Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-04539

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-32735

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support night-time entertainment venues that are unlikely to be able to operate for a considerable amount of time owing to COVID-19 restrictions.

Recognising the difficult situation that many nightclubs have faced in being closed since March, we announced on 27 October that we had allocated a portion of the £11 million Contingency Fund specifically to supporting businesses in this sector. Grants of up to £50,000 will be paid to nightclubs depending on their Rateable Value. Eligible businesses will receive a:

£10,000 grant for a property from which they operate with a rateable value of £18,000 or under; or
a £25,000 grant for a property from which they operate with a rateable value between £18,001 and £51,000; or
a £50,000 grant for a property from which they operate with a rateable value above £51,001.

Having listened to nightclubs we have extended our eligibility criteria to enable nightclubs to receive financial assistance regardless of whether they adapted their premises and opened in a limited way for any period.

We have also set out our planned approach to business support to accompany introduction of the Strategic Framework.

Question reference: S5W-32736

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the existing support provided to night-time entertainment venues is likely to be sufficient in preventing (a) venue closures and (b) job losses, given that, unlike other hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs, they will be unable to re-open when temporary COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

We have developed a specific package of funding which provides grants of up to £50,000 for nightclubs. Nightclubs will also be eligible for funding through the business support arrangements that we have introduced to accompany restrictions introduced under the Strategic Framework.

This builds on the support for the wider industry that is being provided through the £15m Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund and £2.2m Grassroots Music Venue Fund.

We recognise that this funding will not cover all the losses incurred by night-time entertainment venues but our aim is to provide emergency, lifeline support with the aim of keeping venues open in the future.

We welcome the decision to continue the Job Retention Scheme which will further prevent job losses in both night-time entertainment venues and other sectors.

Question reference: S5W-32734

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support workers employed in night-time industries, given reports by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) that 83% expect to make redundancies following the end of the Job Retention Scheme.

We have continually made calls to the UK Government to extend the Job Retention Scheme and welcome its most recent extension to the end of March. This will be invaluable, particularly as some sectors, such as the tourism sector, work on a seasonal basis and as we now move to what will be a period of low income for businesses in this sector.

On 27 October, we announced that we had allocated a portion of the £11 million Contingency Fund specifically to supporting businesses in the night time economy sector. Grants of up to £50,000 will be paid to nightclubs depending on their Rateable Value.

We recognise that nightclubs are only part of the night-time economy and this will build on our over £2.3 billion package of support that we have provided to businesses already which has supported many night-time businesses such as pubs, restaurants and music venues.

Our new five-level Strategic Approach to managing Covid sets out our planned levels of support for business in the event of any future restrictions and we continue to press the UK Government for further support through the Job Retention Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-32729

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support musicians in Scotland who will be required by the EU to pay for a visa to travel to EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.

The Scottish Government has consistently opposed the ending of free movement. We support free movement not only for economic reasons but also for the cultural and creative enrichment that it brings. Freedom of movement has allowed musicians to take their work to EU countries, and it is wrong that they and other creative and cultural professionals may have to go through bureaucratic and costly visa applications to work in the EU in the future.

As the UK Government enters the final stages of its negotiations with the EU, we continue to make the case for an extensive and generous mobility agreement that would allow musicians to continue to move freely between the UK and EU.

The Scottish Government is currently working closely with stakeholders and agencies in Scotland and across the UK to ensure that relevant information and advice will be available to musicians ahead of the end of the EU Exit transition period.

Question reference: S5F-04507

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-32358

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether physical distancing is possible in all schools that are operating at full capacity.

Implementation of the agreed school reopening guidance is the responsibility of local authorities and schools, working closely with their school communities.

As a precautionary approach, our guidance recommends that distancing is maintained where possible between young people in secondary schools, provided that does not introduce capacity constraints and prevent attendance. This is a proportionate, risk-based approach, that goes further than the current scientific advice on school reopening requires.

We also required risk assessments to be carried out in individual schools in relation to the guidance. We would expect those assessments to consider capacity issues within individual schools, and any impact on the ability of adults and young people to maintain physical distancing.

Question reference: S5W-32354

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some teachers and school staff who were previously shielding are reportedly being permitted to work outside of a classroom environment in some local authorities while in others they are being required to work in the classroom.

The guidance which was prepared to support the return to school, includes advice for those who are considered to be clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding). In line with the position on shielding, the guidance indicates that those who were formerly shielding can return to work in schools, and that an individualised risk assessment should be undertaken. The guidance on special considerations for certain groups is available from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020-version-3/pages/3/

The decisions on where teachers and school staff who have previously been shielding are deployed are for individual schools and local authorities, in line with their responsibilities as employers, following individualised risk assessment.

Question reference: S5W-32356

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the guidance for schools that currently states that teachers who were previously shielding should attend work in the classroom.

The guidance which was prepared to support the return to school, includes advice for those who are considered to be clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding). In line with the position on shielding, the guidance indicates that those who were formerly shielding can return to work in schools, and that an individualised risk assessment should be undertaken. The guidance on special considerations for certain groups is available from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020-version-3/pages/3/

The position in relation to shielding currently remains the same, as set out at https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-shielding/ .

The guidance for schools will be updated in due course, to include references to the shielding guidance above, including the steps which those formerly shielding can take to receive shielding updates, and information on the current levels of infection in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-32355

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether teachers who were previously shielding should be working in classrooms in (a) Glasgow and (b) Scotland, in light of Glasgow City Council's Executive Director of Education writing to schools to highlight an “extraordinary number of cases where teachers have tested positive for COVID-19”.

The guidance which was prepared to support the return to school, includes advice for those who are considered to be clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding). In line with the position on shielding, the guidance indicates that those who were formerly shielding can return to work in schools, and that an individualised risk assessment should be undertaken. The guidance on special considerations for certain groups is available from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020-version-3/pages/3/

As the guidance outlines, risk assessments should consider measures that can be taken to lower the risk of transmission amongst staff and pupils in all parts of the school.

The decisions on where teachers and school staff who have previously been shielding are deployed are for individual schools and local authorities, in line with their responsibilities as employers, following individualised risk assessment.

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