Friday 31 July 2020 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Economy Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to the North Sea oil and gas workforce during the COVID-19 crisis. Holding answer issued: 31 July 2020 (S5W-30430) Paul Wheelhouse: A holding answer was provided. Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what support it has provided to showpeople during the COVID-19 crisis. (S5W-30524) Jamie Hepburn: We recognise the significant contribution showpeople make to the economic and cultural fabric of Scotland. We are determined to support as many businesses as possible from all sectors. Our financial support now exceeds the £2.3 billion passed on from the UK Government. In designing the relief and grant system we had to balance helping as many businesses as possible against what was affordable. The £2.3bn support package included the £90m Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, the £30m Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund and the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund for those newly self- employed.These funds were available to all businesses, including showpeople, who met the set criteria, as was the UK Government’s Self- employment Income Support Scheme. We will publish the number of applications and a list of all awards through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund and Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund in the coming weeks. Our Enterprise Agencies are currently processing appeals. We are looking into what is required to enable fairgrounds and showpeople to start working again as soon as possible. A preliminary opening date has been set for 24 August. Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government approximately what percentage of the budget allocated to (a) (i) Scottish, (ii) Highlands and Islands and (iii) South of Scotland Enterprise and (b) the Scottish National Investment Bank in the (A) current and (B) next financial year will be spent on assisting existing businesses survive the COVID-19 outbreak. (S5W-30757) Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government has put a comprehensive package of measures in place worth £2.3 billion to sustain businesses during the COVID crisis. This has included: • A package of COVID rates relief and other non-domestic rates measures supporting an estimated 30,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties, worth around £972 million. • Over £1 billion of grants allocated to small business, retail, hospitality and leisure. • A bespoke fund of £185 million providing additional support for SMEs vital to Scotland’s economy through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, the Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund and other interventions. • A package of support for seafood and fisheries industries worth over £18 million. These funds, alongside various other funds have helped many business survive the crisis. Whilst the additional financial support provided to businesses through these schemes did not draw on existing Enterprise Agency budgets, all three Enterprise Agencies have repurposed staff time to appraise applications and distribute funding to businesses in need. Our Enterprise Agencies will continue to support Scottish companies as they work to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, providing advice and guidance and using their budgets flexibly to support business growth, alongside delivering on their existing project commitments. It is not possible at this stage to confirm the proportion of agency budgets that will be used to help businesses survive the crisis as the situation is still evolving. The budget position for our Enterprise Agencies in the next financial year (2021-22) will be subject to the draft Scottish budget and its subsequent agreement by the Scottish Parliament. The proportion of budget available to the Scottish Investment Bank, once it exists, and its focus with regard to addressing Covid-19 impacts, will be a matter for the Bank’s board taking account of the missions to be set for the Bank by Scottish Ministers. Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is no specific guidance for niche businesses regarding the lifting of lockdown restrictions, and what its position is on whether the categorisation of businesses in its route map for exiting lockdown should mirror the classification for business rates, and not another categorisation determined by the local authority. (S5W-30761) Jamie Hepburn: We are making changes at a pace and at a level that we think is right and safe for our current circumstances in Scotland. As we have taken decisions about what sectors and activities to re-open on our route out of lockdown, we have been guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Decision Making. We are taking a partnership approach to create the conditions for business, trades unions and regulators to share expertise and work together to create safer workplaces. This partnership approach is also being used to develop sectoral guidance and endorse industry specific guidance. On 13 July we published guidance for small and micro businesses, across a variety of industries and sectors, to ensure the safety of staff and customers as they re- open. We have already published guidance for over 25 specific sectors including manufacturing, labs and research, culture and creative industries, retail, transport, and energy. We will continue to prepare guidance in consultation with relevant stakeholders for sectors re-opening as we move through our Route Map out of Lockdown. We are also working with partners to develop more comprehensive standalone guidance to provide a detailed set of health protection and Infection, Prevention and Control measures that could be applied to a different types of businesses. Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons auction houses cannot open at present, and when they will be allowed to do so. (S5W-30818) Jamie Hepburn: As part of phase 3 of Scotland’s route map, auction houses have been able to reopen from 22 July. Sectoral guidance was updated on 17 July and is available on the Scottish Government website. Education, Communities and Justice Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what support it has provided to Gypsy/Traveller communities during the COVID-19 crisis. (S5W-30530) Christina McKelvie: From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government recognised that Gypsy/Travellers may be at higher risk and took swift action to protect and support the community. We published a joint framework with COSLA to advise local authorities on how to support Gypsy/Travellers during the pandemic, and committed over £150,000 to provide enhanced sanitation facilities to Gypsy/Travellers and to put in place specialist services to support the specific needs of the community. The sanitation included providing portable toilets with running water to both private and public sites, as well as roadside camps across Scotland. We also provided shower facilities to a roadside camp, accommodating a number of families. The specialist services included a dedicated telephone counselling service; tailored educational support; a financial resilience helpline and health boxes to Gypsy/Travellers who were shielding. Together with a range of statutory and third sector partners we have also supported a dedicated Covid-19 themed Facebook page for the community, where we have delivered updates in an accessible and culturally sensitive way. Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with delivery of its strategy for responding to loneliness and social isolation, A Connected Scotland; what work is being carried out by the national implementation group, and whether it will publish the group’s minutes. (S5W-30556) Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government has significantly reoriented our work to address the urgent needs that Covid 19 has brought. As part of this, we have continued to work with the Social Isolation and Loneliness National Implementation Group on issues that are impacting people across Scotland. In our initial response to the pandemic, we funded organisations that could directly support people and communities. This included support to organisations to enable them to increase the capacity of helplines, many of which offer friendship as well as advice, such as Age Scotland who received over £700,000. Furthermore, the £5 million ‘Connecting Scotland’ project will enable 9,000 people, including people clinically at risk or on low incomes, to get online with dedicated training and support. This will have a positive impact for people who are digitally excluded and unable to connect with friends and family. Most recently, the National Implementation Group has been asked to feed into the developing work of the Age and Disability policy circle, as one of the circles supporting the new Social Renewal Advisory Board. This initiative will learn from, and build on, the positive policy and practice shifts seen during our response to Covid 19. The Board will scrutinise the work of the policy circles and put forward policy propositions derived from lived experience to help deliver impactful change. The minutes of the National Implementation Group are shared with members and we will look to