Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities have wide-ranging powers to award bespoke non-domestic rates reliefs to reflect local needs and circumstances. This may apply to a sole business, sector or area. The relief may be an adaptation of an existing national relief scheme or a unique standalone award.

Local authorities are also able to offer discretionary hardship relief to reduce the non-domestic rates liabilities of ratepayers experiencing sustained hardship.

In addition to local discretionary reliefs, vacant and empty properties may be eligible for mandatory empty property relief, which delivers 50% relief for 3 months (for non-industrial properties) or 100% relief for 6 months (for industrial), and 10% thereafter. It also delivers 100% unlimited relief to certain empty properties such as listed buildings and properties in administration.

The Scottish Budget 2021-21 also expands a number of reliefs which directly respond to the challenge of COVID-19 the non-domestic rates system. This includes Fresh Start Relief which now delivers 100% relief to premises that have been previously unoccupied for over 6 months and that have a rateable value of up to £95,000, and is designed to encourage the reoccupation of previously unoccupied properties.

The Scottish Government provides support for individuals affected by redundancy through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE initiative. Despite restrictions in place as a result of the pandemic, we are continuing to provide PACE support through the PACE Helpline, Skype, Teams, webinars and enhanced online resources.

On 8 October 2020, we launched the £25 million National Transition Training Fund to help people aged 25 and over who have lost their jobs or who are at risk of redundancy, to develop the skills required to move into sectors with the greatest potential for future growth and job opportunities.

We are providing an additional £100 million for targeted employment support and training. We have worked closely with Skills Development Scotland and other agencies to both re-purpose existing support for individuals and quickly develop a range of new programmes and support to address the risk of increased unemployment.

Based on the clinical advise, neither egg nor penicillin allergies are contraindications to the COVID-19 vaccine

More general information can be accessed via Covid-19 leaflet here: COVID-19 vaccination What to expect leaflet (healthscotland.com)

The stage 2 proceedings for the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill concluded on 17 February 2021. As amended, the Bill applies the civil standard of proof - “on the balance of probabilities”. The Bill therefore provides that where someone can prove to this standard that the local authority both arranged and paid for their attendance at a fee-paying denominational private boarding school in Scotland where they were subject to abuse prior to 1 December 2004, they will be entitled to a redress payment. It will be a matter for Redress Scotland to determine whether, on the balance of probabilities, an applicant is eligible for a redress payment and the level of the redress payment to which they will be entitled.

The stage 2 proceedings for the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill concluded on Wednesday 17 February 2021. Given the importance of Redress Scotland being independent, the burden of proof lies with the applicant. This means it is for the applicant to establish the facts of their application to the required standard. However, we want survivors to be able to access the redress they deserve, and, as has been explicitly recognised within provisions of the Bill, support will be provided to help applicants obtain evidence. This may include practical support in accessing records or other information, as well as emotional support throughout the process. We do however, recognise that in some exceptional cases, the evidence may simply not be found. In these exceptional cases, after all avenues have been exhausted, it is anticipated that the guidance materials will provide that the decision-making panel of Redress Scotland will be able to consider the account provided by the applicant, and use its discretion to determine whether it is satisfied that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria despite a lack of documentary evidence (for instance taking into account whether it would be expected that documents from an institution or organisation would be available).

The standard of proof that has to be satisfied is the civil standard of proof, “on the balance of probabilities”. This means that something was ‘more likely than not’ to have occurred. While a civil standard of proof will apply, redress will operate in fundamentally different ways to traditional civil legal action. The redress scheme will not have to establish liability and can take a different approach to the consideration of evidence. For example, the same rules on the admissibility of evidence will not apply, nor will the survivor be cross–examined on their account. The Bill as amended also contains a presumption of truth, meaning that the starting point for the decision-making panel is that the information provided by the applicant is true and accurate to the best of the applicant’s knowledge and belief. Survivors can be assured that the scheme has been set up because they are believed and that they will be helped in accessing any and all information and evidence to support their application in meeting the necessary standard of proof.

The Scottish Government believes that no death by suicide should be regarded as inevitable. Immediate support is available to anyone who is experiencing distress or symptoms of depression by contacting a local GP, NHS24, and NHS Inform website.

In August 2018, the Scottish Government published its new Suicide Prevention Action Plan " Every Life Matters ". A two-year review of the Plan was published in February 2021.

In response to the effect which COVID-19 has had, the National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group (NSPLG) released a COVID statement in July 2020. This set out its intention to prioritise actions on: mental health and suicide prevention training; public awareness campaigns; models of crisis support; innovations in digital technology, and; data, evidence, monitoring and guidance.

In October 2020, the Scottish Government published Scotland’s Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan . This outlines the Scottish Government’s response to the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and is comprehensive, containing over 100 actions. The plan also outlines what the Scottish Government are committed to doing on suicide prevention.

The Scottish Government is currently working with COSLA, along with NSPLG, in considering how a future longer-term suicide prevention strategy could be shaped.

The South West Scotland Transport Study (SWSTS), published in January 2020, includes the option for re-opening of a railway station at Thornhill within a package of measures to deliver new stations on the Glasgow South Western Line, such as at Cumnock, Thornhill, Eastriggs, Pinwherry, Dunragit and South of Ayr. This package is subject to more detailed appraisal within the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

The Scottish Government recognises the enormous challenges facing the retail sector, exacerbated by the direct impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions in place to inhibit its spread.

Since the start of the pandemic we have allocated more than £3 billion to support businesses – this is more than a third of overall COVID-19 spend, and includes a package of 100% non-domestic rates relief for eligible retail premises in 2020-21.

As the prevalence of the virus has increased, so has our support to business, which is why we increased support by £225 million in December to reflect the tighter restrictions in place.

The Strategic Framework Business Fund provides grants of up to £3,000 every four weeks for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses that are required by law to close or alter their operations in response to regulations introduced to control the spread of COVID-19. Retailers required to close in Level 4 are therefore eligible for support through this fund, as well as the one-off top-up grant of up to £9000 we announced in recognition of the particular challenges facing the sector.

For staff of retailers required to close by law, employers are able to record their employees as being on furlough and apply through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for a grant to cover 80% of their usual monthly wage up to a cap of £2,500. While we welcome the extension until April 2021 we continue to press the UK Government of the need to extend the scheme generally, and to extend eligibility to employees who started after 1 November 2020.

Through our Local Authority Discretionary Fund, councils can target additional support wherever they consider it most effective in the context of their local economy and business community. As such they have the option to further support retail in their area if they consider it necessary. We recently doubled this fund to £120 million, and 21 local authority schemes have launched with more coming shortly.

Information on available support can be found on the Find Business Support website.

For pre-school aged children in day care and childminder settings, the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme is intended to replace the current UK Nursery Milk Scheme in Scotland from 1 August 2021. The new Scheme does not cover children in school settings, where the food and drink nutritional requirements for school food are covered by separate regulations. The Scottish Government has committed £993,000 to allow local authorities to continue to subsidise their local school milk schemes following the loss of access to the EU School milk scheme as a result of EU Exit.

Monitoring and reporting systems are being designed in collaboration with COSLA and the wider sector to ensure the proportionate evaluation of expenditure and delivery. Regulations will be introduced for the Scheme which will support local authorities to collect information from settings to audit spend, and monitor delivery of the Scheme. Questions around delivery of the Scheme will also form part of the Care Inspectorate’s existing annual returns. Scottish Government will continue to work closely with COSLA as a key delivery partner to consider this information to evaluate the implementation of the Scheme and understand any refinements required.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of supporting local suppliers and the opportunity to encourage the consumption of Scottish food and drink. Guidance for local authorities and settings will be developed to support delivery of the Scheme, and will encourage the sourcing of local produce wherever possible.

Yes. We have written to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) seeking assurances that receipt of Covid 19 business grant support from the Scottish Government will not impact individuals’ state benefits entitlement. In the absence of a reply on that issue we are advising individuals to confirm with the DWP how any grant support awarded could impact their state benefits entitlement before making an application to the Newly Self Employed Hardship Fund or other Scottish Government business grant support schemes.