Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-Isolation) Bill consultation: analysis and response

Detailed Analysis

The Scottish Government invited members of the public and stakeholders to provide their responses and feedback to 3 questions set out within the consultation document.

The feedback received will be used to consider whether the proposals set out should be modified.

Question 1

Do you agree with proposals to modify the duty on Health Boards to make the payment of compensation related to self-isolation for COVID-19-19 discretionary?

11 respondents agreed with the proposal to modify the duty on Health Boards to make the payment of compensation related to self-isolation for COVID-19-19 discretionary. 3 respondents disagreed.

Of the 11 respondents that agreed, 7 provided further comments and of the 3 respondents that disagreed, 1 provided further feedback. The comments have been set out below and are grouped by sub-theme.

Answer	Total
Yes	11
No	3

Comments from Respondents

The comments below have been organised into the sub-themes that they relate to and whether they responded 'Yes' or 'No' to Question 1:

Question 1

Equalities groups

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"During COVID-19 it was impossible to go anywhere and my son and I were at home 24/7 without a break. This is further compounded by Local Authorities and NHS not providing any care and unable to appropriately take forward a meaningful plan to get Carers and families support." - (Individual)

"Consideration also needs to be given to how the Scottish Government can better support people who are shielding."

• One woman explained that, despite being vulnerable, her condition was not on the shielding list, so she was unable to access any support.
• "Find out who has to self-isolate for practical health reasons, and financially support them. If I had caught COVID-19, it would cost the NHS much more!" - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

"Fundamentally, people experiencing hardship need to be treated with dignity, and the Scottish Government has a responsibility to protect everyone through this pandemic.

• "There's always going to be a shortfall in any system, but when these are highlighted, there should be a specific department to deal with them and not have vulnerable people passed from pillar to post and made to feel like beggars."-
• "I feel people on zero contracts or in lower wage brackets working for private companies may fall through the net with the self-isolating, only because they have unscrupulous employers." - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

Financial concerns

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"The burden of payment of these costs for the number of people affected and the number of occasions people may have to isolate would take away necessary resources from frontline services. This would have a knock on effect." - (Individual)

"Provided that there are other financial support mechanisms remain in place." -(Shetland Islands Council - Organisation)

"While we agree that compensation from Health Boards should remain discretionary, we believe that the Scottish Government should be doing more to support people through self-isolation.

All but one of the women we heard from reported that self-isolating had a negative effect for them financially -

• One woman explained how she had to use up much of her savings, and if she had not been fortunate enough to have these, she would not have managed.
• Women reported increased costs for heating, electricity, medication and also for food (delivery fees and the fact that the cheaper supermarkets do not deliver)." - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

Comments from people who disagreed with the proposal

"People need financial support to be able to afford to self-isolate as many employers don't pay wages when off sick and only pay SSP." - (Individual)

Applying for the Self-Isolation Grant

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"Of all the women we spoke to, none of them had successfully accessed the Self-Isolation Support Grant or the Local Self-Isolation Assistance Service, despite all having had to isolate at some point during the pandemic -

• Many highlighted that they had not heard of these schemes and did not know that they may have been entitled to support.
• Those who had heard of it, did not have enough information to ascertain whether they would qualify - "I didn't think I'd be eligible."
• Although some women noted that they had not faced a loss of income as a result of their self-isolation, the increase to their living costs during this period meant that they faced a loss in real terms." - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

"It has also been raised that the application process can be daunting and confusing. The pandemic has seen many people fall on hard times and reach out for benefits for the first time in their life, so they have not been familiar with many of the processes. Moreover, while libraries, job centres, Citizens Advice, and other public services have been closed (some as part of restrictions, but many on a permanent basis due to cuts), people are not getting the support they need to apply for grants and social security.

• "Naïvely, claiming benefits and redundancy weren't things I'd ever expected for myself."
• "It should be as easy as possible for self-isolation payments to be claimed." - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

Improving the accessibility and information about Self-Isolation Grant

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"Women expressed that they would like information about these schemes to be made more widely available and in more accessible formats so that more people can get what they are entitled to.

• "A phone number should be available to ask what's needed. Websites are hard to negotiate."
• "[The Scottish Government] could look at how people have to ask for help, and not have to fill in multiple pages on a form both paper and online. It would be good to have a helpline service that is free to call. You could also have help desks with info in places like health centres."

One woman explained that her application for the grant was denied because her employment contract was not due to start until the day after her self-isolation period had already begun.

We know that the labour market has become increasingly volatile during the pandemic, and there are likely to have been many women who have been moving between jobs for whom this may have also been an issue.

We would urge the Scottish Government to release the information of how many claims for the Self-Isolation Support Grant have been rejected and for what reasons. We encourage them to meaningfully engage with the reasons why people are being turned down, to better understand how more people can get the support they need." - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

Helping to protect the NHS and Local Authorities

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"As long as COVID-19 cases remain significant and we are at level 0 on the route map the potential for the number of people being asked to self-isolate is high. This modification to the duty protects the NHS Boards from exposure to significant cost from claims." - (Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership - Organisation)

"I agree for the reasons outlined in the proposal." - (Individual)

"The proposal is logical, however there must be recognition of the additional pressures this has placed on Local Authorities in dealing with significant numbers of calls and applications during periods of high demand. Any requirement for Local Authorities to continue to support Policy Initiatives such as this must be underpinned by suitable funding that allows authorities sufficient capacity to resource this function, whilst being able to continue to deliver normal business and any other events which may result in increases in demand e.g. forthcoming changes to Benefits or end of Furlough. Through the initial deployment of this, the country was under restrictions and as such, Local Authorities had the opportunity to redirect staff to demand areas for a time. Given the reopening of society and services in recent months, the ability to do so has been curtailed, bringing staffing and recruitment challenges in recruiting to short term posts." - (Dumfries and Galloway Council - Organisation)

Question 2

Do you agree that the Scottish Government should be able to vary the expiry date of these provisions?

11 respondents agreed that the Scottish Government should be able to vary the expiry date of these provisions. 3 respondents disagreed.

Of the 11 respondents that agreed, 4 provided further comments and of the 3 respondents that disagreed, 2 provided further comments. The comments have been set out below:

Answer	Total
Yes	11
No	3

Comments from Respondents

The feedback below has been organised into the sub-themes that they relate to and whether they responded 'Yes' or 'No' to Question 1:

Equalities groups

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"It's already been 21 months, parent Carers have had no right to respite." - (Individual)

"Women felt that there are still "too many uncertainties" for an end date to be set in stone, and it should therefore be kept "under review"." - (Scottish women's Convention - Organisation)

The impact that Self-Isolation has on Local Authorities

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"It is unlikely that Local Authorities will be able to redeploy staff during any future periods of demand and will need to have specific resources in place as a result of normal services having fully resumed. As such it is important to ensure that any decision to extend these provisions is done in a way which does prevents Local Authorities being left with short term resource and demand issues which cannot be filled by recruitment processes as a) the timescale on offer is of little interest to prospective employees and b) the timescale covered is barely sufficient to undergo appropriate recruitment.

Furthermore any financial support offered to Local Authorities to support this activity also needs to be sufficient to accommodate extensions if they are required." - (Dumfries and Galloway Council - Organisation)

Scottish Government

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"The provisions should be in place as long as COVID-19 remains a threat. The Scottish Government should have control over the decisions as to when the conditions are appropriate to review the expiry date." - (Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership - Organisation)

Comments from people who disagreed with the proposal

"No Government should have an open ended availability to set the dates this was a special provision and should be reviewed on a regular basis." - (Individual)

Financial concerns

Comments from people who disagreed with the proposal

"A set date gives citizens an assurance that they will be supported financially during that time if they need to self-isolate." – (Individual)

Question 3

Do you agree that these are the most appropriate considerations for the Scottish Government to take into account when considering extending or bringing forward the expiry date for these provisions?

13 Respondents agreed that these are the most appropriate considerations for the Scottish Government to take into account when considering extending or bringing forward the expiry date for these provisions. 1 respondent disagreed.

Of the 13 that responded Yes, 3 of these respondents provided further comments. None of the respondents who responded No provided any additional comment. The comments have been set out below:

Answer	Total
Yes	11
No	3

Comments from Respondents

The feedback below has been organised into the sub-themes that they relate to and whether they responded 'Yes' or 'No' to Question 1:

Equalities groups

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"A further consideration which reflects the role of Local Authorities in this would be:

• Local Authorities continue to have the resource and capacity to deliver alternative mechanisms without detriment to routine supports to vulnerable groups." - (Dumfries and Galloway Council - Organisation)

"Women are concerned that there is a misconception that the lockdown is already over, when that is not the case. While many have welcomed the easing of restrictions, there are still many women who are worried about the virus and are diligent in following the rules because they are fearful for their own health or the health of those they care for. Their Scottish Government needs to acknowledge these valid concerns and avoid withdrawing support mechanisms too early.

• "[These provisions] will have to continue until pandemic is contained. Not yet!."
• "There are some really strong, active women who are now scared to go back out there, and it's quite worrying that they've basically just been ignored, they've just been left behind." - (Scottish Women's Convention - Organisation)

Compliance

Comments from people who agreed with the proposal

"To ensure compliance this is crucial." - (Individual)