In addition to the £350m Communities Fund, including the Third Sector Resilience Fund, the Scottish Government has provided over £2.3 billion of support to businesses through grants and reliefs. The Small Business Support Grant was available for church halls which met the eligibility criteria.

The criteria for the Coronavirus Business Support Grant Scheme was linked to the non-domestic rates system. Church halls were listed as a qualifying purpose and to be eligible, the premises had to be in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme, or eligible for Small Business Bonus Scheme but in receipt of a range of other reliefs, including Charitable Rate Relief.

I and the Minister for Children and Young People wrote to Health and Social Care Partnerships, Chief Social Work Officers providers and others on 3 August 2020 advising that this comprehensive guidance on adult day centre services will issue as soon as possible, expected late August. We also advised that in the interim, such services can reopen, subject to being adapted and risk assessed in line with certain existing guidance; and agreement to the approach by the local Health Protection teams and the Care Inspectorate.

The letter is published on the Scottish Government website at:
‎ www.gov.scot/policies/social-care/latest

Local authorities continue to be funded in full to deliver the 1140 hours early learning and childcare expansion programme.

As co-chairs of the ELC Joint Delivery Board, Councillor Stephen McCabe and I wrote jointly to all local authorities on 8 July 2020 asking that authorities continue to work in partnership with funded providers to reach agreement on sustainable local funding models. Local authorities should continue to ensure that funding paid to providers for delivery of funded ELC entitlement remains sustainable and reflects the current costs of delivery.

We know work on the ELC expansion is already well advanced, and that many providers and local authorities will be able to deliver more than the minimum requirement of 600 hours funded ELC to families. Local authorities will work with providers to confirm local plans, ensuring quality of care and improving outcomes for children remains central to delivery of the funded entitlement.

In designing the grant system Scottish Ministers had to balance helping as many businesses as possible against affordability. The decision to prioritise support on small and medium sized businesses and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors was to ensure more efficient use of limited resources and support as many businesses as possible.

As part of phase 3 of Scotland’s route map, auction houses have been able to reopen from 22 July. Sectoral guidance was updated on 17 July and is available on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish Government has welcomed the report and is giving careful consideration to the recommendations within it. For some time we have argued for reform of the assessment of medical device safety, so we completely agree that this area of reserved competence should be reviewed and strongly urge the UK Government to do so and act quickly.

I have indicated that there will be a government debate on the report as soon as practicable after the summer recess.

This is an operational matter for Abellio ScotRail.

The Decision Letter for Sandy Knowe Wind Farm was issued on 7 July 2020 which granted section 36 consent and deemed planning permission for the development, following consideration by Scottish Ministers. The material matters raised in the letter from the Upper Nithsdale Community Trust were taken into account together with the application, Environmental Impact Assessment Report, Additional Information, Additional Information 2, consultation responses, representations and all other material information to reach the decision. Given the application was in respect of a project in the parliamentary region of South Scotland, which it is my privilege to represent in the Scottish Parliament, I was not directly involved in the determination of the application.

As the member may already be aware, any community benefit proposed by an applicant is not a material consideration for Scottish Ministers to take into account in the determination of any application.

The Scottish Government’s guidance on how to travel safely during COVID-19 was updated as the country entered Phase 3 of the routemap to include advice on car sharing and confirms:-

“ You should only travel with members of your own, or extended, household. We recognise that there may be occasions when there is no alternative but to travel with people out with your household. On such occasions, you should:

• share the transport with the same people each time
• keep to small groups of people at any one time
• maintain good ventilation by keeping the car windows open if possible
• ask everyone to wear face-coverings
• clean your hands before and after your journey
• if the vehicle is your responsibility, clean the door handles and other areas that people touch”.

As part of phase 3 of Scotland’s route map, tattoo studios have been able to reopen from 22 July. Sectoral guidance was updated on 17 July and is available on the Scottish Government website.