We are working with local authorities to agree an appropriate date for the implementation of this commitment. I will update Parliament on that agreement when it has been reached.

Once the amended duty is in force, it will provide that deferred children who turn five years old between the August and December after the school commencement date, are eligible for funded early learning and childcare in the deferred year.

This will entitle these children to the mandatory amount of early learning and childcare that education authorities must provide to eligible children in their area, as set out in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”). Section 48 of the 2014 Act currently provides that the mandatory amount of funded early learning and childcare is 600 hours in each year and a pro-rata amount for each part of a year of which a child is eligible.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the reinstatement of the statutory duty to provide 1140 hours as early as reasonably possible. The Joint Delivery Board, co-chaired by myself and Councillor Stephen McCabe, COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People, agreed in June that a decision would be taken by the end of 2020 on the appropriate time to reinstate that duty. We are working with colleagues in Local Government to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on expansion plans, to inform that decision.

We welcome the information that the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) has shared from their recent survey of childminders, and I discussed the findings during my call with the SCMA on 1 October.

The development of support for the childcare sector announced in recent months, including the Transitional Support Fund for day care of children providers and the extension of the Childminding Workforce Support Fund, was informed by the evidence available at the time. In particular from a survey conducted by the Scottish Government in June 2020 which highlighted the significant financial implications from the guidance for day care of children settings. The key findings from this survey are available on the Scottish Government web site at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/survey-of-childcare-providers-on-impact-of-reopening-guidance-summary/ .

In contrast, childminders are subject to separate guidance under which the vast majority of childminders should not have to considerably change their operating models and can operate close to business as usual in terms of delivery.

For example, the majority of childminders responding to the survey (65%) indicated that they expected no change, or a decrease, in their costs of delivery as a result of the public health guidance. In contrast 79% of day care of children respondents reported that they expected an increase in their costs compared to business as usual.

As acknowledged by the SCMA in their COVID-19: Financial Support for Childminding Briefing Paper, published on 25 September, the findings for childminders were “broadly comparable” to a separate survey of childminders that they ran in late June.

However, in light of evidence regarding the numbers of childminders who may have struggled to access support through other routes the Scottish Government made the decision to provide a substantial increase in funding to extend the Childminding Workforce Support Fund. We have provided an additional £390,000 for the Childminding Workforce Support Fund, increasing our support to £420,000. The Fund will reopen for applications on 15 October and childminders can apply for a grant through the Scottish Childminding Association web site.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working with the whole childcare sector to respond to the continued need to follow public health guidance while progressing the recovery. However, this is a time of unprecedented challenge, and there are significant demands and pressures on the government to support businesses and people all across Scotland who are being impacted by the pandemic and the necessary public health response.

The Seasonal Flu Programme has worked this year with the following third sector organisations to help amplify the Scottish Government message to ensure optimal vaccination uptake this year.

The Transitional Support Fund for day care of children providers was open for applications between 3 September and 9 October 2020.

2,027 applications were made to the Transitional Support Fund over this period. Local authorities are continuing to process grant application forms.

The Transitional Support Fund is delivered under the UK COVID-19 Temporary Framework Umbrella Scheme rules. As part of this process, each month each individual award given under the Funding Programme must be reported on the EU Commission’s Transparency Awards Module. The first monthly report, covering the period to 2 October 2020, showed that 984 grants had been awarded. Local authorities will provide their next monthly update on grant awards issued through the Fund by 30 October.

Our revised sectoral guidance for colleges, universities and student accommodation providers sets out the mitigations which should be in place to support blended learning in Phase 3. The guidance is clear that institutions and providers should use risk and equality assessments to determine the most appropriate blend of remote and face-to-face teaching. The blended learning approach for each course and the circumstances around each course is therefore determined by these risk assessments, which should be done in consultation with staff and trade unions, and may vary depending on the course.

We continue to engage with colleges, universities, accommodation providers, trade unions and student representatives in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students and staff through this period. The Health and Safety Executive and Environmental Health Officers continue to liaise with the Scottish Government and institutions to assist the wider public health response.

The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008 sets out the rules and principles governing pre-release access to Official Statistics in Scotland. SQA 2020 Attainment statistics were not published as Official Statistics, however, SQA followed the principles as good practice. The main purpose of pre-release access is to ensure that the Scottish Ministers or officials advising them are able to comment publicly on the statistics based on an understanding of them gained through the pre-release period. The number of people who receive pre-release access should be kept to the absolute minimum necessary for this purpose. Pre-release access does not extend beyond that to the wider membership of CERG.

The Scottish Government has engaged with several organisations regarding the creation of a physical and digital government produced face covering exemption card, particularly those from third sector organisations.

The exemption card will be branded with the NHS Scotland and Healthier Scotland logo and produced under the FACTS campaign.

The exemption card will be accessible to the public as soon as practically possible; the card will be accessible through a third sector organisation via a helpline or online contact form.

On 1 September 2020, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Incorporation Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament. Incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law will mean that children, young people and their families will experience public authorities consistently acting to uphold the rights of all children in Scotland. Public authorities, including Scottish Ministers, will be under a statutory duty not to act incompatibly with the UNCRC rights as set out in the Bill and rights holders will be able to challenge public authorities in the courts for breaches of their rights.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted that children’s rights matter now more than ever. This is why the Scottish Government remains committed to delivery of the UNCRC Incorporation Bill in this Parliament. The Scottish Government wants the Bill to take effect as soon as possible. However, we are mindful of the additional pressures facing public authorities at this time due to the Covid pandemic and will work closely with public authorities and other stakeholders to develop an effective and timely implementation plan. We will also listen carefully to views expressed to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee on commencement in the coming weeks. The timetable for implementation will be very much dependent on the decisions of Parliament.

We are currently working with both the college and university sectors on the best approaches to be taken in the current pandemic situation to ensure students receive the best educational experience and also remain safe.

Our position to date, as outlined in the Strategic Framework for Re-opening Schools published in May, has been for an exam diet to be held next year. However, in these exceptional times the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the Education Recovery Group have been looking at contingency plans. The current circumstances and the continued impact of COVID-19 present the significant risk of disruption to the running of the exam diet in 2021.

I set out in my statement to Parliament on 7 October that Higher and Advanced Higher exams will go ahead in 2021 with a clear contingency plan in place should public health guidance near the time make that not possible. I also outlined that in response to the recommendations of Professor Priestley's review, and discussions with stakeholders, that no exams would take place for National 5 courses and an alternative approach for assessing these qualifications will be used based on teacher judgement, supported by assessment resources and quality assurance.