- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the COVID-19 infection rate for people with (a) asthma, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (c) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), (d) bronchiectasis and (e) obstructive sleep apnoea has been in each month since March 2020.
Answer
This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Information on positive COVID-19 cases is published daily by Public Health Scotland, however, this is not currently broken down by pre-existing health condition.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many people with (a) asthma, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (c) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), (d) bronchiectasis and (e) obstructive sleep apnoea have been diagnosed with long COVID in each month since March 2020.
Answer
This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Information on the prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection is collected and reported by the Office for National Statistics, but is not broken down for these specific conditions.
- Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment that, by 2025, all adults who require rehabilitation will be able to access the necessary information and services, what action it is taking to ensure that people affected by aphasia following a stroke can access ongoing support in the community.
Answer
Our overall vision is for everyone with rehabilitation needs to be able to access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms. Work is underway to deliver the Framework for supporting people through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. This puts in place clear principles, priorities and objectives to support planning to meet increasing demand and to provide high quality person-centred rehabilitation in different settings.
In addition, as part of our Programme for Government stroke commitments to develop a programme to improve stroke pathways and services, recommendations are being developed to ensure that all those who experience communication disorders following a stroke are assessed by a speech and language therapist and; are provided with an individualised rehabilitation programme using a range of evidence based interventions.
This will be evaluated as part of the national stroke care audit and services within NHS Health and Social Care Partnerships will be reviewed on an annual basis by the Scottish Government Stroke Improvement Team.
- Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS Recovery Plan will take account of the importance of providing rehabilitation and community support services following a stroke.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people who have had a stroke receive the best possible care as quickly as possible to enable them to live longer, healthier independent lives. As we progress with our NHS Recovery Plan, evidence-based caution is at the forefront of our decision-making. We will continue to work with Health Boards to remobilise the NHS in the safest possible way, including for those in need of rehabilitation following a stroke.
Our overall vision is for everyone with rehabilitation needs to be able to access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms. Work is underway to deliver the Framework for supporting people through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. This puts in place clear principles, priorities and objectives to support planning to meet increasing demand and to provide high quality person-centred rehabilitation in different settings.
Work is also ongoing to deliver our Programme for Government commitments to improve stroke pathways and services. This will include recommendations for a progressive stroke rehabilitation service, both in hospital and in the community.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has established the necessary governance process and a monitoring framework to assess progress towards the vision of its Housing 2040 (H2040) strategy.
Answer
Housing to 2040, Scotland’s first long-term housing strategy, was published in March 2021 following extensive consultation across the country. The Scottish Government is now working with our partners to develop the detailed plans necessary to deliver the vision set out in Housing to 2040. We have committed to setting up a governance process and a monitoring framework so that we and others can assess progress towards the vision and be held accountable. We will establish that process and framework later this year following discussions with key stakeholders .
- Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards it has put in place to ensure that the investment it has made in the (a) research and development and (b) manufacturing in Livingston of Valneva’s inactivated whole virus COVID-19 vaccine, will not be used to fund shareholder pay-outs when the company lists on the New York Stock Exchange.
Answer
The Scottish Government has provided in-kind support to Valneva via Scottish Enterprise. There has been no financial investment made in this facility by the Scottish Government.
The decision for any company to list on the Nasdaq is a commercial decision made by the organisation itself and the company already has a stock exchange, listing on the Paris Bourse (Euronext).
Vaccines Taskforce and BEIS have provided the following commentary that the UK Government has supported Valneva by providing funding for its early clinical trials and has also made a multi-million-pound investment to upgrade and expand Valneva’s Livingston manufacturing facility, as part of its supply agreement for COVID-19 vaccines.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the window for 18- to 29-year-olds to register for a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.
Answer
Self-registration for 18–29 year olds closed on 11 June 2021. The online portal was part of the Scottish Government’s measures to widen the accessibility of vaccine appointments, and was extended for another week, on top of the original three week window. 40% of the young people aged 18-29 who were still to be vaccinated, self-registered on our online portal.
The 18-29 year olds who did not register online, are being scheduled for an appointment on the system this week, and letters are coming out over this week and next. However, to give advanced sight of appointments online, we are launching an appointment checker on NHS Inform to help people view their pending appointments. This will help those people, like students, who may have moved away from their registered GP term time address. This will also help them view their offered appointment earlier and chose to reschedule to fit with their work and life.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reintroduce the pre-action requirements that private landlords must undertake before evicting a tenant with rent arrears in place, before they are made permanent in 2022, as it has committed to in Housing to 2040.
Answer
In response to the pandemic the Scottish Government brought in a number of emergency legislative changes including the pre-action requirements that private landlords must undertake before applying to the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) to evict a tenant on the grounds of rent arrears. We recognise the value of maintaining this additional protection to ensure private landlords work with their tenants to do all they can to sustain the tenancy where rent arrears have arisen. That is why we committed in Housing to 2040 to set out as part of a new Rented Sector Strategy for the establishment of permanent pre-action protocols in the private rented sector, bringing this tenure in line with current social rented sector provisions.
We are taking steps to extend the current emergency provisions, including the pre-action requirements for rent arrears, through the Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill 2021 which was introduced and published on 18 June. The Bill, now scrutinised and passed by this Parliament, once enacted will amend the expiry dates of Parts 1 of the Scottish coronavirus Acts to 31 March 2022, meaning the temporary measures in Part 1 of those Acts will be extended for up to six months. The Bill will also enable the Acts to be extended once more, should this be needed to respond further to the pandemic, subject to Parliament’s approval of the required regulations, to 30 September 2022.
In addition, we will consult on a permanence bill, seeking views on making the pre-action requirements permanent, to prevent any gap until that bill is superseded by any future housing bill. We are consulting on the bill over the summer and the Parliament will then scrutinise it after the summer recess.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the additional costs associated with the remedial works and delayed opening of the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.
Answer
The cost of rectification for the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh project is £16.8 million. This consists of: £10.3 million relating to remedial works at the new facilities; £2.8 million for maintaining existing sites; and £3.7 million project and professional costs relating to ongoing project management and required specialist review.
- Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 June 2021
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the progress of implementation of recommendations from Dame Elish Angiolini’s review of complaints handling, investigations and misconduct in relation to policing in Scotland.
Answer
I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s first thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.
The thematic progress report showcases the significant steps partners have taken to implement Dame Elish Angiolini’s recommendations, as well as highlighting our commitment to consult on legislative proposals in advance of bringing forward primary legislation.
I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for the collaborative working and progress to date. The report features updates from all partners, with tables to record progress against every recommendation grouped under the following themes:
- Rights & ethics
- Jurisdiction & powers
- Governance & accountability
- Transparency & accessibility
- Equality, diversity & inclusion
- Conduct & standards
- Training & HR
- Efficiency & effectiveness
- Audit & review
The report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/ISBN/978-1-80201-073-2