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The first phase of the Contingency Fund was announced on 27 October and will provide grants of up to £50,000 to nightclubs and pay to play soft play centres in recognition of the fact that, prior to the introduction of the Strategic Framework, they have been closed by regulation nationally since March. As the first phase of the fund was targeted specifically at these two sectors there is no flexibility for local authorities in distributing this funding. We have, however, worked closely with both local authorities and sector representatives in developing the eligibility criteria and delivery mechanism for this financial support.

On 17 November, the First Minister also announced a £30 million discretionary fund for local authorities. How local authorities choose to spend this fund in supporting businesses is at their discretion based on the specific needs of their local economies - such as supporting supply chains. Further details of this fund will be announced shortly.

We are continuing to consider where the remainder of the Contingency Fund would be most effectively deployed in supporting businesses impact by restrictions.

Our updated guidance on reducing risks in schools is intended to keep schools safe, open and welcoming for staff and pupils. It has been updated to align with the levels under the Covid-19 Strategic Framework, and to keep schools as safe as possible.

The measures put in place across wider society at different levels of the Strategic Framework have been designed precisely to avoid any automatic move to school closures. However, the updated guidance makes clear that the use of targeted, remote learning remains an important contingency at all levels of the Strategic Framework where specific schools require either to close, or to implement remote learning for some children for a defined period of time, as a result of local outbreaks or staff self-isolating.

We have very clear evidence that time out of school can have a detrimental effect on children and young people’s wellbeing, including impacts on educational, developmental and mental health harms. A further evidence paper on school safety will be published alongside further information from Public Health Scotland, in the coming days.

We continue to work in close partnership with unions, staff and local authorities on ensuring protection measures are in place in our schools to reduce the risk of Covid-19 and preserve education for our children and young people.

In order to support online remote learning, Education Scotland supports the Glow platform, which provides free access to a range of online tools and services for all school aged learners and teachers in Scotland. The National e-Learning Offer, launched in June 2020, aims to further widen the availability of online learning across live online lessons, recorded learning sessions and supported online learning and teaching materials. Further details on the e-learning offer are available at:

E-Sgoil is one aspect of the national offer. The e-Sgoil provision includes study support for learners in the senior phase which takes place after the school day. As at end October 2020, just over 1,635 young people from 233 schools across all local authorities in Scotland had signed up and were taking part in two or more sessions. Feedback from learners has been positive, with 85% wishing to see the e-Sgoil provision continuing beyond November and 80% indicating that they would recommend the sessions to a friend.

To widen access the digital devices, the Scottish Government is investing £25m to tackle digital exclusion amongst children and young people. Funding allocations for devices and connectivity have been made to all 32 local authorities who are now in the process of ordering equipment to address local needs. We expect that around 70,000 devices and 18,000 connectivity solutions will be provided to disadvantaged children and young people.

In order to support teachers' skills in online and remote learning, Education Scotland has delivered a wide range of professional development opportunities including webinars and support sessions for teachers and a community of improvement support via the website.

Individual schools and local authorities are responsible for arranging learning for children who have to self-isolate or quarantine.

In order to widen the online learning options available to schools, the Scottish Government, Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education are delivering the national e-learning offer. Further details on the offer are available at:

The offer has three component parts: live learning and teaching; recorded learning sessions, and; supported content, where learners use a variety of digital content. The e-Sgoil initiative, one aspect of the partnership, is providing live online study webinars for senior phase pupils as well as a Broad General Education offer to schools. Further work is being undertaken by the West Partnership, who expect to launch their package of recorded lessons during this term. In addition, Education Scotland has expanded the volume of digital learning and teaching resources, and will continue to do so throughout the year.

For wider learning and teaching materials, schools can draw from Education Scotland's National Improvement Hub and Glow website for resources, as well as the new Scotland Learns initiative.

During Term 4 2020-21, Education Scotland facilitated subject network discussions across all curriculum areas to ascertain and identify what was working for teachers and learners. This led to the current and ongoing work where Education Scotland is working with local authority and Regional Improvement Collaborative partners as well class teachers in order to source, curate and share online learning materials. This work is being taken forward under the supported component of the National e-Learning Offer. The first set of resources is available nationally and will be added to on a continuous basis.

The Scotland Learns website provides a range of learning activities that can be used to complement the activities that teachers plan for children and young people. The resources are grouped into the three curriculum themes of Literacy & English, Numeracy & Mathematics and Health & Wellbeing, and are available at:

A wide range of evidence was considered in developing the Strategic Framework, and this informed the decision to close cinemas under Level 3 and Level 4.

Evidence from contact tracing, international experience and scientific research suggests that many social, residential and workplace settings have been associated with transmission. High-risk factors associated with transmission of the virus include indoor spaces, where ventilation and physical distancing may be less easy to maintain, and where people come together to spend prolonged periods of time (more than 15 minutes) in close proximity, enabling the virus to spread easily from person to person. Venues which are attended by many people, typically from different households, amplify the risk of transmission. The number of potential transmission events increase much more quickly than the number of people gathering.

Currently, all leisure and entertainment venues are closed in Level 3 to reduce the number of settings where transmission of the virus may occur and in order to place a sufficient ‘brake’ on transmission of the virus. Cinemas have not been considered in isolation, but in the round along with other activities that may increase the risk of transmission and in the context of the aims of Level 3.

Other parts of the UK have closed cinemas entirely as part of recent restrictions. Cinemas are currently closed until 2 December in England. They were closed as part of the ‘firebreak’ in place between 23 October and 9 November in Wales; cinemas were also closed for four weeks under restrictions introduced in Northern Ireland on 16 October. Cinemas have been closed as part of additional restrictions introduced recently in a number of European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Ireland.

The approach and principles that guide the Scottish Government’s decisions about transitioning out of the current lockdown arrangements is published on the Scottish Government website at . A further paper is scheduled for publication on 20 November; this will provide more information on the rationale behind decisions around the assignment of levels.

An expert advisory group consisting of industry acoustic experts, trade representatives, local authority environmental health officials and independent acoustic experts is looking at how guidance can be developed to safely manage low level background sound, including music and audio from other devices, in hospitality. This work is ongoing and updates will be provided in due course.

Following the introduction of Scotland’s Strategic Framework, The Scottish Government published updated and updated guidance for performing arts and venues on 5 November setting out the steps that must be taken by venues and event organisers for the operation of Indoor Small seated live events in Level 1. This includes live music events.

Since the announcement of the £97m in UK Government consequentials, the following support packages and funds have been allocated:

• £15m Culture Organisation and Venues Recovery Fund
• £5m + £3m Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund
• £3.5m Independent Cinemas Recovery and Resilience Fund
• £2.5m Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund – in addition to the £10m already announced on 3 July.
• £2.2m Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund
• £3.5m additional funds to Creative Scotland’s Open Fund
• £3m Youth Arts funding package
• £1.5m for the Culture Collective programme
• £10m to Event Scotland, including the £6m Events Industry Support Fund and the £2.75m Events Recovery Fund.
• £21.3m to support our lead public body, Historic Environment Scotland to enable its properties to reopen and protect jobs.
• £5.9m to secure committed grants to heritage organisations.
• £4m to support historic environment sector recovery, including the £2.6 million Historic Environment Recovery Fund (HERF)
• £4m Museums Recovery and Resilience fund for independent museums
• £3.8m to protect jobs and reopen properties at the National Trust for Scotland
• £2.5m to Capital Theatres, V&A Dundee, and Science centres
• £270,000 to help secure the future of New Lanark World Heritage Site.

Along with the £10m for the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund announced before the UK Government consequentials, this totals £101m out of the £107m for emergency Covid-19 culture and heritage support. We are still in discussion with sectors about the remaining £6m. We will look, for example, at supplementing the funds already announced, once demand is fully understood.

The Scottish Government is making available business support through the Strategic Framework Business Fund. Grants of £2,000 or £3,000, depending on rateable value, will be available for businesses required by law to close. Cinemas in Scotland will be able to access these grants.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Scottish Government provided £3.5 million of support through Screen Scotland, the dedicated public sector agency for the film and television industry in Scotland, to the Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience fund. This will provide vital support to 30 fixed venue cinemas and 2 touring cinemas in Scotland.