23rd November 2021
Commenting on the First Minister’s COVID-19 update to the Scottish Parliament, in which the Scottish Government confirmed there will not be an extension to the Vaccine Certification scheme from the 7th of December, Dr Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said:
“Businesses across Scotland will be incredibly relieved that the First Minister has listened to the concerns of the business community.
“Although this will have been a difficult decision on balance for the Scottish Government, it was the right one, and it keeps Scotland moving in the right direction. It is now essential that businesses and individuals continue to follow the relevant COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines to ensure our economy remains open and growing.
“Businesses and consumers will now be reassured that they can make plans over the coming weeks in the run up to Christmas and New Year, without the fear of additional economic deterrents or vaccine certification burdens being placed on them.
“Scotland’s businesses continue to do everything they can to support public health measures and to limit the spread of the virus, having invested millions into making workplaces Covid secure for employees, customer, suppliers and communities.”
On home working:
“Scotland’s town and high street economies are finally starting to recover and this is due, in part, to the gradual and phased return of office workers.
“Businesses, particularly those in the retail and hospitality sectors, who rely heavily on office worker footfall will be pleased that the Scottish Government recognise the importance of leaving decisions over office return entirely to businesses, in consultation and agreement with their employees.
“To keep Scotland’s office re-opening plans on the right track it’s important that businesses and government continue to do everything they can to support vaccine take-up, regular testing and compliance with COVID-19 baseline preventative measures.”
On Lateral Flow Tests:
“We are pleased that the Scottish Government have looked again at the available evidence and have acknowledged the clear benefits that LFTs provide.
“This is what businesses were calling for and it will also significantly ease and improve access to hospitality settings for consumers.
“Scotland was one of the few countries in Europe, where a vaccine certification scheme is in place, to not accept evidence of a recent negative Lateral Flow Test (LFT) in lieu of an individual’s Covid vaccination status and confirmation that this will change from next month will be very welcome news for businesses, employees and customers.”
