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Our work with education authorities is still underway to assess the resource implications of increasing funded early learning and childcare (ELC) eligibility for children in a deferred year.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to the delivery of 1140 hours of funded ELC for all eligible children, and will work with Local Authorities to ensure that the arrangements agreed for deferral will not negatively affect the delivery of 1140.

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.

A range of financial support has been open to childminders including the UK Government’s Self Employed Income Support Scheme and the Scottish Government’s Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund.

The UK Government announced on 24 September that the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme is being extended further. The extension will provide two grants and will last for six months from November 2020 to April 2021.

However, the Scottish Government is aware that not all childminders have been able to access support through these routes.

That is why in September the Scottish Government announced an additional £390,000 to extend the Childminding Workforce Support Fund, increasing the government’s support for this to £420,000. The Fund will reopen for applications on 15 October and childminders can apply for a grant through the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) web site.

The Scottish Government is working in collaboration with the SCMA and others, to develop and frame our commitment to supporting childminders with targeted activity in the short, medium and long term.

The current landscape remains highly changeable and the Scottish Government continues to work with the whole childcare sector to help us be responsive, when we can, to the continued pressures faced while progressing the recovery. However, this must also be balanced against the finite resources available and the competing pressures across many sectors.

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.

Our revised 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 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.

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.

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.

This information is not available on a monthly basis. Colleges and universities provide annual returns to Student Awards Agency Scotland at the end of October each year which show the overall number of successful and rejected Discretionary Fund applications.

Data from the 2019-20 returns should be available later this year. The 2020-21 data will be available towards the end of 2021.

The meeting which took place on 11 June involved a verbal update from Scottish Qualifications Authority staff. No notes or minutes were taken from the meeting.