The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland and a variety of organisations to assess the harms caused by problem gambling and to bolster the support available in Scotland.

Assistance for those experiencing problems cause by gambling is available through a network of Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships who have expertise in tackling all forms of addiction. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of this approach is being analysed to assess the scale of reported rise in problem gambling and further measures will be put in place accordingly.

Retired teachers can re-register with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), which will allow them to be employed by local authorities to help with education recovery.

The Scottish Government has worked with the GTCS to gauge interest from recently retired and lapsed teachers and ensure that they can re-register easily if they wish to assist during the Covid pandemic. The General Teaching Council for Scotland contacted around 3,000 recently retired and lapsed teachers in June 2020 to establish their availability and willingness to return to the workforce and increase the potential pool of additional teachers. We understand that, to date, interest has been limited with fewer than 100 applications and notes of interest received by the GTCS.

The decision regarding the 12 week gap between the two Covid-19 doses was made based on the clinical recommendation from the JCVI.

Furthermore, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also recommends the interval between two doses is likely to have a longer term protection.

The scientific recommendations were published here: Statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on the prioritisation of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The latest evidence on interval between two doses which outlines the approach for maximum protection can also be viewed via the link below:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) - vaccine: letter from the Chief Medical Officer updating on the vaccination programme - 1 January 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The setting of the gas and electricity price cap is a reserved issue that remains with UK Ministers under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998.

Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, set the levels of this cap and consulted on the forthcoming price changes last December. Whilst noting the much of the uplift was due to increases in wholesale energy prices, we expressed concerns relating to the COVID-19 uplift being included.

In recent months, we have taken action to ensure that appropriate support is available for those facing increased household energy bills. We have provided additional funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund which can provide crisis grants to those in immediate financial need. We also have also provided £20 million to Local Authorities to be used flexibly to provide support to those facing financial insecurity, including support for fuel costs.

We have also committed £1.6 Billion of Scottish Government funding over the next 5 years to improve the heating and energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes and non-domestic buildings. This support delivery of our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, which was published on 5th February and which sets out an ambitious agenda on decarbonisation of heating, but with a key focus also on supporting action to address fuel poverty.

All staff employed to work on the programme are paid in accordance with nationally set terms and conditions and are working to agreed job roles, which come with specified rates of pay.

Independent contractors working on the vaccinations programme are paid a sessional rate, this broadly reflects wider market rates for use of those contractor groups. The rate is not directly comparable with the hourly rates offered to employed staff and bank workers, and represents the total cost for the provision of that session by the contractor concerned.

For families who are home-schooling there is a range of support available, details of which are provided on the Parent Club Scotland and the Parentzone Scotland websites. Most recently the Scottish Government announced a new £45 million package of support to help local authorities to provide support to schools and families as they deal with the challenges of remote learning during lockdown. Councils may use the funding for recruitment of additional staff, additional digital devices or to provide additional family support.

We recognise that due to Covid-19, there will be increased financial pressures on many households including families who are home-schooling. Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has been providing support for households struggling with their energy bills through a variety of channels. We increased the budget for the Scottish Welfare Fund to meet additional demand arising as a consequence of Covid-19, as well as providing further funding for Local Authorities to be used flexibly to provide support to those facing financial insecurity, including support for fuel costs.

Most recently we have distributed £7 million via the Help with Fuel element of the Winter Support Programme. This includes £4 million for a Home Heating Support Fund administered by Advice Direct Scotland, £2 million to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations for grants to Registered Social Landlords for practical initiatives to help tenants struggling to meet their fuel costs this winter and £445,000 for the Fuel Bank Foundation to help households on prepayment meters, or who rely on unregulated fuels like heating oil, who are at risk of self-disconnection.

Furthermore, Home Energy Scotland (HES) is funded by the Scottish Government to provide a range of energy related advice services and support to householders in Scotland. HES can make referrals for benefit checks, manage energy supplier switching, help with accessing the Warm Home Discount and other financial assistance, as well as providing advice on how to use energy in the home more efficiently. They can also assess eligibility for the Scottish Government’s energy efficiency schemes, which could help make long lasting improvements to home heating systems and insulation.

It is too soon to introduce any form of certification. We need to know more about the efficacy of the vaccines, their impact on transmission and the length of immunity before it would be safe to introduce a vaccine certificate.

We continue to engage in national and international developments in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), including on the issue of vaccine certification. These discussions are led by the World Health Organisation and include consideration of technical details, ethical and equality issues, and privacy standards. The outcome of those discussions will guide our work and decision-making in this area.

We are seeking detail from HM Treasury on any consequential funding along with information on the planned tax and levy as a result of the UK Government’s recent announcement.

I will set out a sustainable path forward next month and I hope by that time we will know the details of the consequentials.

All schools and regulated childcare providers are currently able to remain open for children of keyworkers.

This means that children who are offered a place, can access their usual childcare or school setting, including for wraparound childcare services before and after school. Informal childcare (the use of friends or family) is also permitted under the current restrictions where necessary.

The definitions of key workers agreed with local authorities previously during the pandemic continue to apply in the current circumstances and are defined in the guidance published in January for schools and for childcare. This guidance is intended to be used by local authorities, childcare settings and schools themselves to consider which children and families will benefit most from continued attendance at their usual setting, and to prioritise places accordingly.

Parents who believe they meet the criteria set out in the guidance can speak to their usual school or childcare provider or the local authority for further information.

Business has a key role to play in minimising the demand for school and childcare places. Employers are asked to be flexible with staff in these circumstances and to prioritise and only request places for staff who are absolutely critical to the provision of essential services and who cannot work from home.

We are committed to ensuring that learners can be fairly assessed this year following the cancellation of the 2021 exam diet. National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams in 2021 have been replaced by an Alternative Certification Model based on teachers’ and lecturers’ judgement of evidence of each individual pupil’s attainment.

Following the move to remote learning, the National Qualifications 2021 Group has been overseeing changes to the Alternative Certification Model and associated timeline that was announced in December 2020. A revised Alternative Certification Model was published on 16 February taking into account the current remote learning position. This includes an extension of the final date for schools and colleges to submit provisional results to 25 June 2021 to allow greater time for learning and teaching. This provides clarity to teachers and learners on the assessment approach to be adopted this year.

The priority at this time, and on immediate return to school, should be on learning and teaching to ensure that learners consolidate learning and have sufficient course coverage prior to assessment later in the academic session.

Provisional results will be based on demonstrated learner attainment consistent with the requirements set out in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher subject-specific guidance published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. These results will be subject to local and national quality assurance.