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During the unprecedented situation created by Covid-19, NHS services have had to adapt, altering service provision and introducing measures to reduce spread of the virus to women, families and staff. In all cases, professional judgement will be the driver for determining the level of support required to keep individual babies, children and their families safe and well during the pandemic. Families with young babies will have the contact details of their midwife and health visitor should they need advice. They can also obtain advice via the Parent Club website.

On 7 April 2020 the Scottish Government published Coronavirus (Covid 19): Nursing and Community Health Staff guidance. The guidance outlined that all face to face visits covering children’s services should be risk assessed and take place in accordance with health and safety and infection control policies. The guidance included advice on prioritisation of care in the community for all professional groups covering children’s services. In addition, Professor Fiona McQueen, Chief Nursing Officer and Michael Chalmers, Director of Children and Families, Scottish Government wrote to NHS Board Chief Executives on 1 February 2021 to ask that they factor in continued provision of universal and targeted health services for children in the local planning response for Covid-19.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of marriage and civil partnership to couples and to society more widely. We appreciate the difficulties caused by the restrictions in place and that these may mean a couple has to make difficult decisions about their wedding ceremony or civil partnership registration. Our priority remains public health.

The First Minister announced on 2 February that the current lockdown, including the requirement to stay at home except for essential purposes, needs to remain in place until at least the end of February. Our expectation is therefore that the current rules on marriages and civil partnerships will not change until at least March.

Where possible, we outline anticipated future changes and set out indicative dates for them. Regrettably, the Scottish Government is not able to say now what the position will be in August.

There are a number of uncertainties which affect our ability to offer increased confidence to couples and the wedding sector for the future, including whether we will have suppressed the prevalence of the virus sufficiently, whether there will be sufficient vaccination coverage, whether new variants are also controlled, and evidence that vaccines are preventing or limiting transmission.

In December 2020, the First Minister announced a review of the Strategic Framework and that she will report the outcome of that review to Parliament. This process will ensure that the Framework continues to be fit for purpose and maps out our approach for the period ahead in the light of the rapidly evolving situation and the latest available evidence.

We continue to keep all the restrictions under close review and we are committed to not keeping restrictions in place any longer than is absolutely necessary.

All staff employed to work on the programme are paid in accordance with nationally set terms and conditions and are working to agreed job roles, which come with specified rates of pay.

Independent contractors working on the vaccinations programme are paid a sessional rate, this broadly reflects wider market rates for use of those contractor groups. The rate is not directly comparable with the hourly rates offered to employed staff and bank workers, and represents the total cost for the provision of that session by the contractor concerned.

The decision regarding the 12 week gap between the two Covid-19 doses was made based on the clinical recommendation from the JCVI.

Furthermore, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also recommends the interval between two doses is likely to have a longer term protection.

The scientific recommendations were published here: Statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on the prioritisation of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The latest evidence on interval between two doses which outlines the approach for maximum protection can also be viewed via the link below:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) - vaccine: letter from the Chief Medical Officer updating on the vaccination programme - 1 January 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The setting of the gas and electricity price cap is a reserved issue that remains with UK Ministers under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998.

Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, set the levels of this cap and consulted on the forthcoming price changes last December. Whilst noting the much of the uplift was due to increases in wholesale energy prices, we expressed concerns relating to the COVID-19 uplift being included.

In recent months, we have taken action to ensure that appropriate support is available for those facing increased household energy bills. We have provided additional funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund which can provide crisis grants to those in immediate financial need. We also have also provided £20 million to Local Authorities to be used flexibly to provide support to those facing financial insecurity, including support for fuel costs.

We have also committed £1.6 Billion of Scottish Government funding over the next 5 years to improve the heating and energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes and non-domestic buildings. This support delivery of our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, which was published on 5th February and which sets out an ambitious agenda on decarbonisation of heating, but with a key focus also on supporting action to address fuel poverty.

We are seeking detail from HM Treasury on any consequential funding along with information on the planned tax and levy as a result of the UK Government’s recent announcement.

I will set out a sustainable path forward next month and I hope by that time we will know the details of the consequentials.

For families who are home-schooling there is a range of support available, details of which are provided on the Parent Club Scotland and the Parentzone Scotland websites. Most recently the Scottish Government announced a new £45 million package of support to help local authorities to provide support to schools and families as they deal with the challenges of remote learning during lockdown. Councils may use the funding for recruitment of additional staff, additional digital devices or to provide additional family support.

We recognise that due to Covid-19, there will be increased financial pressures on many households including families who are home-schooling. Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has been providing support for households struggling with their energy bills through a variety of channels. We increased the budget for the Scottish Welfare Fund to meet additional demand arising as a consequence of Covid-19, as well as providing further funding for Local Authorities to be used flexibly to provide support to those facing financial insecurity, including support for fuel costs.

Most recently we have distributed £7 million via the Help with Fuel element of the Winter Support Programme. This includes £4 million for a Home Heating Support Fund administered by Advice Direct Scotland, £2 million to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations for grants to Registered Social Landlords for practical initiatives to help tenants struggling to meet their fuel costs this winter and £445,000 for the Fuel Bank Foundation to help households on prepayment meters, or who rely on unregulated fuels like heating oil, who are at risk of self-disconnection.

Furthermore, Home Energy Scotland (HES) is funded by the Scottish Government to provide a range of energy related advice services and support to householders in Scotland. HES can make referrals for benefit checks, manage energy supplier switching, help with accessing the Warm Home Discount and other financial assistance, as well as providing advice on how to use energy in the home more efficiently. They can also assess eligibility for the Scottish Government’s energy efficiency schemes, which could help make long lasting improvements to home heating systems and insulation.

It is too soon to introduce any form of certification. We need to know more about the efficacy of the vaccines, their impact on transmission and the length of immunity before it would be safe to introduce a vaccine certificate.

We continue to engage in national and international developments in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), including on the issue of vaccine certification. These discussions are led by the World Health Organisation and include consideration of technical details, ethical and equality issues, and privacy standards. The outcome of those discussions will guide our work and decision-making in this area.

The Scottish Government recognises that remote learning arrangements present a number of challenges for young people, parents and carers, particularly those learners working towards National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications. We have been working intensively with national partners to ensure that our senior phase learners are provided with the clarity and the support they need.

On 16 February, the National Qualifications 2021 Group issued an update to the Alternative Certification Model to address the current remote learning position. The details provide clarity on the assessment approach to be adopted this year, with a further extension to the submission date for provisional results to 25 June to provide more time for learning and teaching.

The priority at this time, and on immediate return to school, should be on learning and teaching to ensure that learners consolidate learning and have sufficient course coverage prior to assessment later in the academic session.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has published a blog which aims to keep learners, parents and carers informed on changes to assessment of SQA qualifications, which can be found at the following link: https://blogs.sqa.org.uk/2021/

Local authorities and individual schools are responsible for providing advice and support to parents which is relevant to their own context and situation, and their teachers and schools draw on information and advice from the SQA and Education Scotland.

The advice from schools to parents and carers is supplemented by a range of national advice sources, including:

• The National Parent Form of Scotland (NPFS) provides a Nutshell guide on learning at home which they are currently updating. This is part of a broader suite of Nutshell guides for parents, available from the NPFS website.
• The NPFS is hosting a series of webinars on the phased return to school which will be posted on You Tube.
• Practical advice and support to parents is available via the Parent Club Covid-19 site, which includes specific advice on supporting teenagers with learning at home.
• Advice materials and further remote learning activities provided via the Education Scotland “Scotland Learns” platform.
• Additional study support options for senior phase learners. As part of the National e-Learning Offer, the e-Sgoil initiative has been widening access to a range of live lesson programmes covering ages 3 to 18, augmenting the work of classroom teachers across the country. In September 2020, e-Sgoil rolled out a package of free interactive online study webinars for senior phase pupils, an offer which has received positive feedback from learners. For the duration of this current period, e-Sgoil is running a new Lockdown Live programme. The e-Sgoil provision includes daytime online study support sessions, available to all schools who use the Glow platform, and encompassing National 5 qualifications.

E-Sgoil are currently looking for S4/5/6 pupils input to planning for their Easter Study Support provision. This will be held during the week beginning 5 April 2021. It is individual schools’ decision as to whether and how they wish to integrate the e-Sgoil offer as part of their own learning and teaching support to learners. Further information is available at: http://e-sgoil.com/daytimestudysupport2020/

We are committed to ensuring that learners can be fairly assessed this year following the cancellation of the 2021 exam diet. National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams in 2021 have been replaced by an Alternative Certification Model based on teachers’ and lecturers’ judgement of evidence of each individual pupil’s attainment.

Following the move to remote learning, the National Qualifications 2021 Group has been overseeing changes to the Alternative Certification Model and associated timeline that was announced in December 2020. A revised Alternative Certification Model was published on 16 February taking into account the current remote learning position. This includes an extension of the final date for schools and colleges to submit provisional results to 25 June 2021 to allow greater time for learning and teaching. This provides clarity to teachers and learners on the assessment approach to be adopted this year.

The priority at this time, and on immediate return to school, should be on learning and teaching to ensure that learners consolidate learning and have sufficient course coverage prior to assessment later in the academic session.

Provisional results will be based on demonstrated learner attainment consistent with the requirements set out in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher subject-specific guidance published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. These results will be subject to local and national quality assurance.