Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-09168

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a minimum training standard for staff in stroke units.

Question reference: S6W-08731

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains (a) departing and (b) arriving at Newton (Lanark) Station were cancelled in the week beginning 16 May 2022.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Newton station:-

	Total cancellations (planned + unplanned)				Number of trains planned (booked + planned cancellations)			% of train cancellations
	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *		Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *		Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *
Newton	19	16		68	228	228	908		8.3%	7.0%	7.5%

* Some trains calling at Newton do not commence or terminate at the station

Question reference: S6W-09118

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide its official estimate of the current number of unpaid carers of people with dementia.

It is not possible to accurately estimate, from nationally held data, the current number of unpaid carers of people with dementia.

Data collected by Public Health Scotland (PHS) through their social care data collection provides some information on people receiving social care support who have dementia. However, while data on whether the person receives help from an unpaid carer is requested, this was recorded as ‘Unknown’ or was left blank for 48% of records in 2020-21. As such, it was not possible to accurately estimate the number of unpaid carers of people with dementia from this data.

Question reference: S6W-08984

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the current delay is in the construction of accessible social housing, and approximately how long it will take to be back on track with the accessible housing targets set out in its strategy, Housing to 2040.

We are aware of the global issues affecting construction which are impacting the pace of affordable housing delivery and we are working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate this where possible. Given these are global issues, largely outwith our control, it is impossible to quantify the extent of any current delays and when we may return to a more normal pace of delivery.

Despite these challenges and those caused by the global pandemic including necessary lockdowns, we are continuing to deliver affordable homes across Scotland, including accessible homes for social rent. Official statistics recently published show that we have now reached the previous 50,000 affordable homes target and have started on our ambitious plans to deliver a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, having already delivered 1,119 affordable homes towards this.

Question reference: S6W-08730

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains (a) departing and (b) arriving at Rutherglen Station were cancelled in the week beginning 16 May 2022.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Rutherglen station:-

	Total cancellations (planned + unplanned)				Number of trains planned (booked + planned cancellations)			% of train cancellations
	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *		Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *
Rutherglen				91			1,341			6.8%

* trains call at Rutherglen but do not commence or terminate at the station

Question reference: S6W-08729

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains (a) departing and (b) arriving at Glasgow Queen Street Station were cancelled in the week beginning 16 May 2022.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Glasgow Queen Street station:-

	Total cancellations (planned + unplanned)			Number of trains planned (booked + planned cancellations)			% of train cancellations
	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *
Glasgow Queen St High Level	201	187		1162	1159		17.3%	16.1%
Glasgow Queen St Low Level			190			1,390			13.7%

* trains call at Glasgow Queen St Low Level but do not commence or terminate at the station

Question reference: S6W-08861

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out its plans for Severe Disability Payment.

Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) will continue to be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government, which Parliament were informed of in February 2019. Consultation and survey responses indicated that replacing Severe Disablement Allowance, which has been closed to new applicants since 2001, would cause unnecessary disruption to the approximately 1300 clients in Scotland who continue to receive it.

Question reference: S6W-08728

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains (a) departing and (b) arriving at Glasgow Central Station were cancelled in the week beginning 16 May 2022.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for ScotRail service cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Glasgow Central station:-

	Total cancellations (planned + unplanned)			Number of trains planned (booked + planned cancellations)			% of train cancellations
	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *	Departing	Arriving	Pass Through *
Glasgow Central High Level	219	241		2,516	2,528		8.7%	9.5%
Glasgow Central Low Level			87			1,343			6.5%

* trains call at Glasgow Central Low Level but do not commence or terminate at the station

Question reference: S6W-09060

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what preparation and research it has carried out regarding the proportion of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Scotland who cannot speak English, in order to ensure that they can access ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and other language support and learning services.

Upon arrival of Ukrainian Displaced People at Welcome Hubs, communication needs are assessed to ensure that information is provided in a format that meets their needs. This may include easy to read documents in community languages and interpretation services for those who experience language barriers.

ESOL provision is offered by a range of providers including Community Learning and Development services through local authority partnerships, colleges, schools, voluntary organisations, universities and private language providers. Scottish Government ESOL funding is currently provided through colleges as part of the grant allocated to the Scottish Funding Council. Colleges are instructed to work with Community Planning Partnerships to determine the level of need for provision and agree with partners how this need can be met.

Question reference: S6O-01273

Current Status: Withdrawn

Chamber and committees