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Children and young people with complex additional support needs can continue, where appropriate, to attend local hubs to secure continuity in their care and support.

On 31 March, we published guidance about the continued provision of care and support for the children of key workers and vulnerable children and young people, including those with complex additional support needs. On 21 May, I issued a joint letter with COSLA to all directors of education confirming that critical childcare will continue throughout June and the summer break to ensure ongoing provision for key workers and vulnerable children.

One of our key priorities is to ensure that children and young people with additional support needs, who may be finding this difficult time particularly challenging, continue to be supported with their learning, whether at home or at a local hub.

On 20 April, we published guidance for term 4 that gives an overview of the measures in place and steps being taken, at a national and local level, to support all children and young people’s learning, including those with additional support needs.

Children and young people with additional support needs have been, and will continue to be, provided with bespoke learning activities. Support and advice is also available for their parents and carers though our Parent Club website and from a range of partner organisations.

We are working closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure all children and young people continue to be supported with their learning and that their needs are fully considered as we look, and plan, ahead.

The Scottish Government and the C19 Education Recovery Group are committed to excellence and equity for all of Scotland’s children and young people. We published an initial Impact Assessment to supplement our ‘ Coronavirus (COVID-19): strategic framework for reopening schools, early learning and childcare provision’ and continue to engage with multiple groups, including representative disability groups, as we work to convert that to a final EQIA and CRWIA. I invite anyone who would like to contribute to these to contact the secretariat of the C19 Education Recovery Group at CERG@gov.scot .

At these challenging times nothing is more important than the health and safety of all citizens of Scotland. We recognise the impact that service reductions have had and continue to have on the lives of people across the country, particularly for those who rely on public transport. The Scottish Government advice remains for people to stay at home and not to travel unnecessarily. This guidance is in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, protect public health and save lives. It applies across all modes of transport – whether you are taking public transport or walking, cycling or driving. However, we understand that some people will have essential travel requirements and limited services continue to operate to ensure people who absolutely need to get to work or other essential travel can continue to do so. Individuals who have been refused a driving licence on medical grounds can continue to access free bus travel via the National Concessionary Travel Scheme. If eligible individuals have been unable to renew or apply for a card due to temporary production office closures, short term provisions have been put in place with the bus industry and individuals should explain their circumstances and the driver will allow them to travel.

The Scottish Government continues to work with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure that Scottish clients get the financial support they are entitled to, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Carer’s Allowance (CA), while contingency measures are in place due to Covid-19. This includes exploring concerns individuals or stakeholders have raised about access to PIP.

To protect access to CA and Carer’s Allowance Supplement during the coronavirus outbreak, emergency regulations were laid in the Scottish Parliament on 2 April and came into force the following day. Where people are not able to provide 35 hours of care because they, or the person they are caring for, are ill or self-isolating due to coronavirus, their CA will continue to be paid. Guidance has also been changed so a carer no longer needs to provide care in person where this is not possible due to self-isolation.

We welcome the report facilitated by Epilepsy Scotland on the impact of Covid-19 on people with epilepsy in Scotland.

We recognise this is a worrying and distressing time for everyone, including those with specific health and social care needs. In order to assist people with long-term conditions to understand the risks of Covid-19 and to signpost them to resources that can provide support, we have published guidance available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-tailored-advice-for-those-who-live-withspecific-medical-conditions/ . This includes information about the national helpline (0800 111 4000) that enables people to access wider support such as food and medicine deliveries, and emotional wellbeing.

We remain committed to improving neurological care and support in Scotland, as set out in the National Framework published at the end of last year. Over the past few months we have kept in regular contact with stakeholders including the many third sector neurological organisations that represent the neurological community in Scotland, and a newly established clinical network across all Health Boards. This has helped us monitor activity and understand the priorities and challenges. While non-urgent elective appointments have been postposed, services have dramatically increased the use of telephone and/or Near Me video consultations to ensure people continue to be able to access care throughout the pandemic. Other digital healthcare innovations have included the use of the vCreate cloud-based service, which enables transfer of short recorded video in healthcare settings. This new service was deployed to all Scottish intensive care units during Covid-19 and has been adapted to enable patients and carers to share seizure videos for remote clinical interpretation and management advice. The Chief Nursing Officer also asked Nursing Directors to ensure they prioritise community support for the most vulnerable. We are now working with Health Boards as they consider how all services can be safely and incrementally re-mobilised.

We are listening to experiences such as those highlighted by Epilepsy Scotland and using these views to inform ongoing decisions about our response to the current public health emergency, as set out through the Framework for Decision Making and more recently Scotland’s Route Map through and out of the crisis. This includes understanding more about the harms from Covid-19, harms from disruption to non-Covid-19 health and social care, and harms from the introduction of physical distancing and impact of loss of wider freedoms on wellbeing and lifestyles.

We are therefore working with partners across the UK, through the National Institute for Health Research, and also through investment in 55 rapid research projects via our Chief Scientist Office in Scotland, to better understand the impact of Covid-19. Further information is available at https://www.cso.scot.nhs.uk/rapid-research-in-covid-19-programme/ .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29244 on 29 May 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

This information is currently not available. NRS plan to publish more detailed analysis of COVID-19 deaths, including information on pre-existing conditions mentioned on the death certificate, in due course.

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I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-28877 on 18 May 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

In addition, we are investing £825,000 for additional specialist staffing at the two Mother and Baby Units in Scotland (St John’s Hospital in NHS Lothian and Leverndale Hospital in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde), enabling them to become centres of expertise which will help support development of specialist community teams.