COVID-19 – Beyond Level 0

With the announcement that Scotland will move beyond level 0 COVID-19 restrictions from Monday 9 August, SCRA continues to ensure health and safety is paramount in our Hearing Centres.

As the move beyond Level 0 does not signal the end of the pandemic, we are continuing to take the following steps in all our Hearing Centres to ensure they are as safe as they can be for everyone:

Physical distancing: Whilst the restrictions on physical distancing have been lifted, the advice is that we should still maintain some distance between ourselves and others as an effective way to stop transmission of the virus.  Therefore, we are introducing 1 metre physical distancing in our Hearings Centres and Hearing rooms to encourage everyone to maintain good/safe personal spacing.

Face coverings: Children under 12 don’t need to wear a face covering. So, unless you are exempt on health or other grounds, everyone else attending our Hearing Centres should continue to wear face coverings in communal areas such as reception and corridors and on entering and leaving the Hearing room.  Where Hearing participants are at least 1 metre physically distanced or have partitions between them, then face coverings can be removed once seated.  We continue to encourage everyone attending Hearings to wear their face coverings during the Hearing, unless they are talking.

Attending Hearings: Virtual and hybrid (a mix of face to face and virtual) Hearings are still options for children, young people and their families to participate in their Hearing. However, we do anticipate an increase of more people attending face to face Hearings and we will continue to ensure rigorous cleaning and health and safety measures in all our Hearing Centres. With the move to 1 metre distancing, this means that our Hearing rooms may be able to accommodate more people. However, for the time being, we remain committed to ensuring essential participants only attend face to face Hearings.

We intend to review this position again by the end of September to ensure that we are aligned with the most up to date advice and guidance.

If you have any questions before your Hearing, you can contact your Reporter. Phone number and email addresses are available in the Contact Us section of our website.

If you are due to participate in a Virtual Hearing and want to do a test beforehand. Please contact our Virtual Hearings Team.