Demand for food packs highlights impact of the pandemic.
Homeless people and others affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are to receive further support through the Scottish Government’s emergency funding for communities.
In March, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell announced a £350 million package of funding to help tackle harms caused by the pandemic, including a £70 million Food Fund. More than £40 million extra funding has since been committed for food initiatives, increasing the total to £110 million.
Social enterprise Social Bite has been awarded an additional £48,500 for its COVID-19 response, with its funding since April now totalling £700,000. Its team have delivered 500,000 food packs and meals to people in need in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow since April.
Speaking following a visit to Social Bite’s central kitchen in Livingston, Ms Campbell said: “Like many community groups and charities, Social Bite’s team have worked hard making and delivering meals as well as offering a free takeaway service for those most at risk. I want to thank everyone who has supported people through this time.
“Sadly, the demand for such services highlights the terrible impact of the pandemic on people from all walks of life.
“We have provided flexibility through our £110 million funding to tackle food insecurity so people can access both cash and food-based support. This includes funding for free school meals over the summer holidays, food boxes for those who were shielding and support for people facing financial hardship. We have also more than doubled the Scottish Welfare Fund.
“Anyone worried about being able to access food should contact the National Helpline on 0800 111 4000.”
Josh Littlejohn, co-founder and CEO of Social Bite, said: “As soon as the pandemic hit, we saw that food poverty was going to be a major issue for our most vulnerable communities, so we re-purposed Social Bite’s entire infrastructure to provide free food for those who needed it.
“Thanks to support from the Scottish Government, the business community and the public, we were able to mobilise extremely quickly. Since the pandemic began, we have distributed more than 500,000 food packs. This funding will help us provide further support for homeless people and other vulnerable groups in our communities amid the acute challenges of COVID-19.”
Following yesterday’s announcement by the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon of a £2.5m increase to the Scottish Government’s Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund, taking the total available through the fund to £12.5m, Creative Scotland has, today, published guidance on how to access this fund.
Allocation of this fund is as follows:
· £7.5m targeted funding for performing arts venues in Scotland currently in receipt of Regular Funding through Creative Scotland
· £5m open fund for application from Scotland based performing arts venues not currently in receipt of Regular Funding. This open fund has been developed with input from the Federation for Scottish Theatre and opens today, Thursday 30 July 2020.
The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund will help performing arts venues which cannot yet reopen to their audiences due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government intends the fund to:
· Remove the threat of insolvency prior to the end of March 2021 to enable the development and delivery of activity as soon as practicable
· Allow for specialist / core staff to return from furlough or avoid redundancy to work on future sustainable activity plans
· Increase commissioning and employment opportunities for freelance artists and creative practitioners (between now and end of March 2021) to support continued public engagement while closed.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslopsaid: “Our world-class performing arts venues have suffered immensely from the impacts of coronavirus. They were among some of the first businesses to close and sadly, will be amongst the last to reopen.
“We worked hard to get much-needed funding out as quickly as possible to the culture sector to help organisations cope with the immediate effects of the pandemic, and this new fund recognises the particular difficulties which continue to be felt by performing arts venues.
“I’m pleased to announce we have increased the fund to £12.5 million, which will ensure even more venues can get financial support to help them through this challenging time.”
Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotlandsaid: “We very much welcome this funding from Scottish Government which provides some much needed relief for Performing Arts Venues in Scotland, venues which are facing significant financial challenges due to their continued closure in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have worked at pace to open this fund for application as quickly as possible.
“Beyond this fund, we are also working closely with the Scottish Government on further measures to provide emergency support for the culture sector and further details will be announced as soon as possible.”
Funding of £37.6 million was allocated to support people and families on low incomes in times of need in the 12 months to 31 March 2020 – an increase of 7% on the previous year.
Scottish Welfare Fund payments included £12.9 million in Crisis Grants – up 24% – and £24.7 million on Community Care Grants.
The fund received 296,870 applications for help, with the most common reason families gave being their benefits or other income had been spent – up 27% on the previous year.
Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “This is further evidence that the UK Government’s benefits cuts are hitting the poorest in Scotland the hardest, with more and more people struggling just to make ends meet and being pushed to rely on food banks, or suffer from the stress of debt and rent arrears.
“That’s without taking into consideration the significant financial impact that coronavirus (COVID-19)is having on some of those earning the least in our society.
“We took early action in March to more than double the Scottish Welfare Fund to £80.5 million this year in response to the expected impact of coronavirus, and we have made an additional £110 million available to support people struggling to access food during the pandemic.
“That funding will help local authority partners continue to support people at this time and we would encourage anyone in need of support to apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund.”
The Scottish Government is to actively inform families that they may be eligible for Best Start Foods and the Best Start Grant.
Information obtained from DWP and HMRC will allow Social Security Scotland to identify people who are on certain benefits or tax credits and have children of the right age. Social Security Scotland will then write to an estimated 22,000 families before the end of August inviting them to apply.
The letters are aimed at increasing take up of all financial support families are entitled to as part of the Scottish Government’s benefit take-up strategy and the wider co-ordinated approach to helping families who are under even more financial pressure due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This important new proactive approach to maximising benefit uptake is a first for social security in Scotland.
Families already receiving qualifying UK benefits and tax credits will receive these invites. Those who currently don’t receive such support but think that they may be eligible are still encouraged to find out if they too are entitled to access Scottish benefits.
Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Social security is a human right and an investment in the people of Scotland. Encouraging individuals to claim the financial assistance they are entitled to is a duty of government and a social responsibility. We are committed to making sure that people get all of the money that they are entitled to – to help maximise incomes and tackle poverty.
“The economic impacts of the pandemic are pushing thousands of people further into hardship so it’s important families are informed about the support available to them.
“This unique direct marketing of benefits complements the Scottish Government’s wider efforts to help parents during this challenging time. We must do all that we can to eradicate child poverty and make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up.”
Young carers provide unpaid care for a family member or a friend, who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.
The Festival provided the opportunity for young carers to meet other young people in similar situations, share new experiences and of course, have fun! The event also provided a national celebration for young carers to share their experiences, the impact that caring has on them and to suggest changes that could make their lives better.
Carers Trust Scotland and the Scottish Government have been working with young carers and their services to plan a new kind of Festival this year!
Scottish Government funding is providing over £100,000 for Carers Trust Scotland to administer a small-grant scheme to eligible young carer services. These services will be able to apply for funding to provide fun and respite to the young carers they support. The outcomes of this scheme are broad to ensure that services can take a local, tailor-made approach in supporting their young people and provide meaningful respite in a safe way.
Furthermore, Carers Trust Scotland will bring Festival fun to young people through our first ever virtual Festival, “Best of the Fest!” On Wednesday 5 August to Friday 7 August, there will be the opportunity for young carers to take part in dozens of activities and events including; mindfullness, yoga, magic shows, paint a-longs and live music!
Resources will also be shared on our website for young people to access at any time after the virtual Festival has taken place.
Our traditional marketplace at the Festival, which invites organisations to promote their services and resources to young carers and their services, will also be found online this year! Organisations such as Young Scot and the Scottish Youth Parliament will host live workshops for young carers and youth workers to find out more about the opportunities available.
This year’s alternative Scottish Young Carers Festival takes place during a challenging time for many young carers. A new Carers Trust Scotland survey shows the pandemic’s dramatic impact on the wider wellbeing of young carers in Scotland.
Meaningful respite for these young people is more important than ever, with 42% of young adult carers in Scotland stating they are unable to take a break from caring as a result of Coronavirus.
Furthermore, 69% of young carers and 76% of young adult carers in Scotland who responded to the survey felt less able to stay in touch with friends since coronavirus.74% of young carers and 73% of young adult carers in Scotland also said they are feeling less connected to others since coronavirus.
The results point to a steep decline in the mental health and wellbeing of young people across Scotland who provide unpaid care for family members or friends.
These results highlight the need for continued support to young carers and the opportunity for meaningful respite and engagement opportunities throughout the year. Despite the cancellation of our Scottish Young Carers Festival, our small-grant scheme and online activities aim to provide fun and respite to these young people in alternative, safe ways.
Minister for Public Health, Joe FitzPatrick said: “Young carers make a vitally important contribution to our society. Often though, because of their responsibilities, they haven’t got the same amount of free time and opportunities as their peers.
“Although the Festival cannot take place this year, I hope young carers across the country will be able to benefit from the Scottish Government funded small grant scheme which will enable local services to provide them with some much deserved respite and extra support.”
Paul Traynor, Policy and External Affairs Manager of Carers Trust Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be working with Scottish Government to deliver these new kind of Festival activities for young carers across Scotland for 2020.
“The pandemic has been difficult for a lot of young carers and many have reported taking on additional caring responsibilities, feeling isolated, and feeling disconnected to their friends and wider communities.
“Although some young carers may be disappointed that the annual Scottish Young Carers Festival event has been cancelled, the small-grant scheme provides new opportunities for local young carer services to plan and deliver activities to ensure young carers still have an opportunity to get a break from caring and have fun.
“We also hope that our ‘Best of the Fest’ virtual events will provide that Festival feeling that gives young carers the opportunity to be children and young people first.”
If you arrive in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland from Spain you will now need to self-isolate.
Spain will be removed from the list of countries exempt from quarantine requirements due to an increased number of cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last few days.
The decision, also made by the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Wales as well as the UK Government, has been made to reduce the risk of the transmission of the virus by those travelling from Spain and arriving in Scotland.
The public health measures came into effect from midnight and will mean those arriving in Scotland from Spain will now be required to quarantine for 14 days.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The decision to exempt Spain earlier this week, was taken when the data showed there was an improvement in the spread of the virus. But clearly the latest data has given us cause for concern to overturn that decision.
“We appreciate that this will be disappointing. However, we have always been clear we are closely monitoring the pandemic situation in all countries and that we may require to remove a country from the list of places exempt from quarantine requirements should the virus show a resurgence.
“It is still active and it is still deadly. Supressing the virus, preventing it from being transmitted and protecting public health is our priority.”
The FCO is advising against all but essential travel to mainland Spain – this does not cover the Canary Islands or the Balearic Islands because travel advice is based on the risk to the individual traveller and COVID-19 infection rates are lower there than mainland Spain.
A UK government spokesperson said: “The Joint Biosecurity Centre together with Public Health England have updated their coronavirus assessments of Spain based on the latest data. As a result, Spain has been removed from the lists of countries from which passengers arriving in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are exempted from the need to self-isolate.
“Protecting public health is our absolute priority and we have taken this decision to limit any potential spread to the UK.
“We’ve always been clear that we would act immediately to remove a country where necessary. Both our list of quarantine exemptions and the FCO travel advice are being updated to reflect these latest risk assessments.”
A new funding stream for the independent museums sector to help bolster resilience following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been announced by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
The £4 million Museums Resilience and Recovery Fund will provide support for Scotland’s museums and galleries and will be administered by Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS).
The fund will aid the return of staff from furlough and the wider reopening of museums and galleries.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Museums are the places where we hold memories of our people. They play a big role in delivering social impacts in education, health and wellbeing and also generate a considerable amount for the economy, with £1.04 billion directly attributable to heritage, tourism, rural employment and apprenticeships.
“Sadly, many of these wonderful institutions are now at a critical juncture in making decisions about whether they can afford to reopen, looking at possible redundancies, cancelling events and putting off critical repairs. I am pleased to announce this much needed support for the sector to help them get through the rest of the financial year.
“We all need to come together to support our local museums and galleries. As part of the campaign to encourage Scots to staycation this summer, I would encourage everyone to consider visiting their local museums, galleries and heritage attractions, if they are open. Scotland’s communities are relying on our continued support.”
Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland said: “We warmly welcome this funding from the Scottish Government. The burden of uncertainty has been one of the hardest hitting consequences of this pandemic – affecting us all.
“This financial support will enable us to alleviate the intense pressures felt by our independent museums and heralds a precious opportunity for the passionate and skilled people working in this sector to plan, to collaborate and to deliver vital services with and within communities.
Museums and galleries are a vital part of the fabric of our towns, cities and communities the length and breadth of this country and we welcome the Scottish Government’s recognition of their important role through this support.”
First Minister’s coronavirus update from St Andrew’s House on Thursday 23 July 2020:
Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us today as usual. Let me start as I always do with the update on the Covid-19 statistics.
An additional 16 positive cases were confirmed yesterday. That represents 0.4% of people who were newly tested yesterday, and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 18,500.
It’s worth highlighting that we have changed the reporting of figures on the Scottish Government’s website from today so that the figures for new cases – including that percentage of positive tests – are now shown more prominently on the main Covid page. That website is updated at 2 o’clock every day.
The health board breakdown of today’s cases will be available at 2 o’clock but the provisional information I have is that 4 of today’s cases are in Lanarkshire.
And, more specifically in relation to the outbreak at the Sitel call centre in Lanarkshire, I can confirm that as of this morning, there are a total of 24 positive cases associated with that outbreak which is an increase of 4 since yesterday.
That includes 17 people employed at the site, which is 2 more than yesterday, and 7 contacts, which is also 2 more than yesterday.
Now, given that the virus can have a long incubation period, intensive work is still ongoing in order to ensure that all possible chains of transmission from this outbreak are being closed down. And I am very grateful to everyone who is working very had as part of that effort.
I can also report today that a total of 287 patients confirmed as having the virus are currently in hospital which is 8 fewer than yesterday.
And as of last night, there were just 2 people with confirmed COVID in intensive care in Scotland, which is 1 fewer than yesterday.
And finally, on the statistics, I am very glad to say that once again, during the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having the virus. The total number of deaths, under this measure, therefore remains 2,491.
This is obviously very welcome news. It means that no deaths have been reported in Scotland under this measurement during the entirety of the past week – and that just one death in Scotland has been reported over the past 15 days.
Now, it is exactly four months today since the country went into lockdown, so there is no doubt that these figures show the incredible progress that has been made in that time.
But that progress has been hard won and it has been a very painful journey over these past four months in particular for those who have lost someone to this virus. The number of deaths is still a reminder of the impact of the virus and therefore I want to extend my condolences again today to everyone who is grieving somebody that they loved.
In addition, I want to thank again our health and care workers for all of the work that you continue to do through this really challenging time for everyone.
FM @NicolaSturgeon has announced changes to the way people who are shielding can meet with friends and family, which will come into effect tomorrow (24 July).
From 1 August people who were advised to shield will no longer have to do so.
Now, I have one very important issue I want to talk about today – which is changes in our advice to people who are shielding.
It’s now almost four months since we asked those considered to be at the greatest risk from this virus, to shield.
At that time, there was a very high risk that you might be exposed to the virus, and therefore shielding was necessary to keep you safe.
Together with local government and the third sector, we have been able to put in place support for you while you have been shielding– for example access to free food deliveries if necessary.
But I know that shielding has been incredibly difficult – it has separated you from your family and loved ones, it has restricted you in virtually every aspect of your normal lives, and there are very obvious and very real potential harms to your mental health from extended isolation.
For all of those reasons, we’ve always been clear that we won’t ask you to shield longer than you have to.
The infection rate now is much lower than it was in March. And just to give some illustration of that, when the shielding advice started, more than 20% of Covid tests were proving positive, and 150 new cases a day were being reported. Less than a week after shielding started, we were reporting more than 300 new cases a day. Tpoday of course I have reported 16 new cases and that is 0.4% of people testing newly positive
So, as these figures today show, we are now in a very different position to the one we that faced back in March. And as a result – and as we have previously indicated – some further key changes to our advice will take effect from tomorrow for people who are shielding.
Now the information I am about to give you I know can perhaps be a bit difficult to follow as I am saying it. All of the changes I am about to mention are listed in our routemap for shielders which you can find on the Scottish government’s website.
From tomorrow (Friday), you will, if you are shielding, be able to meet indoors with up to 8 people from up to 2 other households, as long as physical distancing is in place.
You will also be able to meet outdoors in groups of up to 15 people from a maximum of 4 other households.
You can also use public transport – including taxis – while wearing a face covering.
You can go to outdoor spaces in pubs and restaurants.
You can go to into indoor shops, pharmacies and indoor markets. You can attend hairdressers and barbers and you can visit museums, galleries, libraries and cinemas.
And children who live with someone who is shielding, can attend formal childcare providers.
Now, all of these changes that I have just mentioned, which you can find more detail on on the website, these will take effect from tomorrow. But our clinical advisers, – who have been closely examining all of the evidence – have also advised us that as things stand right now, assuming no significant deterioration in the position, as things stand right now we will be able to pause the shielding advice all together from 1 Aug.
From that day, the advice for people shielding will then be the same as for those who are simply at heightened risk from Covid – older people, people who receive the flu jab because of a health condition, and people who are pregnant.
This means from the end of next week, you will be advised to follow the guidance for the general population, although we will ask you to be especially careful about hand hygiene and physical distancing.
That will also mean that that children who have been shielding will be able to return to school in August.
And if you have been staying away from your workplace because you have been shielding, you will also be able to return.
However your employer must ensure that you can do so safely.
And of course our advice – not simply for shielding people, but for everyone – remains very strongly that you should continue to work from home whenever that is possible.
I know these changes will be welcome to many of you but they will also, for many of you, create a great deal of anxiety because you have been living in such a restricted way for so long and you will worry about going back to normal and that is completely understandable.
So we are not asking you to stop being careful – and we do not want you to feel under pressure to do anything that you think is unsafe. In fact, we want to do everything we can to help you to feel as safe as possible.
Last month, I indicated that we were looking to develop a range of information and tools to help each of you to make informed decisions about how to stay safe.
We are providing a range of advice on returning to employment and schools. The guidance for schools will be published on 30 July.
For those of you in employment, we have developed a risk assessment tool. That will be available from Monday. It will help your employer understand the adjustments they need to make to help you feel safe.
We are also providing information on what activities are safer, or less risky, than others, and how to undertake them safely. We’ve developed advice on risk factors- and practical information on how to stay safe during everyday activities like going to the shops, visiting friends and family, or using public transport.
You also told us in feedback that you would find it helpful to know what the infection rates are at any given time in your local areas. So we are developing a Covid forecasting service for people who have been shielding. That will allow you to sign up to an SMS update that tells you about your risk of being exposed to Covid in your local area.
And although the food box scheme is ending, you will continue to access priority supermarket delivery slots if you need them, and if you have registered for this service by the end of this month. You will also still be able to go to your Local Authority for support for food provision.
And we will be keeping open our Shielding SMS text messaging service, and our national helpline.
Finally, we are continuing our work to keep you safe after 1 August.
We are strengthening the evidence base about who may need to shield again in the future should we see a resurgence of the virus.
We are continuing our surveys and research to understand your experiences and to offer support that has value to you.
And we will set out the kind of steps we might need to take should there be a spike of infections in the future.
We are changing our guidance now because the infection rate is low now.
But we will continue to monitor this, and if things take a significant turn for the worse – whether nationally or in your local area – we will take the steps we need to in order to keep you as safe as possible. In particular we will contact you and we will give you clear advice on what to do if we are asking you to do anything different.
Before I end, I want to thank everyone who has been shielding. You’ve had to remain in your house and largely apart from all other people, even people in your own household, for months now.
That has been incredibly tough, and it is easy for me to say that when the reality is I actually find it hard to fully imagine just how difficult that must have been. But by doing so, you have protected yourselves, you’ve reassured your loved ones, and helped our health and care services. So a sincere and heartfelt thank you from me to each of you for that.
And I also want to say a few words to people who are not shielding.
Many of you have been actively involved in support for people who have been shielding: whether that is as family, friends, carers, volunteers, council workers, delivery drivers, health and social care professionals, supermarkets, wholesalers, and a whole host of other people so my thanks to all of you for that too.
Secondly – if you are an employer or a school – we need you to work closely with people who have been shielding, in order to take the necessary steps to keep them safe but also to assure them you will keep them safe.
Please do that, reach out to people who have been shielding to understand their needs, and provide that help.
And for all of us, we should understand the worries and concerns of people who have been shielding.
Many people who are shielding will still be nervous about returning to work, or returning to shops and restaurants, or socialising a bit more. All of us should understand that and be as supportive as we can be.
To continue to stop the spread of coronavirus and save lives, there are 5 things we all still need to do.
And finally, this is my final point, shielding and shielding people demonstrate again, and perhaps more powerfully than anything does, how all of us are dependent right now on each other’s actions.
The reason that we can pause shielding, hopefully at the end of next week, is because all of us have stuck to the guidance so far. All of us need to continue to do that, in order that we continue collectively to protect those most at risk.
And that basic idea – that all of us, more than ever, are depending on each other, is the note that I will end on.
We can only reopen services, start to reopen the economy again because infection rates are low. We will only be able to keep all these things open if infection rates stay low.
The virus as we know is still out there, it is still highly infectious and it is still highly dangerous.
So all of us have a part to play in keeping it under control. So let me end with the usual advice that I am going to continue to say as often as I need to in order that everybody understands that if we all stick to this we can keep this virus under control.
That is the FACTS message.
Face coverings in shops, public transport or any enclosed spaces where physical distancing is difficult
Avoid crowded places, whether that’s indoors or outdoors
Clean your hands and clean hard surfaces regularly.
Two metre distancing – that remains the important advice
and self isolate, and book a test, if you have any symptoms.
If we all follow this advice rigorously and rigidly then the progress we have made over these past painful four months will be progress that we can continue to see.
So my thanks to all of you for doing that, in particular today, my thanks to all of you who have been shielding.
Funding of £50 million will be ring-fenced for the recruitment of approximately 850 extra teachers and around 200 additional support staff as local authorities plan for the re-opening of schools.
Addressing Parliament, Education Secretary John Swinney also pledged that £20 million will be allocated to help councils with additional costs associated with new health protection measures, school transport, enhanced cleaning and other essential logistical issues.
A further £3 million will be invested in youth work to support education recovery. The funding breakdown is part of a £100 million package of support announced by Mr Swinney in June.
Clear guidance for schools and councils is being developed by the Education Recovery Group (ERG) to help them prepare for the start of the new term in August.
The Scottish Government will announce a final decision on the re-opening of schools on 30 July.
Mr Swinney said: “I want to express my appreciation to parents and carers for their support to young people, to the teaching and wider workforce across Scotland for their efforts to sustain education and to children and young people for their resilience during this difficult period.
“All of the school workforce have a crucial role to play in our education recovery mission, and it is vital that they are supported to do so.
“The ring-fenced £50 million funding to recruit more teachers and support staff will enable schools to intensify support for children and young people as they return to full time face-to-face education and help to mitigate for learning loss. The final numbers will be dependent on the precise mix of staff recruited and the needs of children and young people.
“The £20 million funding recognises the extremely valuable work of our school cleaners, facilities management and school transport staff, who are essential to the successful delivery of education in Scotland and to whom I want to pay tribute today.
“I also mentioned in my statement on the 23 June that we would be seeking the assistance of the youth work sector in supporting those families and communities who need it most.
“The sector will receive £3 million of investment because it has continued to support and engage children and young people throughout the pandemic, including using digital technology and outreach work to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health, learning and development.
“While this funding should provide local authorities with the assurance they require to progress plans immediately, we will continue to work with COSLA to understand the additional costs associated with the school re-opening guidance that each local authority is facing, and how these can be addressed alongside any loss of learning.
“We are currently developing guidance, with our partners in the ERG, on health mitigations and precautions that will be in place to allow schools to fully re-open in August and a final decision on school re-opening will be announced on 30 July.”
Today Education Secretary @JohnSwinney updated @ScotParl on the progress towards safely reopening schools in Scotland.
A final decision on schools re-opening will be announced on 30 July.
Responding to the Scottish Government’s funding of more teachers, a spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition said: “We welcome the recruitment of new teachers and additional support staff to help cope with the new demands of Coronavirus when children return to school next month.
“For those with additional support needs, the impact of returning to school will prove particularly disruptive but we need to go beyond the recruitment of additional support staff alone, which of course helps greatly. What is required is a tailored transition plan so those with ASN get the smoothest possible return to school.
“This requires every teacher or member of staff looking at the individual child, their circumstances and needs and making sure their return to school is as seamless as possible
“That individualised approach might mean going back to school early, having a little more time to figure out what classroom spaces look like or might be about teaching strategies and thinking about how to engage the children.”
The EIS has welcomed the Scottish Government’s confirmation of ring-fenced funding to support the recruitment of an additional 850 teachers across Scotland – but warned that more will be needed to support young people in education recovery following the COVID-19 shutdown.
EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The confirmation of ring-fenced funding to support the recruitment of an additional 850 teachers is a welcome step in the support required for educational recovery in schools across Scotland.
“It is essential that local authorities make use of this funding to recruit more teachers from all those currently available and seeking work – including newly qualified teachers, recently qualified teachers, and teachers on supply and temporary contracts. The EIS would urge the Scottish Government to clarify that this additional funding is open to employ qualified teachers from all of these categories.”
Mr Flanagan added: “The EIS is clear that more will be needed to ensure that all young people receive the support they require to recover from the impact of the school shutdown and, as well as urging the Scottish Government to consider additional funding, we would encourage local authorities to use some of the flexibility open to them around attainment challenge funding and the pre-allocated monies for the now suspended expansion of pre-5 entitlement to further boost school staffing.
“Being away from the school environment for such a prolonged period will have had a detrimental impact on many young people’s education. Supporting recovery from this traumatic experience must be the top priority for all in Scottish education.”
Mr Flanagan concluded: “Clearly, with less than 3 weeks until schools are set to re-open, it is vital that local authorities act quickly to ensure that the promised additional teachers and support staff are recruited prior to the start of term.
“It also remains essential that the process of re-opening schools is managed safely, with updated risk assessments to be carried out and all necessary mitigations – such as enhanced cleaning regimens, adequate ventilation and facilities for regular hand-washing – to be in place in all schools prior to them re-opening.”
Local government umbrella bodyCOSLA’S reaction to the Deputy First Minister’s Statement was one of disappointment, sayingit is a ‘roadblock to progress’.
Councillor Stephen McCabe and Councillor Gail Macgregor said: “Local Government’s number one priority is the safe return to education next month. We have sought to work closely with the Scottish Government, Trade Unions and parental organisations through the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group to agree an approach which meets the needs of all involved in supporting children and young people during the pandemic.
“Even with the welcome additional financial support from the Scottish Government we have received to date, councils are facing a budget gap of over £500m for 2020/21 before the additional costs of a safe return to school are taken into account.
“That is why the Deputy First Minister’s commitment of just £20m to support the return of schools this afternoon is a disappointment.
“We are currently awaiting updated guidance as such it is not clear at this time what the additional costs for classroom cleaning, supporting vulnerable pupils, providing school meals, school transport and PPE are, or if vital resources can be found before schools return. T
“Today’s announcement throws up a considerable roadblock on the progress towards schools re-opening safely, and presents significant additional financial risks for councils.
“Whilst we are pleased we are close to agreement with the Scottish Government on an additional £50m to be invested in teachers and classroom support, priority must also be given to ensuring a safe, clean environment for all staff and pupils to work in.
“However, we remain willing to work with the Scottish Government on this issue to make sure that we protect and support the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s children and young people and our staff when they return to school.”
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Wednesday 22 July):
Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I want to start with the usual update on the most recent Covid-19 statistics for Scotland.
An additional 10 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland to 18,484.
The Health Board breakdown will be available later as normal.
However, the provisional information I have is that three of these 10 cases are in Lanarkshire where we are dealing with an outbreak, which I’ll say more about shortly. At this stage, we know one of these three is associated with the outbreak.
From today, as well as reporting the overall number of positive cases – which can fluctuate in line with the number of tests carried out – I will also report the percentage of people tested who have been newly identified as positive.
For context, the World Health Organisation suggests than an indication of the epidemic being under control is less than 5% of samples testing positive over a two week period.
The 10 cases being reported today in Scotland represent 0.3% testing positive.
The 22 cases reported yesterday, represented 0.8%.
I can also report that 295 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed Covid. That is eight fewer than yesterday. As you may remember from yesterday’s briefing, we will now report figures for confirmed cases only.
A total of three people last night were in intensive care with confirmed Covid-19. That is one fewer than yesterday.
I am glad to say that during the last 24 hours, no deaths were registered of a patient confirmed through a test as having Covid-19. The total number of deaths, under this particular measure, therefore remains at 2,491.
In addition, the National Records of Scotland has just published its regular weekly report, which is more detailed than our daily figures. Like the daily figures, it includes deaths of people who have been confirmed by a test as having COVID.
However it also covers cases where the virus has been entered on a death certificate as a suspected or contributory cause of death – even if its presence was not confirmed by a test. That is a wider measure, and therefore it captures more cases.
The latest NRS report covers the period to Sunday 19 July. At that point, according to our daily figures, 2,491 deaths of people who had tested positive had been registered.
However, today’s report shows that, by Sunday, the total number of registered deaths with either a confirmed or a presumed link to the virus was 4,193. Of those, six were registered in the seven days up to Sunday. That is a decrease of seven from the week before.
Three of those six deaths were in care homes, which is a reduction of four from last week.
The total number of deaths recorded last week – from all causes – was 32 higher than the five year average for the same time of year.
We will of course see if there are any causes for concern there, but it is worth remembering that the total number of deaths is always likely to fluctuate a bit. Last week’s figures follow on from a three week period, when the total number of deaths was below the five year average by 18, 35 and 49 respectively.
Last week was the twelfth week in a row in which the number of deaths from the virus has fallen. In addition, the total weekly number of Covid deaths now is the lowest we have seen since we started to record them in this way.
Today’s report shows once again that Covid has been driven to very low levels in Scotland.
However the figures also remind us that more than 4,000 people have lost their lives to this virus.
We must always remember that each of those deaths, was of a unique and irreplaceable individual. I want to send my condolences to everyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one.
I also want, as I always do, to send my gratitude our health and care workers for the extraordinary job they continue to do.
I want to talk about two issues this afternoon. In a few minutes, I will go over some of the changes to lockdown rules which we have previously announced come into effect today.
However before I do that, I will give a brief update on the latest information we have about the Covid outbreak in Lanarkshire, based around the Sitel call centre.
Since Sunday an intensive contact tracing operation has been underway.
All staff at Sitel have been told to isolate at home for 14 days, and in addition all staff have been asked to come forward for testing. As of this morning, around 390 test results, out of around 400 tested overall, have been returned.
As of now, 15 positive cases have been identified of people who work at the site, and a further five additional positive cases have been identified through the tracing of family members and close contacts.
Contact tracing has also confirmed that a number of Sitel staff who have tested positive also had links to other locations, prior to becoming aware of the outbreak.
Environmental Health officers have checked on those locations. They are satisfied that precautions such as protective equipment and cleaning were in place, and that the risk of transmission is therefore low. Close contacts from these locations have also been advised to isolate.
I want to take the opportunity today to thank the five locations – which are Owen’s Bar in Coatbridge; The Railway Tavern and Merlin’s Bar in Motherwell; Costa Coffee in Carfin; and END clothing in Glasgow – for their co-operation.
I would also ask people who might have attended those locations in the last week or so to be extra vigilant, to follow all guidance and to isolate and book a test if you do experience any symptoms. I am saying this not because I think there is a real concern in transmission there but simply as an added precaution
This outbreak should be a very clear reminder to people that Coronavirus has not gone away. It does not take much for very small numbers of cases to become much bigger numbers – and while Test & Protect and our local public health teams are working incredibly hard to contain any outbreaks, it is not just their job. I think that’s an important point for all of us to remember, each and every one of us has a job to do to keep the virus at bay.
The second point I want to cover is to confirm that – in line with the timetable set out in our routemap – more services are reopening today.
From today, universities and colleges can institute a phased return to on-campus learning.
Further personal retail services – such as beauticians and tailors – can re-open, with enhanced hygiene measures in place.
Motorcycle instruction, tractor driving instruction and car theory tests can also resume from today.
And finally drive-in live events – such as comedy and theatre shows, concerts and bingo evenings – can also take place from today
Today’s steps represent a further cautious re-opening of sectors, and cautious resumption of services. As always, there are some risks attached to them, but we believe that with the appropriate mitigations in place, these risks can be managed.
As many of you will know, the regulations currently require us to review the lockdown restrictions every three weeks. The next review is due next Thursday, a week tomorrow, so I now is the right time to inject a note of caution.
Phase 2 of our emergence from lockdown took exactly three weeks. But as I indicated two weeks ago this current phase, phase 3, is likely to last considerably longer.
The changes we have made over the last two weeks have been really significant, including the opening of our tourism sector and indoor hospitality, so we have to carefully monitor the impact of that and the number of new coronavirus cases we are seeing each day.
Examples like the outbreak in North Lanarkshire show what can happen when people are mixing indoors and when guidance is perhaps not rigorously followed.
At a time when the virus is picking up again in a number of European countries, we need to be confident that it is safe to change restrictions further.
Our main focus right now, I think it is a priority, is on keeping the virus at a low enough level to enable schools to fully and safely re-open from the 11th of August.
That would be a further significant change. In addition, we have said already that if possible, we would like to remove the requirement for shielding from 31 July. I will say more about changes for shielding people tomorrow.
These two aims – allowing people who have been shielding to live more normally, and enabling children to go back to school full time – are really important priorities. And to be frank they are only achievable, if levels of Covid in the community remain very low.
Now obviously, we will continue to review the data for new cases and hospital admissions, among other things and our final decisions will be made next week. If there are steps we can take, then we will – we cannot leave restrictions in place for longer than is judged to be necessary.
However I want to flag up now that it is possible that we may not be able to make any changes next week beyond confirming the return of schooling and a pause in shielding.
So for those businesses who are still waiting for a date to restart, I thank you for your ongoing patience. I fully understand how difficult any further delay is for you, but I also hope you will understand why we need to prioritise re-opening schools.
I also want to underline that we are making changes at a pace and at a level that we think is right and safe for our current circumstances here in Scotland.
Announcements made for other parts of the UK do not automatically apply here.
For example I want to underline that the UK government’s encouragement to those who can work from home in England to nevertheless return to workplaces, does not yet apply in Scotland.
Working from home, where that is feasible, remains the default and preferred position and we expect employers to continue to support people to do that. We will be publishing new guidance on home working shortly.
The cluster of cases I have just talked about – around a call centre in Lanarkshire – is a salutary reminder that transmission of this virus can occur in workplaces and spread relatively easily.
Our position remains that non-essential offices and call centres should remain closed, until we judge it is safe to make this significant change for Scotland.
These notes of caution link to the point I want to end on.
It continues to be the case that the only way in which we can take further steps out of lockdown safely, is if we continue to suppress the virus. And achieving that – now, more than ever – comes down to the individual decisions that each and every one of us is making.
I know how difficult it is to maintain two metre distancing when you are meeting people you haven’t seen for three or four months – especially with family members and close friends, the human instinct to hug and be physically close is a very strong one.
But staying that bit further apart can make all the difference – it makes you less likely to get the virus, and makes you less likely to transmit the virus.
The choices we all make as individuals – on physical distancing, on wearing face coverings, on washing our hands – these will decide how quickly all of us can make further progress out of lockdown together.
And so I want to close once again by emphasising Facts – the five key things all of us should remember in everything we do.
Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces such as shops and public transport.
Avoid crowded places.
Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly.
Two metre distancing remains the rule – it is the one measure we all need to remind ourselves to constantly comply with
and self-isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms. Go to https://www.nhsinform.scot and book a test immediately
If we all stick to this we have a real chance of getting the virus back under control and accelerating progress back to something much more normal than life has felt in the past few months. My thanks again to everybody who is co-operating and playing their part.
