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I am pleased to confirm that the Inquiry will formally begin its work on 30 November 2020. The Inquiry setting up date marks the point at which I hand over full responsibility of the Inquiry to Lord Bracadale and the work of the Inquiry will commence.

One of the key elements to be completed was the appointment of assessors to support Lord Bracadale in his work. I am also pleased to announce today the appointment of two highly experienced individuals – Raju Bhatt and Michael Fuller. Both bring a wealth of knowledge to the role and I am confident they will bring diversity, balance and vital experience to support Lord Bracadale during the Inquiry.

As I outlined in the PQ you reference in your question, we are not running a formal written consultation in the way that we did in 2016, where at that time we were aiming to arrive at a new Scottish Government international development policy. Within this 2020 review, our partner countries are not changing. What we are looking at and reviewing instead is our approach to our work: to ensure that going forward we are re-focusing our work on areas where we can make the biggest contribution and difference in our partner countries against the backdrop of the new reality of COVID-19; and with a resulting refresh of our Strategy in mind.

I believe that events are the best way to hear people’s views and the full list of events which I have held or have attended as Minister for Europe and International Development, some of which are still to take place, is available on the Scottish Government website. A number of these events have been targeted at getting views for both our oversee partner countries and Scottish stakeholders and have been open access. For example to get views on the principles guiding the ID Review, I ran two such events online to ensure the maximum amount of people could attend and I am pleased to say over 115 Scottish and partner-counties’ stakeholders, from over 85 organisations, attended.

As detailed in the PQ you highlight here, all the academic institutions represented at the academics roundtable on 1 October, together with a summary note of the discussions can be found on this webpage: https://www.gov.scot/policies/international-development/2020-covid-19-review/ .

A more expansive list of academics from a wider range of institutions were invited to the event and key criteria for inviting them were their academic credentials on the subject of international development; and those with ID, social and economic expertise working in academic institutions in our partner countries. To encourage a frank and honest conversation on the direction of international development and the impacts of Covid-19, I conducted the meeting under Chatham House Rule, which also extends to those who were invited but did not attend. As you will be aware, this means when a meeting, or part thereof, is held under Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but not the identity of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed. However in support of transparency and openness for this review, as previously stated, the list of academic institutions represented together with a summary note of the discussions are fully available on our website.

We have no plans to update the experimental analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on Fuel Poverty Rates, which we published in September. The report provided estimates of the likely effects on fuel poverty rates under a wide range of scenarios. These considered the impact of varying levels of unemployment, while also taking account of the rate of furlough and modelled assumptions about the likely effects of factors such as the increased prevalence of home working on household heating and energy costs. The scenarios presented in the report are still considered to be valid and we believe they continue to cover comprehensively the range of possible impacts on fuel poverty rates arising from the COVID-19 outbreak.

In light of the publication of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Scotland's Strategic Framework on 23 October 2020, the Coronavirus (COVID-19): organised activities for children guidance for organised activities and services for children was updated on 12 November 2020. The guidance is not an instruction for all services and activities to open up at this time, since this will be based on the requirements that need to be met, relevant to each individual delivery setting. Private providers should read this guidance in conjunction with guidance for small businesses: Coronavirus (COVID-19): small and micro businesses guidance

Recent SAGE advice, based on ONS data and published on 13 November, indicates no difference between the positivity rates of pre-school, primary and secondary school staff, relative to other worker groups.

Our updated guidance on reducing risks in schools is intended to keep schools safe, open and welcoming for staff and pupils. It includes guidance on workforce planning, developed with input from local authority partners. This makes clear that local authorities and headteachers, working in close partnership with unions and staff, are best placed to make judgements about how to make best use of available workforce capacity safely and effectively.

To support these efforts, and ensure resilience in the school workforce ,the Scottish Government has made £80m available to local authorities for the recruitment of additional teachers and support staff. To date, local authority figures indicate they have already recruited 1,250 additional teachers and 155 support staff, with an estimated further 200 teachers and 100 support staff planned.

Guidance has also been updated to align with the levels under the Covid-19 Strategic Framework, and includes details of enhanced protection measures to keep schools as safe as possible. This guidance includes strengthened guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable staff, as well as details of testing and surveillance arrangements for school staff.

We committed £11 million to the Contingency Fund when it was announced as part of the COVID-19 Restrictions Fund. A first phase of awards through this fund was announced on 27 October which provided grants of up to £50,000 for nightclubs and soft play centres in recognition of the fact that, prior to the Strategic Framework coming into force, had been closed since March. The Contingency Fund has proven itself to be an effective mechanism for targeting funding towards these sectors.

In recognition of the changing nature of the pandemic and the variable impact of restrictions on different sectors we keep all of our funds under review to ensure that we can target financial support appropriately. This is of course contingent, however, on the Scottish Government having access to the funding that it requires to support businesses.

The first phase of the Contingency Fund was announced on 27 October and will provide grants of up to £50,000 to nightclubs and pay to play soft play centres in recognition of the fact that, prior to the introduction of the Strategic Framework, they have been closed by regulation nationally since March. As the first phase of the fund was targeted specifically at these two sectors there is no flexibility for local authorities in distributing this funding. We have, however, worked closely with both local authorities and sector representatives in developing the eligibility criteria and delivery mechanism for this financial support.

On 17 November, the First Minister also announced a £30 million discretionary fund for local authorities. How local authorities choose to spend this fund in supporting businesses is at their discretion based on the specific needs of their local economies - such as supporting supply chains. Further details of this fund will be announced shortly.

We are continuing to consider where the remainder of the Contingency Fund would be most effectively deployed in supporting businesses impact by restrictions.

We are continuing to consider where the remainder of the Contingency Fund would be most effectively deployed in supporting businesses impact by restriction and an announcement on this will be made in due course.

Guidance on distributing the first phase of the Contingency Fund which awarded grants to nightclubs and pay to play soft play centres was issued to councils and included detailed eligibility criteria developed in partnership with local authorities and sectoral representatives. This guidance has enabled local authorities to contact eligible businesses directly negating the need for an application process.