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The provision of guidance to prosecutors, if so advised, is a matter for the Lord Advocate as head of the system for the prosecution of crime, a function which he exercises independently of any other person. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, for which the Lord Advocate is Ministerially responsible, receives reports about alleged unlawful evictions from Police Scotland and from local authorities acting in their capacity as Specialist Reporting Agencies. The decision as to whether or not a prosecution should be initiated in relation to any particular case falls to be taken by professional public prosecutors. Each case is considered on the basis of its own facts and circumstances, applying the tests set out in the published Scottish Prosecution Code. The Scottish Prosecution Code is supplemented by internal guidance to prosecutors in respect of specific offences. The internal guidance regarding alleged unlawful evictions in contravention of Section 22 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 has been provided to prosecutors has recently been reviewed and updated. This guidance is confidential and is not published.

The Scottish Government take the issue of unlawful evictions seriously .

The awarding of damages to victims of unlawful evictions, as set out in section 37 of the Housing (Scotland), is one of the sanctions available and provides a route for victims to be directly compensated. The level of award is a matter for the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) – Housing and Property Chamber to consider and the exact amount will depend on the individual circumstances of the case.

Any landlord carrying out an unlawful eviction is committing a criminal offence. As such a prosecution may follow which could result in a fine, a custodial sentence or both, along with a criminal conviction. Taken together with the ability of the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) – Housing and Property Chamber to consider to award damages we consider this to be a significant deterrent.

Prosecutions are rare but anyone who wants to let property in Scotland must be registered and deemed ‘fit and proper’ by the local authority via Landlord Registration. Evidence that a potential landlord has acted in an unlawful fashion would certainly bring the ‘fit and proper’ status into question and a review of the registration would follow. To have a landlord registration revoked or refused means the person cannot let property in Scotland, adding a further deterrent for landlords.

The Scottish Government fully recognise the importance of being physically active during COVID, both for physical and mental health. Group exercise is clearly part of this and we appreciate the social interaction which such classes provide. However, our priority is to ensure people can take part in group classes when it is safe to do so.

Decisions on what sectors and activities to re-open on our route out of lockdown are guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Decision Making. Proposals are technically assessed using the best available evidence and analysis of their potential benefits and harms to health, the economy, and broader society to minimise overall harm and ensure transmission of the virus continues to be suppressed. This assessment process includes oversight of the assessed health risks in different settings by the Chief Medical Officer and input from the other Chief Clinicians as appropriate.

Decisions on what sectors and activities to re-open on our route out of lockdown are guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Decision Making. Proposals are technically assessed using the best available evidence and analysis of their potential benefits and harms to health, the economy, and broader society to minimise overall harm and ensure transmission of the virus continues to be suppressed. This assessment process includes oversight of the assessed health risks in different settings by the Chief Medical Officer and input from the other Chief Clinicians as appropriate.

Indoor fitness classes for over 18s are permitted if the area is in levels 0, 1 and 2 of our strategic framework. Outdoor exercise classes are permitted in levels 0, 1, 2,3 and 4 of the framework. You can find out more information on COVID protection level for each local area and get information on what you can and cannot do at each level here: .

Scottish Government advice has always been that where infant formula milk is needed, the preferred approach is a referral to a health worker who will be able to provide families with young infants longer term support which guarantees consistency, quality and access to wider services. This includes Best Start Foods which provides pregnant women and families with children under the age of three, on certain benefits, with a minimum of £4.25 a week to buy specific healthy foods. The Best Start Foods payment is doubled to £8.50 per week for the first year of the child’s life to help support nutrition for the breastfeeding mothers or the cost of providing first infant formula.

We will continue to encourage NHS Boards to work closely with their local partners to ensure that all parents of young infants who require additional support, are supported appropriately.

The test and protect content management system only records events/venues that the case tells the person conducting the interview they have been to. Attending a particular event/venue does not mean that an individual case acquired their infection in that setting. This is because the test and protect system is designed to identify contacts rather than to identify the source of transmission.

The data held currently contains information on those who under events/venues report “attending childcare, school, educational establishment” and other venues/settings. However, this does not mean that is where they acquired their infection.

Contacts are traced from information collected and made available to Test and Protect by Incident Management Teams. This allows Test and Protect to contact those who may have been exposed to the virus in a particular setting, and request them to take appropriate steps to prevent potential onward spread.

Public Health Scotland has produced a table of settings and events that index cases have attended over the previous 7 days. This is based on interviews conducted with cases identified in the Case Management System and involves cases recalling where they have been in the 7 days prior to symptom onset (or date of test if asymptomatic).

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However, Public Health Scotland cannot infer from the figures whether a specific setting or an event indicates where the COVID-19 transmission took place. This is because cases may have attended multiple settings or events within a short space of time, some of which may be low risk settings and events where it is highly improbable that transmission took place. In addition, it is possible that even though a case visited a few settings and events, transmission may have taken place within their home setting.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-33020 on 20 November 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-33020 on 20 November 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-33020 on 20 November 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at