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In order to make best use of available testing capacity we identified three priorities for testing: to direct our testing capacity effectively to save lives and protect the vulnerable; to ensure that critical staff can return to work as soon as possible and to monitor and report on the spread and prevalence of the virus in the population and the impact of public health measures.

As our testing capacity increased we expanded eligibility for testing from patients to key workers and beyond, and from 18 May everyone age 5 or over with symptoms could access testing. Additional testing is underway in care homes for both residents and staff. From 28 May we have moved to Test and Protect and anyone with symptoms should seek a test as soon as possible and self isolate.

The Supporting Communities Fund has, as of 27 May 2020, approved funding for 325 organisations. A list of those organisations is available on the SCVO Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub at: https://scvo.org.uk/support/coronavirus/funding/scottish-government/supporting-communities-fund

I refer the member to my response to S5W-29197 on 4 June 2020 which clarifies how the Fund has been distributed.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Supporting Communities Fund has, as of 27 May 2020, approved funding for over 325 community anchor organisations (CAOs) across Scotland, who in turn can distribute funds to a wider network of community groups.

The CAOs are required to provide a proportionate level of reporting both during and after the funding period. This will involve at least one progress monitoring report followed by an evaluation report capturing the overall use of funding and outcomes. Documented evidence of expenditure will be required for our audit and accounting purposes.

The partner organisations supporting the CAOs can request an update if required on how activity is progressing against proposed activity in the application.

The £40m Supporting Communities Fund is a Scottish Government fund aimed at local community groups supporting people in their communities impacted by COVID-19. The fund is being targeted through community anchor organisations, utilising and building upon the knowledge and experience of delivering community regeneration funding working with our community development and community regeneration partners. We have approved Supporting Communities Funding for 325 community anchor organisations to date, totalling £12.921m.

We are in regular discussion with COSLA about the funding and will continue to engage with them and partners including Third Sector Interfaces and Local Authorities to gauge and address any gaps in support. We have worked closely with COSLA and local authorities over a number of years to target investment and support to disadvantaged communities across Scotland, which in turn has enabled us to be in a strong position to make use of existing relationships to channel funding

SCVO has not been involved in allocating grants from the Supporting Communities Fund. SCVO has, however, included information on the Fund within its online Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub: https://scvo.org.uk/support/coronavirus/funding/scottish-government/supporting-communities-fund

We are considering equalities issues through the approval process and through work to identify gaps in funding. We are also considering how best to make equalities information available as part of our overall monitoring of the fund.

I announced the Supporting Communities Fund (SCF) on 18 March 2020 as part of a package of £350 million investment to support local communities and households in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This overall investment has comprised of a range of funds to be delivered using a combination of approaches to ensure that resource is mobilised quickly to the places and people where it is needed.

Through our partners/intermediaries we identified community anchor organisations (CAOs) that could maximise the impact of SCF, ensuring funding is quickly and effectively allocated to grassroots and small community based groups. CAOs include charities, voluntary organisations, community controlled housing associations, and social enterprises based in Scotland and delivering services/activities in Scottish communities.

Approvals for SCF allocations have been based on proposals invited from CAOs. The fund has not been operated on an open bid basis. A degree of flexibility is maintained, rather than committing to a rigid distribution methodology. This is especially important given the degree of uncertainty around how coronavirus will continue to impact society.

A second phase of the funding has already commenced, and we are engaging with an extended group of partners including Third Sector Interfaces and Local Authorities to help address where there may be gaps in current provision and where there remains a need for support. Additional guidance to support these partners will be provided as needed to support this next phase of the fund, which will include information to support signposting community organisations to the support available locally and through the fund.

On 20 May the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning announced in the Scottish Parliament an increase to the amount made available for other DHPs - those that are available outside of our full mitigation of the bedroom tax - by a further £5 million to almost £16 million. This will support tenants where Universal Credit or Housing Benefit does not cover the cost of their rent.

We have budgeted £60 million for bedroom tax mitigation through DHPs in 2020-21 and expect the cost of mitigation to significantly increase over and above this due to the additional numbers of people moving on to Universal Credit and we remain committed to mitigating the cost in full.

Local Authorities may also top up their DHP budgets as they see fit from other sources of funding available to them, such as the £50 million COVID-19 Hardship Fund money announced as part of a £350 million package of support on 18 March 2020.

The power of the Scottish Ministers to make provision in relation to Discretionary Housing Payments is restricted by schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. As a result, the Scottish Ministers have no power to extend eligibility for Discretionary Housing Payments beyond individuals who are in receipt of Housing Benefit, or another reserved benefit payable in respect of liability to make rent payments.

The Scottish Government has introduced a package of support measures to limit the impact of COVID-19 on the business community, this includes a 100 per cent rate relief for non-domestic properties in the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure and Airport (RHLA) sectors. Estate Agents functions in Scotland are typically undertaken by solicitors alongside a wider variety of service activity such as conveyancing, mortgage services and private client legal services. Therefore they are not considered to be part of the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors and are not eligible for this relief. In designing the support package, we had to balance helping as many businesses as possible against affordability. As it is not possible to help everyone we would want to, some sectors are excluded from the RHLA relief.

The new measures also include a universal 1.6 per cent rates relief, which is available for all non-domestic properties across Scotland. Estate agents will be able to benefit from the 1.6% universal rates relief in 2020-21, which will apply automatically to their non-domestic rates bills.

Estate agents may also be eligible for the Small Business Grant scheme for premises in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS), or eligible for the SBBS but in receipt of a range of other reliefs.