3. To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to local authorities to ensure that, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, schools will have adequate resources to keep pupils and staff safe. (S5O-04519)

The Scottish Government takes the safety of pupils and staff in schools very seriously. That is why we have committed up to a further £135 million over the next two years to support the reopening of schools. That includes making up to £50 million available to local authorities to support the costs that are associated with safely reopening schools in line with the guidance published on 30 July and £80 million for additional teachers and classroom staff.

That is in addition to the £155 million in United Kingdom Government consequentials that we passed on in full to local authorities on 26 May.

I thank the Deputy First Minister for his answer and I welcome the Scottish Government’s on-going efforts to keep pupils and teaching staff safe. What action is the Scottish Government taking to discourage—for the moment—house parties, which we know are linked to a number of cases in secondary schools since their opening?

Clear guidance is available about the limited number of households who should be gathering for indoor household purposes. As Dr Allan correctly said, where we have identified pupils who have tested positive for Covid, a number of the cases have arisen out of connections between those pupils at house parties where more households were present than should have been the case. The general guidance relating to that is available to all, and we encourage compliance with that guidance just as there was exceptional compliance with the guidance in the immediate aftermath of lockdown.

The First Minister has been clear in expressing our concerns about indoor house parties and the danger of circulating the virus that is posed by such gatherings, which are not compatible with the regulations. In addition, the First Minister today set out further details of the powers and responsibilities that will be available to Police Scotland to deal with such incidents in the future, although we would rather that individuals decided not to gather for house parties, so that the powers did not have to be exercised.

I have been in touch with many sporting and youth work organisations that are unable to resume their work in schools due to the understandably cautious approach that local authorities have taken to interpreting the guidance on the reopening of schools. What support is the Scottish Government giving to local authorities to adopt improved policies that might permit such activities under the current guidance, or what revisions to guidance will be made to enable that vital education work to take place?

I recognise the importance of the work that Mr Johnson refers to, and I very much regret that we are not in a position to enable a lot of that work to be undertaken, due to the necessary and cautious approach that has been taken.

I assure Mr Johnson that all guidance in relation to schools is developed by the education recovery group, in which our local authorities are key participants. We work closely together to make sure that local authorities are fully involved in the formulation of that guidance, which has been supported by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. If there are any opportunities to revise the guidance in the light of the public health advice that is available to us, we will take them.

I recognise the importance of the points raised by Mr Johnson, and I have allocated additional resources to the youth work sector to support its activity, which is important in strengthening the opportunities that are available to young people in our society.