Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has spent £5.8 million on various Covid-health related campaigns across all media channels since 23 March 2020.

The current level of Scottish Government capital borrowing is £1.58 billion, 53% of the £3 billion capital borrowing capacity. The reduction in debt level reflects repayments of existing borrowing in August 2020.

The Scottish Government intends to drawdown a further £450 million in capital borrowing and £207 million resource borrowing before the end of the financial year, in line with the 2020-21 Scottish Budget.

Holiday clubs may be delivered by either regulated childcare providers or by sports or activity providers.

If the club is providing regulated childcare, they will require to follow the guidance published for reopening school age childcare or early learning and childcare services (depending on the age group).

If they are providing an activity which takes place outdoors they will be able to operate if they:

• are providing organised children's sporting activity and can operate within the guidance from their regulated body of sport; or

• are providing a community learning and development service, such as youth work, and are able to operate within the guidance for this sector ; or

• are providing organised outdoor play activity in line with the existing public health guidance for meeting outdoors (observing rules around number of households and maximum number of people)

If they are providing an organised indoor activity for children they should follow the guidance published .

We have published the list of organisations who informed the consultation and this can be found in the Framework for supporting people through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic, which is available to read on the Scottish Government’s website. The National Advisory Board for Rehabilitation is to be determined and will be chaired by the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer and supported by the new Allied Health Professions Adviser. The Advisory Board will be formed to provide expert advice to Scottish Government and support leadership in NHS Boards, Integration Authorities, Local Government, Independent and Third Sector. We will be considering the role that technologies will play in supporting rehabilitation and recovery and have already highlighted that we recognise that people affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) can benefit from providing care and support in different ways including online rehabilitation services.

The UK Government confirmed on 24 July that the Scottish Government will receive a minimum of £6.5 billion of Covid-19 Barnett consequentials in 2020-21. This represented an increase of £800m more than previous estimates which had been provided by Treasury based on spending commitments in England.

Even with this level of additional funding it is clear that Scottish Government is still facing considerable financial challenges in responding to the ongoing Heath and Economic impacts as result of the pandemic. Whilst the guarantee is welcome I remain frustrated that the proportionate and reasonable requests for additional fiscal flexibilities that I have been making and which Parliament has supported continue to be dismissed by the UK Government.

The allocation of the first £3.6 billion of consequentials were detailed in the Summer Budget Revision published by the Scottish Government in May. I will provide further details on additional allocations in the Autumn Budget Revision, which I aim to publish in September and in the Spring Budget Revision later in January.

There are two circumstances in which outdoor holiday clubs can be provided over the summer period. Firstly, if the provider is a service registered with the Care Inspectorate to provide childcare and is able to operate within the current guidance for fully outdoor settings or for school age childcare services . Secondly, if the provider is delivering organised outdoor sporting activity for children and can operate in accordance with guidance produced by their Scottish Governing Body of Sport.

An organised event, such as a motor caravan rally, will be covered by the dates for reopening of the events sector. The First Minister published an update to the Routemap on 30 July, which proposed an indicative date of 24 August for live outdoor events and 14 September for live indoor events, subject to limited numbers, strict physical distancing measures and following the relevant guidance.

It is important to emphasise that these are not confirmed dates and may be changed if the epidemic deteriorates in Scotland.

Following a clinical assessment, personal retail services, including Complementary and Alternative Medicine services (CAMs) and massage therapy, were advised that they could resume services as of 22 July 2020, where the service is carried out in a therapist’s own premises (i.e. not a mobile therapist, who provides treatment in a patient’s home), and the close contact retail guidance has been updated to reflect this.

The Scottish Government are undertaking further clinical assessment of the risk of transmission of COVID-19 for mobile massage and CAM services, and are considering whether further guidance is required for these.

The Scottish Government and sport scotland have been working with partners on a range of sports and activities on the way they can resume in a safe way. All sports and activities pose different challenges, which can impact on the timing of resumption of certain disciplines. In terms of Equestrian, we have engaged with HorseScotland to work towards a timely return of both grassroots activity and competition.

HorseScotland is a key member of the COVID-19 response group which has been set up by sport scotland to consider the conditions required for the return of outdoor sport. HorseScotland have recently published phase 3 guidance on their website. This guidance indicates that at present, to restrict the possible spread of the virus, competition should only be undertaken locally and informally. Ministers will review this regularly with a view to permitting competition as soon as possible.

Following a clinical assessment, personal retail services, including Complementary and Alternative Medicine services (CAMs) and massage therapy, were advised that they could resume services as of 22 July 2020, where the service is carried out in a therapist’s own premises (i.e. not a mobile therapist, who provides treatment in a patient’s home), and the close contact retail guidance has been updated to reflect this.

The Scottish Government are undertaking further clinical assessment of the risk of transmission of COVID-19 for mobile massage and CAM services, and are considering whether further guidance is required for these.