Question reference: S5W-34420
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 8 January 2021
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Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given consideration to directing local authorities to consider designating people that work in the (a) construction and (b) manufacturing industries as key workers for the purpose of accessing childcare provision in schools.
Answer
In order to achieve our primary objective of reducing interactions and helping to drive down community transmission of Covid-19, the number of key worker children presenting to schools during the current strict lockdown must be kept to an absolute minimum. The purpose of the exceptional key worker arrangements initiated in January 2021 is therefore to ensure that workers who are critical to supporting essential and lifeline services in Scotland can request places for their children in schools or with childcare providers, when alternative options have been exhausted.
Where construction or manufacturing supports the essential or critical services set out in the key worker guidance published on 06 January 2021, employers and staff would be eligible to request access to key worker child places in schools as potential Category 3 workers, or as a potential Category 2 worker if directly supporting the CNI. As not all construction or manufacturing supports such services, it is for local authorities, schools and providers to consider and respond to individual requests based on the specific circumstances involved. Employers are therefore asked to strictly prioritise and only request places for staff who are critical to the provision of essential services and have no alternate childcare or working options.
Local authorities are expected to take account of the diverse needs of their local communities, families and young people when applying these arrangements and managing demand for places in schools.