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The Scottish Government recognises that the Coronavirus pandemic may have adverse effects on the mental and physical wellbeing of individuals within the wider Scottish Population. We know that older people have been particularly affected by the restrictions put in place to reduce transmission of the disease, and we continue to look at measures to combat social isolation and loneliness, whether that is through funding various third sector helplines or via the Clear Your Head mental health campaign.

The Scottish Government has invested in the campaign to provide the general Scottish population with resources which foster positive mental wellbeing and reduce stress. The site has specific content that is tailored to older audiences, particularly those reluctant to leave the house, with a range of tips on ways to help them cope and stay active at home drawn from Age Scotland and then linking to Age Scotland’s site for more information.

In addition, the Scottish Government has committed over £6 million to several initiatives to promote positive mental wellbeing, such as expanding the NHS24’s Mental Health Hub to a 24/7 service and enhancing the capacity of the Breathing Space helpline and web support service; extending digital therapies through computerised and internet-enabled Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and expanding the (DBI) programme. These services are targeted towards the Scottish Population as a whole, including older people.

The Scottish Government also launched a National Helpline on 14 April to help people who are at risk to access help if they did not have family or other support services. This includes helping people access essential food and medication, emotional support, and contact with local volunteer groups. The Scottish Government also provides funding to Actify whish is an online platform that hosts a range of digital content designed to help people become more active, more often. The Actify ambition is to be a quality source of information and resources for those interested in learning about physical activity and realising the potential benefits.

The Scottish Government has engaged regularly with DWP over the past 12 months regarding devolved social security. This has included through ministerial correspondence and at two Joint Ministerial Working Groups on Welfare. Scottish Government officials working on social security also have near-daily contact with their counterparts in DWP, and senior officials from both governments meet regularly to discuss benefit delivery and facilitate the transfer of these powers.

Coronavirus, whilst primarily a public health emergency, has had significant impacts on our economy, our society, our communities and on the lives of every person in the country.

At the outset of the pandemic we committed £50 million, as part of our initial £350 million Communities funding package, to meet increased demand for both devolved social security entitlements and Council Tax Reduction. We also more than doubled investment in our Scottish Welfare Fund and made a further £5 million available for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2020-21 to support those in financial need.

Whilst it is too early to robustly estimate the impacts of the pandemic on measures to reduce child poverty, we have committed significant investment to protect and create jobs, including over £2.3 billion in direct support to business, £100 million in new employment support including a Youth Jobs Guarantee, and a £2.35 million increase to our Parental Employability Support Fund this year.

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 sets out both interim and final targets across four target measures towards the eradication of child poverty in Scotland.

The latest statistics, covering the period 2018-19, were published both as part of the , on 20 August 2020, and as part of a statistical , published on 26 March 2020. The latest data show a slight reduction against three of the four target measures.

By the end of the first delivery plan period, ending March 2022, we will have delivered considerable new support to tackle child poverty, including the Scottish Child Payment - worth £10 per child per week. We will set out further action, at the scale and pace required, within our subsequent Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plans to be published in 2022 and 2026.

As outlined in the second annual progress report on child poverty, published on 20 August 2020, we estimate that over £672 million of investment was targeted specifically at children in low income households in 2019-20. This was part of over £1.96 billion targeted at low income households and does not include investment in key universal services including funded tuition, healthcare and Early Learning and Childcare.

This is an increase of £144 million from 2018-19 when the first estimates were produced. In 2018-19, £527 million was targeted specifically at children in poverty as part of over £1.4 billion of investment targeted at low income households.

Estimates for spend in 2020-21 will be published, by the end of June 2021, as part of the annual progress report for that period. Estimates are not available for the period pre-dating the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

Our new, nationwide voucher scheme for Scotland - launching later this summer - will ensure that any property that was unable to access superfast broadband by 31 December 2021 can do so through a voucher led solution, including in the region of 200 remaining properties not covered by the £133 million contract for the Reaching 100% (R100) South lot.

Our new online checker will provide, for each address, information on the R100 rollout and any local commercial roll-out, and signpost eligible customers to our voucher scheme, either for use in funding an interim solution for addresses where the gigabit per second speed infrastructure, in the form of the R100 full fibre rollout, is programmed after December 2021, or for a higher value voucher for providing a long term solution, i.e. where the specific address is known not to be receiving investment through either a commercial programme or our own R100 South Lot.

The remit of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (the Commission) is primarily to provide expert, independent advice on wild and companion animal welfare. It will also provide scientific and ethical advice to government on related matters. The provision of advice to Ministers on livestock welfare generally falls to the UK AWC. Where however there are specific issues of relevance to Scotland and the Scottish livestock sector, the Commission may be asked to consider them and provide advice to the Scottish Ministers.

The Commission will specifically look at:

• how the welfare needs of sentient animals are being met by devolved policy
• possible legislative and non-legislative routes to further protect the welfare of sentient animals
• research requirements to provide an evidence base for future policy development

The recruitment of the Members appointed to serve on the Commission was conducted in accordance with the principles of merit, integrity, diversity and equality set out in the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments. Applications were welcomed from anyone with the appropriate mix of experience and expertise and from all sectors. Those appointed to serve on the Commission comprise of a range of experts from different disciplines relevant to animal welfare, including some with farm livestock knowledge and experience.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission will be setting up smaller working groups to consider the welfare issues identified in its work plan, including animal sentience and the welfare of deer and wildlife. If appropriate the Commission will seek to co-opt in to these groups relevant industry representatives and experts so that they may contribute to the work of the Commission and ensure that the views of industry are fully considered.