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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have provided the Scottish Government with management information that shows Universal Credit declarations to 4 April 2020 broken down by the following household characteristics: (a) restricted ability to work, (b) fit note, (c) employment status, (d) housing status, (e) children, (f) couples, (g) initial claims, (h) work group and (i) ID verification on the day of declaration. This information is available at Great Britain level only and it has not been updated.

Since the start of lockdown restrictions to date (23 March 2020 to 26 June 2020), 17 interim workers have been assigned to the Scottish Government under the Framework Agreement for Interim Professional Staff Services - National. The cost of using the framework over this period was £10,387. This is the total commission rate charged by the suppliers to provide these workers during this period. It does not include their pay. Where these assignments continue beyond 26 June we will continue to be charged a daily commission rate and so this figure will increase until the assignments come to an end.

We recognise that rehabilitation is critical to ensuring people are appropriately supported during their recovery from the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Chief Scientist Office has commissioned a number of rapid research studies on coronavirus (COVID-19) that include how to support people afterwards and during rehabilitation, and the longer term effects of the virus. Further information is available at: https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/rarc19projects/ .

Scotland also contributes to the National Institute for Health Research that is undertaking coronavirus (COVID-19) studies ( https://www.nihr.ac.uk/covid-studies/ ).

This research, and emerging evidence globally, is informing the likely long term psychological and physical effects of the pandemic across Scotland but the clinical findings and our knowledge are continually evolving.

The Health Secretary has commissioned a framework on recovery and rehabilitation from coronavirus (COVID-19) that will encompass different ways that people have been affected by the virus and the public health measures put in place to save lives and protect the NHS during lockdown.

A strategic leadership group led by the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer is undertaking this activity, which will provide clear principles, priorities and objectives to support planning to meet increasing demand and to provide high quality person-centred rehabilitation in different settings.

Due to the range and complexity of post specific and larger scale external recruitment rounds, we do not have an average cost to recruit externally across all recruitments. The average cost to recruit a candidate calculated for a large scale external campaign completed in 2018 was £744 (this includes advertising, outreach and assessments, but excludes internal Scottish Government staff costs associated with interviewing and general administration).

In the event of a prime delivery partner ceasing operations on Fair Start Scotland, the Scottish Governments main priorities are to ensure continuity of the service with minimal impact on its participants, and to protect delivery partner staff where possible.

In this event, a novation agreement has been signed between Momentum and Start Scotland – prime delivery partner in the East and South West of Scotland, who will take over operations from Momentum in the North East.

Under the terms of the contract novation from Momentum, Start Scotland have agreed that TUPE regulations apply and have taken action to transfer all relevant staff over, where staff choose to do so.

The undertaking of this process is a matter between Momentum and Start Scotland.

The Scottish Government was made aware of Momentums intention to cease operations on Fair Start Scotland in April 2020. Since then the Scottish Government has worked closely with Momentum to ensure there is no disruption to service delivery, both in terms of participants and Momentum staff where possible, as it is important to retain their expertise in employability support.

The Scottish Governments main priority is to ensure staff working on Fair Start Scotland are retained where possible, as their skills and expertise are essential in meeting the current demand for increased support in the employability market.

In this situation, Start Scotland have agreed that TUPE regulations apply and have taken action to transfer all relevant staff over, where staff choose to do so.

Closing the poverty-related attainment gap remains a defining mission for this Government. Recognising the impact the pandemic is having on all of our children and young people, but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, I announced last week that we would be providing a further £100 million over the next two years to help support the return to school and help children recover any lost ground. More details on this will be provided in due course.

That is on top of the Pupil Equity Fund allocations we have confirmed already, with over £250 million committed to 97% of schools across Scotland in 2020-21 and 2021-22. This helps provide more certainty for head teachers and aid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. Schools know their learners best and, in providing Pupil Equity Funding for two years, we are giving head teachers clarity to assist them in their planning and decision making, in the short and longer term, to raise attainment.

The Scottish Government is also providing Local Authorities and Headteachers with the flexibility they need to redirect Attainment Scotland Funding, including Pupil Equity Funding,to help mitigate the impacts of school closures on our most disadvantaged families.

Even with a return to full-time education, it is imperative that we increase levels of digital inclusion, which is why we have also committed investment of £30 million to provide laptops for disadvantaged children and young people. That includes up to £25 million of funding for a roll-out of digital devices and connectivity to school pupils to enable them to study online. We have also asked Education Scotland to expand their partnership offer with the ESgoil digital learning platform to develop a strong national e-learning provision.

Inclusive communication means sharing information in a way that everybody can understand. It is both important and is a right. Scottish Government’s Action Plan, A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People , published in 2016, states that in Scotland we want communication to be accessible to, and inclusive of, all.

To support this Scottish Government funds The Inclusive Communication Hub, launched in 2016 and managed by Disability Equality Scotland. It is an easy to use online tool for all who wish to be more inclusive with the information they give. It provides tools and guidance on how to make information accessible to people; and provides a central place where accessible information and resources that have been developed by organisations throughout Scotland can be accessed.

Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020

Scottish Government has taken a range of steps to ensure it is fulfilling its duty to provide information in accessible formats:

• Scottish Government has worked with both the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability and Disability Equality Scotland to provide Easy Read versions of key UK and Scottish Government documents.
• Scottish Government has granted funds to Deafblind Scotland to provide translations of official UK and Scottish Government advice in Braille, Moon, XXXL print and audio. This information is being shared with other organisations working with people who may have visual impairment and deafness, and with organisations working with older people.
• NHS Inform has produced easy read and BSL versions of the COVID-19 advice and information to ensure it is accessible to all.
• The Scottish Government arranged for in-situ BSL/English interpreters to cover the daily COVID-19 press conferences, and continue to work with broadcasters to ensure the interpreter is included in their broadcasts. The Scottish Government is also producing BSL versions of key information.
• British Deaf Association are being funded to produce daily factual news summaries from official sources in BSL
• High quality, HTML documents are produced on all COVID-19 materials to make them accessible for users of assistive technology.
• The Scottish Government has developed accessible formats for COVID-19: A Framework for Decision Making and Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis. An easy read version is available for both documents and the route map is also available in audio and BSL and has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Polish and Gaelic. We will continue to ensure we communicate messages about the route map in an inclusive way.

Consumer Scotland Act 2020

The Consumer Scotland Act was introduced to Parliament on 5 June 2019 and received Royal Assent on 9 June 2020. When established, Consumer Scotland will be an independent body accountable to Parliament. As such, it will be for the body to consider how best to meet the inclusive communications duty and what the associated cost will be.

Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018

Social Security Scotland’s current capability is as follows:

• Interpretation, Translation and Transcription services available in over 100 languages
• British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service available through Contact Scotland
• Deafblind interpreters, Text Relay and electronic note taker services
• All letters, information and guidance are available in Braille, Large Print, Easy Read and various Audio formats
• Online content follows the Scottish Government’s accessibility design standards. It is compatible with screen reader software on Jaws, Voiceover and Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) platforms

The requirement to communicate inclusively is included in Social Security Scotland’s Corporate Plan and Our Charter and further work will be undertaken to embed inclusive communication principles across the organisation.

Work is being guided by user research and stakeholder expertise. An Inclusive Communication Reference Group has been created which includes over 20 representatives from organisations across a wide range of client groups.