The recruitment and deployment of teachers is the responsibility of the local authorities who have the statutory duty for education expenditure. Local authorities are responsible for providing a complement of teachers and other staff which meets the needs of each of their schools and its pupils within the resources available.

We are currently working with local authorities to establish what additional staff are needed to support COVID-19 education recovery. Once we know that, we will work with local authorities to meet that demand.

The COVID-19 Education Recovery Group, the group which is bringing together national and local government and key education and early learning and childcare stakeholders to provide advice on taking forward Scottish education in the light of COVID-19, has not received or considered any proposal for pupils to repeat a school year due to the COVID-19 crisis. That Group is focussed on supporting the education system so that pupils may resume attendance at schools and early learning and childcare at the earliest time it is safe to do so.

Local authorities, schools, teachers and practitioners have been working together to provide support to pupils since schools closed in March 2019, and that support will continue when young people return to school. In addition, local authorities continue to offer support for eligible children through their Hub provisions and the Scottish Government has published guidance on supporting learning in Term 4 and ensuring continuity of learning beyond that . Any concerns regarding individual pupils should be raised with their school and education authority.

Our objective has been to control and suppress the virus and we are making real and sustained progress.

We published the Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scotland's Route Map through and out of the crisis on 21 May 2020, which sets out the criteria to be met for progressing through the route map phases. These criteria include required statistical measures of progress in suppressing the virus and broader requirements based on the World Health Organization's conditions for easing restrictions.

We must get as close as possible to elimination of the virus now and build confidence in our ability to control it in future through surveillance, testing, contact tracing and, where necessary, targeted suppression measures.

A safe, effective Covid-19 vaccination could provide a key stepping stone towards elimination, and we are delighted that the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow along with NHS colleagues are taking part in the human safety trials for the development of a vaccine by Oxford University.

There is no guarantee of success, but it is prudent that we plan on the basis of this becoming available and we are liaising with UK Government officials on all aspects of development including the work of the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.

This Government is committed to supporting the most disadvantaged children and young people. I stated in Parliament on 23 June that the Government would invest “a further £100 million over the next two years to help support the return to school and help children recover any lost ground”. Additionally, £182 million from the Attainment Scotland Fund has been issued as planned to Local Authorities and schools in 2020/21 in the form of Pupil Equity Funding going directly to schools, Challenge Authority and Schools’ Programme funding and Care Experienced Children and Young People funding.

Using Attainment Scotland Funding, Local Authorities and schools determine the best approaches to supporting their children and young people. Amongst the approaches set out in plans are a range of supported study initiatives and summer programmes to support potential learning loss as a result of COVID-19.

Additionally, due to the ongoing challenges currently facing schools and local authorities I have relaxed the guidance on Attainment Scotland Funding streams to support Local Authorities in deploying this funding flexibly to best support vulnerable children from the most deprived backgrounds. There are already a number of such examples, including the provision of laptops and/tablets to support digital learning at home, purchase and delivery of books and other learning material to children at home, providing transport to enable some learners to attend LA Hubs, and supporting home-school link workers to maintain regular contact with children.

There is a range of guidance available for care homes regarding COVID-19 and how to protect staff and residents including those with learning disabilities and staff. Health Protection Scotland (HPS) publishes infection control guidance COVID-19: Information and Guidance for Care Home Settings’ which is for all care homes, including those that care for people with learning disabilities. This guidance is based on National Infection Prevention and Control Manual for health and social care settings which provides advice on how to prevent and manage the spread of all respiratory infections including COVID-19. To supplement HPS guidance, the Scottish Government also issued the ‘National Clinical and Practice Guidance for Adult Care Homes in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic’. This was first published on 13 March and updated most recently on 15 May. This guidance draws on the HPS guidance but provides more detailed information on some of the practical steps that are required to protect staff and residents, including guidance specific to homes that care for people with learning disabilities. Both the HPS and the Scottish Government guidance is continually reviewed to take account of the emerging picture around COVID-19.

In addition, the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities (SCLD) have been working with Scottish Government to produce easy to read information on COVID-19 and how people can protect themselves. This includes advice on staying at home, infection control, PPE, shielding and physical distancing. Information on the phases in the route map out of crises is also being developed with phase one now available. SCLD have also worked with Glasgow Universality to develop a series of booklets for services supporting vulnerable people on staying physically and mentally healthy when physical distancing. The Scottish Government, with their partners created a ‘Clinical guide for front line staff to support the management of patients with a learning disability, autism or both during the coronavirus pandemic’. This alongside other guidance is available on SCLD’s website.

Guidance on the personal use of face coverings during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was published on 28 May and will be updated as guidance changes. You can find the latest face covering guidance here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-public-use-of-face-coverings/ .

NHS Scotland has not sent any COVID-19 tests abroad for analysis, all NHS testing has been undertaken in Scottish laboratories.

a) This information is not held centrally.

b) This information is not held centrally.

c) Of the 285 deaths involving COVID-19 which took place at home or in a non-institutional setting which had been registered by 14 th June, 84 had been referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

d) Of the number above, 7 were subject to a post-mortem.

The following table shows the estimated number of long stay care home residents with learning disabilities, by age group, in Scotland as at 31 March 2017, the latest time period for which data are available.

The Scottish Government have been working with the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities (SCLD) and People First Scotland to create easy read versions of all official Government Coronavirus related advice and information relevant to people with learning disabilities. Information on COVID-19 symptoms, access to testing and social distancing in an easy read format can be found on NHS Inform's website .

The link for (a) COVID-19 symptoms can be found at https://www.nhsinform.scot/media/3549/20-21-coronavirus-easy-read-nhs-inform-1-overview-9-june-2020.pdf . The link for (b) access to testing can be found at https://www.nhsinform.scot/media/3556/20-21-coronavirus-easy-read-nhs-inform-10-testing-9-june-2020.pdf . The link for (c) social distancing can be found at https://www.nhsinform.scot/media/3178/v3-coronavirus-covid-19-nhs-inform-guidance-part-4-social-distancing-9-apr-2020.pdf . Additionally the link to the easy read version of the advice on testing can be found at the bottom of the door drop leaflet on Test and Trace.

Easy read documents are the most effective methods of written communication for people with learning disabilities and the easy read documents are the most accessed alternative formats of Government advice on NHS Inform’s website.