ideas and evidence based on their experiences of responding to the pandemic, and their engagement with people with lived experience of poverty and inequality.
Responses will help inform the work of the Scottish Government’s Advisory Board on Social Renewal, which is tasked with building on the positive policy and practice shifts seen during COVID-19 to tackle disadvantage and poverty, and advance equality and social justice.
Analysis of responses will feed into the board’s discussions, and a report on the outcomes will be published later this year.
Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the health, wealth and emotional wellbeing of our communities is vital to inform our response to and recovery from the pandemic. We also know particular groups have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis.
“That’s why we established the Social Renewal Advisory Board to focus on reducing poverty and disadvantage and advancing equality across a range of issues.
We now want to hear from the many organisations and community groups working on social renewal that will have adapted, changed and repurposed in light of COVID-19. There is significant learning on this to be shared and we want to capture that expertise.
“Our call for ideas and evidence will help us drive forward our ambitions on creating a fairer, more equal society and ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are heard.”
The call for ideas and evidence will run until 16 October.
From local streets to sandy beaches, Scots are being encouraged to get litter in the bag with litter picks in their area.
Zero Waste Scotland is supporting Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Marine Conservation Society with funding to provide individuals, couples, families and small groups (in-line with Scottish Government outdoors advice) with litter-picking and survey kits to deal with littering and help keep Scotland stunning.
Designed for small groups and with social distancing in mind, the kits have everything required to tackle wrappers, packets and anything else strewn near areas people live or like to spend time in.
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said:“Whether it has been our local streets, parks, woodland, countryside or coastline, recent months have highlighted how valuable our environment is to so many of us and why it needs to be kept that way.
“The work of Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Marine Conservation Society in reducing litter is hugely important for us as individuals enjoying where we are and for the wellbeing of wildlife.
“It is a shame that these projects have to take place and a small number continue to drop litter. We urge people to get involved and help to keep the areas they hold dear clean and precious.”
The funding will help to provide additional clean up kits – including via community-based hubs – as well as survey kits, plus online support and guidance from Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Marine Conservation Society on how to carry these out safely. In addition, they’ll be sharing the information that results from the project.
Natural Environment Minister, Mairi Gougeon said:“Our natural environment is vital to allow biodiversity to thrive and flourish. Litter is harmful to wildlife and the marine environment so these kits from Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Marine Conservation Society will help keep our communities litter free and protect our natural world.
“Everyone needs to take responsibility for protecting our environment. Littering and damage to our natural surroundings is completely unacceptable and there is no place for this type of anti-social behaviour anywhere in Scotland.
“I would like to give my sincere thanks to all those who volunteer to collect rubbish from our beaches, countryside and green spaces. The litter data collected by clean-ups is vitally important to help develop long-term solutions to litter.”
Tara Proud, Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said:“Did you hear Sir David Attenborough’s urgent and heartfelt call to action this week?
“One way that you can help protect Scotland’s stunning coastlines and vulnerable sea life is through litter picking and surveying. When you take part in our beach litter survey, the data you collect helps us to push for a ‘green recovery’ with policies which put environmental issues at the forefront.
“Get a small group of friends and family together for your own beach clean. If you can’t get to the coast, why not try our new Source to Sea Litter Quest, tracking what’s littering our parks and streets and flowing to the sea.”
Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful Barry Fisher welcomed the funding announcement, adding:“Our polling* shows that 29% believe that the amount of litter has got worse over the lockdown period, but we know that people across the country want to take action to change that.
“This funding will allow us to triple the number of Clean Up Scotland community litter picking hubs we support across Scotland, strengthening the capacity of communities to survey and take action on litter in their own neighbourhoods.”
The litter picks follow on from the ‘Scotland is Stunning – Let’s Keep It That Way’ campaign delivered by Zero Waste Scotland, together with Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Scottish Government, during July and August.
The project highlighted the country’s natural beauty and wildlife and urged visitors not to spoil it by littering when they’re enjoying the delights of our coast, countryside and campsites.
First-time buyers have less than a week to apply for the pilot First Home Fund, which has helped thousands to enter the property market.
The new scheme has been particularly popular since the housing market reopened in June, and is expected to support more than 8,000 households into home ownership by the end of the financial year.
Homebuyers who are completing purchases this financial year have until 6pm on 2 October to apply.
The fund, which offers first-time buyers loans of up to £25,000 for their deposit, was launched in December 2019 to pilot a new approach to supporting first-time buyers. The pilot will now be evaluated, with the results expected to be published in January.
However, recognising its early success, the Scottish Government intends to reopen for applications in the new year for home purchases completing in 2021/22.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “The pilot of our First Home Fund has been a huge success, helping thousands of people own their first home.
“The fund has been especially important since property sales resumed over the summer, and we invested a further £50 million in July to help ensure that first-time buyers could still access the market despite changes to mortgages caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“While the scheme is almost fully subscribed for 2020-21, I am pleased to say that I will reopen the pilot for the next financial year, and look forward to announcing further details of this in due course.
“In the meantime, first-time buyers will still be able to access shared equity schemes including Help to Buy (Scotland) and LIFT (the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers), and I would encourage them to consider these options.”
Cameron McKenzie, who bought a two-bedroom flat in Pilton through the fund, said: “Thanks to the First Home Fund we bought our first home far earlier than we ever imagined, especially during these uncertain times! The application process was easy to understand and Link staff were very helpful.”
The First Home Fund was launched with an initial budget of £150 million. The Scottish Government invested a further £50 million in July in response to reduced availability of higher loan-to-value mortgages caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the car parking arrangements at Ninewells Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary during the COVID-19 pandemic response.
S5W-32056
Jeane Freeman:On 30 March 2020, the three PFI hospital car park providers at Ninewells Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary agreed to remove car parking charges for staff, visitors and patients initially for the three months and extended further by additional three months until 30 September 2020.
The Scottish Government have now reached agreement with the three PFI hospital car park providers to extend the free car parking arrangements by a further four months until January 2021. This extension of free parking continues to support staff and remove the barriers to our staff working with the NHS during these unprecedented times.
Lothians Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said: “The extensions of free parking at PFI hospitals in Scotland until the new year is welcome news, but we need to see a long term solution to allow for free parking at all three PFI hospitals permanently.
“The lifting of parking charges shows that the removal of charges can be achieved and I will continue to work with MSPs of all parties to find a long term solution.
“This is now the second extension to the free parking charges without any clarity on what SNP Ministers are trying to achieve.
“Increasingly questions are being asked over the inability of SNP Ministers to secure a deal and whether value for Scottish taxpayers money is being achieved.”
There is no charge for parking at the Western General Hospital.
Students caught up in serious Covid outbreaks in Scotland’s university cities have questioned why university halls were allowed to open. The students have been told not to visit pubs or restaurants this weekend or to return home after hundreds of students across the country tested positive for coronavirus.
Following the outbreak of positive cases of coronavirus in student accommodation in parts of Scotland, university Principals met with the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead, to discuss what further measures and messages could be emphasised to stop the spread of the virus.
Commenting after the meeting, Convener of Universities Scotland, Professor Gerry McCormac said: “University leaders share the Scottish Government’s complete commitment to keeping the student population and the wider community safe.
“We have already implemented strict measures to ensure the safety of the university environment, both for teaching and for student residences. We have seen the majority of students live up to our expectations of responsible behaviour, but a minority have not. Everyone across the nation shares the concern at seeing students in residences test positive for the virus and we will act decisively to deal with this.
“The additional actions we will take to drive down the transmission of the virus in student accommodation build on the wide-ranging measures already agreed with Scottish Government. Taken together, we are confident that these will help significantly to control the virus in student accommodation and impact on the number of positive cases; after the inevitable time-lag caused by some existing cases not yet being symptomatic.
“Our top priority to making sure that students that have tested positive and those quarantining are well-supported and ready to return to their studies. We appreciate this isn’t what students would have expected from their first few weeks at university, but it is critical that they play their part in suppressing the virus.”
The Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead MSP, said: “This is a welcome package of additional actions, building on the clear guidance that is already in place, to support all students and staff adhere to the rules and stay safe as they make a welcome return to study.
“We expect everyone to comply with public health advice and, as new laws come into force tomorrow, it’s even more important institutions make every effort to ensure the rules are understood and followed – and appropriate actions are taken if not. We know that these are difficult times for many students and we are grateful to them for the sacrifices they are making to protect themselves, their fellow students and the wider community.”
Universities have agreed that:
All universities will make absolutely clear to students that there must be no parties, and no socialising outside their households – communicating and reinforcing these messages on a regular basis using our full range of media channels. Breaches will not be tolerated.
This weekend, the first of the new tighter Scottish Government guidance, we will require students to avoid all socialising outside of their households and outside of their accommodation. We will ask them not to go to bars or other hospitality venues. We will be clear that this is a necessary step at this crucial moment of managing the virus in the student population, to protect students and the wider community.
We will increase the staff presence in student accommodation, to be vigilant against any breaches of guidance and also to offer welfare and practical support to students who are experiencing isolation.
We will engage further with private providers of student accommodation, especially those with significant numbers of bedspaces, to follow our lead and strictly enforce guidance.
We will intensify our institutions’ liaison with Police Scotland, to ensure vigilance about student behaviour off-campus and in private accommodation.
We will take a strict ‘Yellow Card/Red Card’ approach to breaches of student discipline that put students and others at risk. While we first want to advise students about breaches of discipline, we will not hesitate to escalate this to disciplinary action including potential discontinuation of study.
We will commit to further agile staff responses to immediately respond to cases, to help manage the pressures on the public health authorities.
We will require all students to download the Protect Scotland app.
Taking forward these actions we will work very closely with the students’ association of each institution.
Every student who needs a test is able to get one. To further develop the testing system we will continue to work closely with the Scottish and UK Governments on the roll-out of walk-through testing centres in major centres of student population. Where these have been established, they have been a great help to having fast and accessible testing and quick action to contain the spread of the virus. We will are also in discussion with the UK and Scottish Governments about increased availability of home testing in universities.
Responding to updated guidelines for students announced last night by university principals and endorsed by the Scottish Government, Matt Crilly, NUS Scotland President, said: “The announcement by Universities Scotland, and endorsed by the Scottish Government, unfairly blames students for the spread of coronavirus and takes the unjustified step of applying different rules to students over and above the rest of the adult population.
“These measures are deeply concerning – not least to those students who rely on income from hospitality jobs. Having different rules for students makes it even more confusing to stay within guidance, which could make things less safe. And the rules show a complete disregard for students’ mental health and wellbeing. We need better.
“To protect students and communities, we’re calling for targeted support for students who are isolating, for online learning to be the default position, and for students to be given the opportunity to return home without penalty when it is safe to do so.
“The recent outbreak is extremely concerning, and like everyone we students must comply with the public health guidance. It is important to remember that students were strongly encouraged to return to campus, leaving families and support networks behind.
“Like everyone else, students are anxious. We ask the university principals and the Scottish Government to refrain from singling out students and to provide urgent clarity on these measures and their impact on students.”
The Scottish Government has now committed more than £350 million to support communities during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Since March, this funding has enabled councils, charities and community groups to be flexible and respond swiftly to help people impacted economically or socially, including those struggling to access food at the height of lockdown.
The package included over £120 million to tackle food insecurity, with £12.6 million making sure 175,000 children and young people were able to access free school meals over the summer holidays.
£22 million funding was made available through the Third Sector Resilience Fund, as part of £80 million allocated to third sector and community organisations. As outlined in the Programme for Government, £25 million will now be focused on a new Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme.
This will include business support and investment to help organisations adapt to new ways of working and become sustainable, as they continue to support people and communities in response to the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We have now invested more than the initial £350 million communities funding we announced in March to support people through this public health crisis.
“Our funds have supported people shielding, or struggling with food insecurity, or maintaining free school meals. In addition over 14,000 jobs were safeguarded with £22 million funding through the Third Sector Resilience Fund, and funding was made available for the new Connecting Scotland project to get people online and stay connected.
“This significant funding package has been instrumental in protecting the health, welfare and wellbeing of people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations across all sectors have stepped up and worked together to ensure our communities are supported throughout this time and I want to thank them for all their efforts.
“Working collaboratively with local government, the third sector, business and communities has produced inspiring, collaborative, locally-based responses to the pandemic and we will learn from that as we continue into recovery.”
Michelle Carruthers, CEO of The Food Train charity, said: “The funding provided to Food Train allowed us to respond to a 70% increase in older people needing help to access food during the pandemic.
“Food Train has been helping more than 3,200 older people during the pandemic. The funds were used to provide temporary extra delivery vehicles, extra local staff, more shopping boxes and safety kits for the staff and volunteer teams to help keep everyone safe.
“We were also able to set up COVID-19 check-in calls, making more than 9,000 calls in five months where approximately a third of the members getting regular calls were shielding.”
Read the full text of the Cabinet Secretary’s letter to the Local Government and Communities Committee.
Scale and urgency of the situation demands joint working to find solutions
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for urgent four nation talks to continue to drive coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission to the lowest possible level.
Acting quickly and decisively is essential, said the First Minister, pointing to scientific opinion that bringing the virus back under control will require measures beyond those which any of the four nations have so far announced.
Last night’s letter also highlights the fact that the ability of the Scottish Government and other devolved administrations to take action is curtailed by a lack of financial levers to deliver economic support, for example to the hospitality sector.
The First Minister said four-nation talks should consider three inter-related questions:
Based on the most recent data, what further actions might be necessary and is it possible to reach early four nations agreement on introducing them?
Given that further restrictions will inevitably have an economic impact, what support is required for affected sectors?
If it is not possible to reach a four nations agreement on further restrictions with associated support, what arrangements can be put in place to ensure that devolved administrations are not constrained in making what they judge to be essential public health decisions because they lack the financial flexibility to provide support to affected sectors or individuals?
