Publication - FOI/EIR release

COVID-19 Manufacturing Sector Guidance publications and updates: FOI release

Published: 15 July 2021
Directorate: Economic Development Directorate
Part of: Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Economy, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202100214586
Date received: 17 June 2021
Date responded: 15 July 2021

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Information requested

“I request all documentation and guidance issued to the Scottish manufacturing sector.

Issued on 26 May 2020 and the updates issued thereafter dated 7 July 2020, 28 July 2020, 28 August 2020, 8 September 2020, 5 October 2020, 26 October 2020, 30 October 2020, 14 December 2020, 8 January 2021, 20 January 2021, 8 February 2021, 9 March 2021 and 22 March 2021.”

Response

All guidance that has been issued to the Scottish manufacturing sector has been made publically available on the Scottish Government website.

The COVID-19 Manufacturing Sector Guidance was first published on the Scottish Government website on 26 May 2020, to provide guidance for the sector on how to plan and maintain a safe workplace during the pandemic.

In response to your request, please find attached copies of the original guidance that was issued on 26 May 2020 and copies of updated guidance published on 7 July, 28 July, 20 August, 8 September, 5 October, 26 October, 30 October and 14 December 2020 and 8 January, 20 January, 8 February and 9 March 2021.

You requested guidance issued to the Scottish manufacturing sector on 28 August 2020, however, no guidance was issued or published on that date and FOISA section 17, notice that information is not held, applies. However, I have based this response on the assumption that your request contained a typing error, and have included the guidance that was issued on 20 August 2020 in order to fulfil your request.

The Manufacturing Guidance – Operational Guide (COVID-19) Checklist and Summary was first published on 7 July 2020. This checklist is a supplementary tool to be used in conjunction with the above COVID-19 Manufacturing Guidance.

In response to your request, please find attached a copy of the original checklist that was published on 7 July and copies of the updated checklists that were published on 26 October 2020, and 8 January, 8 February and 22 March 2021.

Both the guidance and checklist are subject to regular reviews and the most up to date version can be viewed here.

Please note at the time of responding, the COVID-19 Manufacturing Sector Guidance, published 9 March 2021, and Operational Checklist, published 22 March 2021, were publically available via the above hyperlinks on the Scottish Government website and a FOISA section 25 exemption would usually apply, as the information is otherwise accessible and could be reasonably be obtained by you. However, due to the possibility that ongoing reviews of existing COVID restrictions could result in these documents being revised and updated at short notice, resulting in them no longer being publically available, these have been included to avoid any overlaps between this response and any updated guidance.

The COVID-19: Investigation of Outbreaks in Manufacturing Businesses – Guidance for Employers, published on 14 December 2020, is publically available on the Scottish Governments website and can be found here. This provides guidance for employers on what to expect from an Incident Management Team investigation of coronavirus outbreaks in manufacturing businesses.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.