FM rules out any rush to ease Covid-19 restrictions

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted there must not be a “reckless relaxation” of coronavirus lockdown measures to get Scotland’s economy moving.

It comes as official figures showed Scottish unemployment grew faster than the rest of the UK in the three months to April.

The number of Scots out of work rose by 30,000 to 127,000 from February – up 1.1% to 4.6% of the working age population.

This was higher than the UK rate of 3.9%, with a total of 1.34m out of work, but below the 5.2% rate for north-east England.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the latest claimant count for Universal Credit (UC) support in Scotland stood at 440,229, as of May 14, up 17.9% month-on-month.

Karen Robb, employer and partnership manager at the Department for Work and Pensions in Aberdeen, said the number of people claiming UC in the Granite City rose 22.9% at 14,516.

The UC claimant count in Aberdeenshire rose nearly 20% to 12,496 as the northeast economy took a hit from the oil price collapse.

Ms Robb stressed the figures did not necessarily indicate a corresponding rise in unemployment.

UC is designed to “adapt to changing circumstances”, she said, adding: “It tops up income if earnings drop, so not every new claimant will have lost their job as the total will include furloughed and self-employed people.”

Claimants in the Highland Council area rose 19.1% to 19,525 last month.

Business minister Jamie Hepburn said: “Keeping people in work while supporting those who have lost their jobs will continue to be at the heart of our thinking as we carefully reopen the economy.

“While the Scottish Government has welcomed the support schemes from HMRC during this time, and their extension, it is important that we ensure this support continues to be offered for as long as required.

“Particularly in sectors such as tourism, hospitality, retail, culture, and oil and gas, which will not have fully recovered by October.”

Ms Sturgeon said an easing of some rules this week may help the economy but “not all major changes will happen overnight”.

She said: “I do hope in the coming weeks that further important restrictions will be lifted so that, for example, workers can return to factories with strict hygiene and physical distancing measures in place; so the construction industry can continue with its own restart plan and so that non-essential retail businesses can have a date for safe reopening.

“None of this will restore the economy immediately to full health but it will be a significant and sustainable improvement on our current condition.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Covid-19 briefing