Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6T-00085

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the disturbing events at Euro 2020 with a player experiencing a cardiac arrest on the pitch, whether it will consider subsidising automated external defibrillator purchases for amateur sports grounds.

Question reference: S6T-00075

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent survey, which records that more than 2,000 incidents of racism have been reported in schools over the last three years.

Question reference: S6T-00069

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the allegation made by Jim McColl in The Herald on Sunday that £25 million of public money was wasted on the "forced" nationalisation of Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd.

Question reference: S6W-00457

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve work-related outcomes for referrals to the Fair Start Scotland service, and what its response is to reports that 89.8% of people referred to the service in South Ayrshire did not achieve a 26-week job outcome after their time in the programme.

The percentages quoted have been calculated using statistics published on the number of job outcomes, broken down by local authority area. These do not provide an accurate reflection of performance as they include participants who have not had time to reach outcomes.

Pre-employment support on Fair Start Scotland ordinarily lasts 12 months (it can last up to 18 months), and job outcomes will increase as more participants move through the service into, and sustain work over time. Job outcome rates can only be reported for those cohorts where enough time has passed in pre-employment support (12 months) and also for job outcomes to be achieved (6 months for the figures quoted).

The figures have also been calculated based on the number of referrals to the service. It is worth noting that Fair Start Scotland is completely voluntary, and not everyone who is referred will choose to participate.

As part of our continuous improvement activities and in line with our “test and learn” approach to employability support in Scotland, we continue to work with Providers to improve all aspects of the service.

Our key priority remains ensuring participants receive a quality service in their journey to finding and sustaining fair work, and we continue to work closely with local government, the third sector and other partners to ensure the right employment opportunities are sourced for participants.

Question reference: S6W-00480

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which universities have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism

The Scottish Government, Universities Scotland, College Development Network and Colleges Scotland are clear that there is no place for any form of hatred or prejudice, including antisemitism, in further and higher education.

Universities, as autonomous institutions, are aware of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Many are actively and presently consulting within their diverse communities and stakeholder interests on the definition, with three (University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh and Abertay University) having adopted it to date. Universities UK is working with the Union of Jewish Students to raise awareness and understanding of antisemitism and to share best practice in tackling and eliminating it.

Universities and colleges are also addressing antisemitism through their ongoing engagement with the Scottish Funding Council to address discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race.

The SFC, in response to the recommendations of the EHRC report, Universities Challenged, published in October 2019, has developed resources to support challenging conversations on all aspects of racial discrimination, including antisemitism. These were developed with input of staff and students and were launched on 16 March 2021.

Question reference: S6W-00308

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care providers have access to PPE distribution hubs, and how this will change following its review of eligibility.

The PPE Hubs provide top up and emergency PPE to social care providers across Scotland if their existing supply routes fail. Those eligible to access the Hubs include staff in care homes, care home visitors, care at home providers, unpaid carers, personal assistants, day services, sheltered housing services, supported housing and housing support, children’s homes and hospices across all sectors (public, voluntary and private).

Work is currently being taken forward with Health and Social Care Partnerships and representatives from the adult social care sector to examine whether providers would benefit from expanding the eligibility criteria further and what impact this might have on the broader operation of the Hubs and for PPE support to the sector as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-00192

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff who work in schools have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Currently 63% of teachers have had 1 dose of the vaccine. How reflective of the wider workforce the teacher figures will be will depend on the difference in age profile and underlying health conditions between these populations. Those working in the Early Learning Care sector tend to be younger so their vaccination rates would be expected to be lower at the moment. Statistics were published on 2 June 2021 at https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/

Question reference: S6W-00290

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place for individuals whose circumstances require them to receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination in a different UK nation from where they received their first dose.

Those who change address from any part of the UK after a first vaccination are advised to register with a local General Practitioner (GP) as soon as possible at their new address in order that they become known to their local Health Board. A Community Health Index (CHI) number is generated for new permanent patients. When a clinical record becomes available an appointment will be scheduled and an invitation letter sent out to the patient in line with priority grouping.

Those registered as temporary patients with a GP in Scotland do not have a CHI number generated and records remain within their chosen local practice. In this case we are advise they contact the vaccination helpline on 0800 0308013 (available 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week), indicating in their call that they are from another UK country and are a temporary resident in Scotland. Helpline staff will ask the patient for the necessary information required to allow for Practitioner Service Division (PSD) to create a CHI number and in turn pass their details onto the patient’s local Health Board for an appointment to be scheduled and an invitation letter sent out to the patient.

The Scottish Government is clear that people should be able to be vaccinated where they are currently staying in the UK, even if they are registered with a GP elsewhere. Our understanding is that this reciprocal arrangement is reflected across the four nations. Officials are undertaking work with their four nations counterparts to ensure clear pathways for, and efficient vaccination of, eligible people regardless of their country of GP registration or ordinary residence.

Question reference: S6W-00216

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential benefits of the (a) procurement and (b) deployment of professional high-efficiency particulate air purifiers in enclosed workspaces.

The UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (“SAGE”) Environmental and Modelling Group (“EMG”) published a paper on 4 November 2020 on the “ Potential application of air cleaning devices and personal decontamination to manage transmission of COVID-19 ”, to which NHS National Services Scotland contributed on behalf of the Scottish Government. Work is due to start with the Office of Product Safety and Standards and the SAGE EMG to consider air cleaners further as there is no recognised standard for their efficacy.

Question reference: S6W-00218

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason people in Dumfries and Galloway are being pre-booked by central teams for vaccination appointments that cannot be reached by public transport from their community, and which are an 80-mile round-trip from their homes.

NHS Scotland Health Boards use the delivery model which is most suitable for their local circumstances, whilst maintaining a Covid-19 safe environment.

The NHS Dumfries and Galloway system schedules its own appointments using a booking algorithm, which works as follows:

•First checks for GP practices as a vaccination location;

•Then checks for nearest vaccination centre using estimated time to drive to location ( via google maps ) to find the closest centre, there is no upper limit for travel time;

•Repeats step 2 until it finds a vaccination centre with available appointments.

A person would potentially be asked to travel a large distance if there is no capacity at nearby centres. This is managed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Scottish Government officials were instructed to contact NHS Dumfries and Galloway to ascertain if more local vaccination sites can be opened and if more are needed.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway responded that it is monitoring and addressing this. There is re-booking capacity to reduce the risk of appointing patients to venues that would require significant journey times. And NHS D&G continues to review uptake and "did not attend" rates across the region to determine if it is seeing any localities where there is a need to increase our provision to increase uptake rates.