- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what overseas offices it plans to establish over the next four years, and what funding has been allocated to the establishment and maintenance of such offices.
Answer
As was announced in the programme for government, this year we will open a Scottish Government office in Copenhagen to increase Scotland’s economic and cultural visibility in the Nordic region. During this parliamentary session, we will also open an office in Warsaw, as part of our continued commitment to enhancing our external reach and voice.
The budget allocation for Copenhagen in 2022-23 is £598,000 this includes salary costings, upkeep, day-today running and hospitality costs. We anticipate that the Warsaw office will be similar in budget to existing Scottish Government overseas offices.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it made the decision to reduce SEPA's budget from £43.4 million to £41.4 million in its draft Budget; what aspects of SEPA's operations it anticipates may not proceed as a result of this reduction; what its position is on whether SEPA will still be able to deliver all operations and services that it is required to following this budget reduction, and what the evidential basis is for its position.
Answer
SEPA’s draft budget allocation for 2022-23 is £41.406 million. This year’s budget settlement represents the best possible outcome against the backdrop of significant pressures on public finances, including a 10% reduction in cash terms compared with 2021-22, in Scottish Government’s capital budget, and the level of resources required to deliver statutory functions and agreed Ministerial environmental priorities across 2022-23. The Scottish Government are in dialogue with SEPA on the specific priorities to be reflected in their 2022-23 Operational Plan ,which is due to be published April 2022. The Plan will include work such as developing regulation for the Deposit Return Scheme and Single Use Plastics. Delivery of Scotland’s River Basin Management Plan will continue to be a core priority as will their Flood Forecasting and Warning Service.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to businesses and the voluntary sector to support key services affected by the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Answer
We know how difficult the pandemic has been for businesses, voluntary organisations and staff in these sectors.
Third sector organisations which operate in hospitality, entertainment, culture and events can apply for support from the £375 million support package to help businesses immediately impacted by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron, if they meet the eligibility criteria. We have provided details on how £262 million of this funding will be allocated and payments have now started.
Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefitted from more than £4.4 billion in support from the Scottish Government. Voluntary organisations could receive support from the Strategic Framework Business Fund which provided £344.8 million to businesses across Scotland, if they met the eligibility criteria.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what specific consultation was carried out with local authorities prior to its announcement that, from 27 December 2021, nightclubs would be closed for three weeks, and on what date any consultation was first carried out.
Answer
Following engagement with sector bodies it was clear that many nightclubs would not be viable with distancing and table service restrictions in place. A decision was therefore taken by Ministers, using a four harms approach, that closure of nightclubs with appropriate support was the most effective option for controlling the virus and for the sector. This decision allowed nightclubs the flexibility to adjust operations and remain operating with relevant restrictions or close and receive extra financial support. Due to the pace of decision-making, it was not possible to engage with Local Authorities prior to the announcement however officials engaged with relevant teams after the announcement.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether independent travel agents will be included in support schemes for those who have seen their businesses disrupted by COVID-19.
Answer
We know this is a difficult time for the independent travel agents and we have had to make tough decisions to target funding to sectors immediately impacted by the updated public health guidance.
Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefitted from more than £4.4bn in support from the Scottish Government. This includes support for travel agents who benefited from sectoral grants of up to £25,000 per premises this year in addition to other support including the Strategic Framework Business Fund grants, Restart Grants, Contingency Fund, Non-Domestic Rates relief and furlough payments for staff.
We recently announced £375m of support for businesses impacted by the necessary public health measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron and have provided details on how £266 million of this will be allocated. Decisions on the allocation of the remaining funds will be confirmed following further consultation with affected sectors on how it can best be targeted.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many inspections of COVID-19 passports have taken place in each local authority area since they were introduced.
Answer
Since the scheme was introduced the total number of scans carried out by the verifier app in Scotland has been 309,168. The large majority of inspections consist of manual or visual checks, which are not included in this figure. It is not possible to break this down by local authority or venue as the Covid Check App does not retain any data. The scheme allows venues to carry out visual or checks using a verifier app. Venues with attendances of 1000 or more people are not required to carry out 100% checks. Our guidance was updated on 17 January to require those settings to check 50% or 1000 attendees whichever is higher.
- Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many schools have been built or refurbished since 2017, or are in the planning stage, in the Stirling local authority area.
Answer
Statistics on the number of schools that have been built or substantially refurbished since 2017 are available in tables 7.1 and 7.2 of the School Estate Statistics Supplementary Data, available here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/school-education-statistics/#schoolestatesstatistics .
Information on schools with confirmed investment plans is included in table 8 of the same publication. In 2021 there was one school in Stirling - Aberfoyle Primary School - with confirmed investment plans. Additionally, Callander Primary School is due to receive funding under phase 2 of the Scottish Government's Learning Estate Investment Programme.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported findings that 95% of cybersecurity issues can be attributed to human error, and what actions it is taking to improve digital literacy skills.
Answer
Cyber security issues can result from, or be exacerbated by, human error and it is increasingly important for everyone to be aware of the cyber risks and to be able to mitigate them.
The Scottish Government works closely with partners such as Education Scotland, Police Scotland, Lead Scotland, YouthLink Scotland and Young Scot to raise awareness of cyber risks and of the measures people can take to protect themselves, their families and their communities.
Cyber resilience and broader digital skills are embedded into the Curriculum for Excellence. In 2017, we refreshed the Technologies curriculum to ensure that young people are learning up-to-date computing, digital and cyber resilience skills from early years onwards.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people aged 19 and under were prescribed the antidepressant, fluoxetine, in 2019-20, and, of those, how many were prescribed other antidepressants, broken down by what these antidepressants were.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of elective surgeries were cancelled in each month since March 2020, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes monthly statistics relating to the number of cancelled planned operations at health board level, a summary of which is available the following link:
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/
The latest statistics published cover the period up to 30 November 2021 and the percentage of planned operations that were cancelled each month from March 2020 onwards can be found within the tab ‘Publication table (%)’ in the table below
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/11000/2022-01-11-cancellations.xlsx
These statistics are sourced from local theatre systems and only includes cancellations that were cancelled the day before, or on the day the patient was due to be treated. PHS does not collect information on cancellations that occur prior to this.
