New wave of concern for post-Covid landscape
This week, as Scotland looked forward to lockdown restrictions being eased, politicians and campaigners were keen to highlight mistakes ... but also the way forward
Monday, April 19 Quality state schools ‘can phase out’ private rivals
SCOTTISH society should be moving towards a situation in which independent schools are “phased out” as a result of family choice, according to the authors of a major report.
One said it had already started to happen in places such as Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, adding that the quality of local state secondaries was encouraging parents to enrol children at the likes of St Ninian’s and Williamwood High rather than “ferry them halfway across the city” to private sector rivals.
The study – published by the Jimmy Reid Foundation (JRF) on the first day of the 2021 STUC Annual Congress – insists “all education should be free” while warning radical change will be needed to counter the effects of deprivation and a “neoliberal”, market-driven agenda.
It also says closing the attainment gap will not happen without tackling poverty and stresses that “positive attempts” to reduce inequality should begin in the early years.
Holding up the Finnish system as an example, it adds: “There is no place for private schools in a country which sees education as a public good.”
But senior figures at the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) hit back, saying the enduring popularity of its sector was a reflection of underlying strengths such as the focus on individual learners and extra-curricular activity.
It also insisted access had been widened through schemes including mandatory, means-tested fee assistance.
Parties warned against ‘unrealistic expectations’ for NHS
POLITICIANS may be “raising unrealistic public expectations” about the amount of work the NHS in Scotland can do after the coronavirus pandemic, leading doctors have warned.
While the future of the health service is a key battleground in the run-up to next month’s Holyrood election, doctors said they had a “real concern” about some of the promises parties are making.
Dr Lewis Morrison, the chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland spoke out along with Dr Miles Mack, the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland, also known as the Scottish Academy.
Noting that many health workers were “suffering the physical and mental impact” of working throughout the pandemic, they also called for an increased in staffing.
Their comments come as the Scottish Conservatives promised a one-off £600 million boost to help the NHS tackle the “treatment log-jam” that has built up during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, if the SNP is re-elected, its leader Nicola Sturgeon has promised work to raise NHS in-patient, day-case and outpatient activity to 10 per cent above pre-pandemic levels within one year.
But in a joint statement, Dr Morrison and Dr Mack said: “There is real concern that political parties are raising unrealistic public expectations of the potential activity of NHS in Scotland in the run-up to the Holyrood election, without establishing how to create the capacity to deliver on these promises, especially in the timescales being talked about.”
Tuesday, April 20 Hospitality owners left furious at Covid rules ‘bombshell’
HOSPITALITY bosses have condemned “bombshell” social distancing guidance that indicates they will need to install 11 feet long tables to keep customers safe when they reopen next week.
The Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) has described new guidance as a “farce”, while adding information from the Government had been “confusing”.
The sector had expected that one-metre (3ft) social distancing would apply between tables when it reopens, but the guidance states people from different households will have to observe social distancing at tables. Concerns have now been raised after official diagrams published show that tables will have to be a minimum of 3.5 metres by two metres to sit just six.
Firms urged to act over mental health discrimination
An increase in mental-health related employment tribunal claims during the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked concerns about workplace discrimination.
Evidence from the Employment Tribunal Service in Scotland suggests there has been a rise in disability discrimination cases, with a notable number relating to issues such as anxiety and depression.
The increase in claims was reported in minutes from an employment tribunal user group meeting, which also heard that several of the new cases directly mention the Covid crisis and its impact on claimants’ mental health.
Charities said they are concerned by the rise and warned employers that they have a legal responsibility to look after the mental health of workers. Wendy Halliday, director of See Me Scotland, said: “We are concerned to see a rise in claims from people who have experienced discrimination.”
Wednesday, April 21 Young people bear brunt of Covid with 114k fewer roles
YOUNG people have borne the brunt of pandemic job losses in Scotland, with 114,000 fewer jobs at the end of last year than the same time in 2019.
The largest declines were in sectors predominantly staffed by workers aged under 25, such as the arts and entertainment industries, as well as the food services and accommodation sectors.
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of payroll jobs in Scotland in December 2020 had fallen by 80,000 compared to the same period in 2019, with the latest data showing around 2.4 million jobs in Scotland at the end of last year.
Self-employed jobs have faced a similar fate, with a reduction of 35,000 to 275,000 in the same one-year period.
While the overall employment figures have remained relatively stable in the last quarter in Scotland, experts say the trend over time is “worrying”.
Colleges now ‘facing indefinite strikes’ as row deepens
SCOTLAND’S colleges are facing the threat of “indefinite” three-day weekly strikes as a bitter dispute over the future of lecturing intensifies.
Staff are also being balloted on action short of walkouts that could see them mark assessments but not enter or share results through their institutions’ systems.
If voted through, the move by the EIS Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) would affect thousands of students and plunge graduations into uncertainty. The row erupted after college representatives were accused of seeking to replace lecturer posts with “instructor/assessor” positions.
Union leaders said the Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association had refused to ratify one section of a proposed national role profile that sets out the core professional responsibilities considered to be “unique” to a lecturer’s job.
They claimed disagreement had arisen because employers wish to use non-lecturing staff to fulfill these responsibilities.
EIS-FELA bosses said failure to protect lecturer roles would deprive staff of vital class preparation time and remove the need for them to be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). They also warned an unequal “two-tier” system could emerge, with some courses delivered by registered lecturers while others are not.
ALMOST 100 hospital discharges may have led to Covid outbreaks in Scottish care homes or increased the number of existing infections, a major report has found.
New analysis has been carried out investigating cases where elderly people were admitted to care homes after they tested positive for Covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) said it showed that a link between patients being discharged from hospital and Covid outbreaks “cannot be ruled out”. The virus was associated with 21.6 per cent of deaths within 30 days of discharge to a care home.
The report follows an earlier study by PHS, commissioned by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman in August last year, that was criticised for not being clear. It found there were 3,595 discharges to care homes between March 1 and April 21, and the majority (82%) were not tested for Covid-19.
Of the 646 discharges tested, 75 had a positive result while in hospital. There were 106 people where the last test for Covid-19 before hospital discharge to care home was positive.
Of those, 79.2% of Covid infections had a definite community onset.
Fresh analysis has found five discharges were epidemiologically associated with care home outbreaks from March 1 to June 21, while a further five had an “uncertain association”.
A total of 87 people with a positive diagnosis were admitted to care homes which were already experiencing an outbreak. Researchers said there is a possibility they caused further introductions of infection into care homes which already had an active outbreak.