The latest Scottish GDP figures have been published this morning for June 2022 and Q2 2022.

Responding to the statistics, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

We are facing unprecedented global challenges, but our economy showed huge resilience emerging from the pandemic and I feel sure we will come through these uncertain times too.

Supporting families and businesses is our priority. A quarter of all UK households will receive £1200 of direct help as part of our £37 billion package to assist the most vulnerable, with the first cost of living payments already paid out to over seven million people.

Our steps to support businesses include slashing fuel duty, reducing employer National Insurance and freezing alcohol duty which helps pubs and our hospitality industry. All this is in addition to the Scottish Government receiving a record £41 billion per year settlement for the next three years.

Background: 

The extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June had a one-off effect in reducing economic activity that month. When we’ve had similar Jubilee bank holidays in the past, we have seen falls in GDP within that month but have then seen a ‘bounce back’ in the following month.

We have taken action to help households with £37 billion worth of support, which includes targeted support to help people through the difficult winter ahead phased throughout the year.

As well as direct cost of living payments, there has also been a record fuel duty cut. The National Insurance cut is worth up to £330 a year for the typical employee and changing the Universal Credit taper rate saves a typical low-income working household £1,000 per year in tax. In April, we raised the minimum wage to £9.50 – meaning a pay rise of £1,000 a year for a full-time worker.

The Scottish Government has been provided with an extra £82 million to help vulnerable families at their discretion. This is in addition to the significant income tax and welfare powers they already have.

According to the Quarterly estimate (April to June), Scotland’s GDP remained unchanged (0.0% growth) in real terms during the second quarter of 2022 and is still 0.1% below pre-pandemic levels (2019 Q4). Over the same period, GDP in the UK as a whole fell by 0.1% and is now 0.6% above pre-pandemic levels.

Scotland’s onshore GDP is estimated to have fallen by 0.8% in June, after growing by 0.6% in May, and is now 0.4% above the pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Following a number of detections of avian influenza in poultry and wild and captive birds across Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset, the UK’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer has declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across the region to mitigate the risk of further outbreaks of disease occurring.

This means that from midday today (Wednesday 31 August) it is a legal requirement for all bird keepers in Devon, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) and parts of Somerset to follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks, of whatever type or size. A map of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone is available on gov.uk.

Backyard owners with small numbers of poultry including chickens, ducks and geese must take steps to limit the risk of the disease spreading to their animals.

Additionally, keepers with more than 500 birds will need to restrict access for non-essential people on their sites, workers will need to change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and site vehicles will need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly to limit the risk of the disease spreading.

The UK Health Security Agency continue to advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency advice remains unchanged, that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

The UK has faced its largest ever outbreak of bird flu with over 130 cases confirmed across the country since late October. The introduction of this regional AIPZ comes after the disease was detected in captive birds at nine premises across the south-west region since last month, as well as several cases in wild seabirds.

UK’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Richard Irvine said:

Following a number of detections of avian influenza we have declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone across Cornwall, Devon and parts of Somerset. This means that all bird keepers in the region must take action now to both prevent disease getting in to flocks and it spreading any further.

Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, you are now legally required to introduce higher biosecurity standards on your farm or small holding. It is in your interests to do so in order to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.

The introduction of an AIPZ follows the recent increase in cases of bird flu in poultry and other captive birds in the area and increased reports of mass mortality in wild birds.

The AIPZ now in force across Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset does not include a requirement to house birds. However, this is being kept under constant review. Further disease control measures will be based on the latest scientific evidence and veterinary advice.

The Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) means bird keepers across the south-west region of England must:

• cleanse and disinfect clothing, footwear, equipment and vehicles before and after contact with poultry and captive birds – if practical, use disposable protective clothing
• reduce the movement of people, vehicles or equipment to and from areas where poultry and captive birds are kept, to minimise contamination from manure, slurry and other products, and use effective vermin control
• thoroughly cleanse and disinfect housing on a continuous basis
• keep fresh disinfectant at the right concentration at all farm and poultry housing entry and exit points
• minimise direct and indirect contact between poultry and captive birds and wild birds, including making sure all feed and water is not accessible to wild birds
• prevent access by poultry to ponds and watercourses and ensure that birds are kept in fenced or enclosed areas

The prevention zone will be in place until further notice, and will be kept under regular review as part of the government’s work to monitor and manage the risks of bird flu.

Poultry keepers and members of the public should report dead wild birds to Defra’s national dead wild bird helpline on 03459 33 55 77 (please select option 7) and keepers should report suspicion of disease in their birds to APHA on 03000 200 301. Keepers should familiarise themselves with our avian flu advice.

Defra has also set out practical guidance to support land managers, the public and ornithological and environmental organisations in their response to the growing threat of avian influenza to wild birds. The ‘Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales’, also announced today, sets out how these groups, together with the government and its delivery partners, can mitigate the impact of avian influenza on wild bird populations whilst protecting public health, the wider environment and the rural economy.

Professor Polly Blakesley

Appointed for a four year term commencing 05 September 2022

Rosalind Polly Blakesley is Professor of Russian and European Art at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and co-founder of the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre. A Syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum and Trustee of the Samuel Courtauld Trust, she has also served on the boards of the National Portrait Gallery, Kettle’s Yard and the Hamilton Kerr Institute. Exhibitions she has worked on include An Imperial Collection at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC; International Arts and Crafts at the V&A; and Russia and the Arts at the National Portrait Gallery, part of a groundbreaking exchange with the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Awards include the Pushkin Medal and, for her book, The Russian Canvas, the Art Newspaper Russia Best Book Award and the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize. She is now working on the research project Russia, Empire and the Baltic Imagination, supported by a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust.

Rusty Elvidge

Appointed for a four year term commencing 05 September 2022

Rusty has been a collector since he was at Bristol University and used to buy antique silver and jewellery at auction rooms and fairs in the West Country. He has also collected Regency furniture, English watercolours and over the last 20 years paintings by the Bloomsbury set, Modern British artists, as well as Contemporary Art and Pottery. He lives in a Grade 1 listed house which he has restored. Rusty has worked in finance all his career: at Salomon Brothers on the trading floor, then at Credit Suisse heading the global foreign exchange business, and over the last decade has been on the the Private Banking side as financial adviser to some of the most successful UK based entrepreneurs. Rusty has worked in Japan, Switzerland and the US, though predominantly in the UK where he is based full time.

Zewditu Gebreyohanes

Appointed for a four year term commencing 05 September 2022

Zewditu Gebreyohanes is the Director of Restore Trust and Executive Editor of History Reclaimed. She was formerly Head of the History Matters unit at Policy Exchange. In 2020 Zewditu served on the government commission for housing and architecture ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful’ as an assistant to its Chair, the late Professor Sir Roger Scruton. She graduated from King’s College London in 2020 with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Remuneration and Governance Code

Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum are not remunerated. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Professor Blakesley and Rusty Elvidge did not declare any political activity. Zewditu Gebreyohanes declared having canvassed for the Conservative party within the last five years.