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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 205 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-00187

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps will be taken over the current parliamentary session to deliver crofting reform.

Question reference: S6O-00095

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported increase in the attainment gap between pupils from the most and least deprived backgrounds, following the most recent SQA results.

Closing the poverty-related attainment gap, and ensuring every young person has the chance to fulfil their potential, remains central to this Government’s work.

While the 2021 results show a slight change from 2020, the results saw a narrower poverty-related attainment gap compared with 2019, and the number of university acceptances from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland reached a record high for SQA Results Day.

However, our ambition is a long-term one and we know that the challenges presented by the pandemic mean our efforts to deliver equity in education are more vital than ever. That’s why we’re investing a further £1 billion over the course of this Parliament to help to close the poverty related attainment gap and support education recovery.

Question reference: S6W-02520

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the COVID-19 digital vaccine certificate will be (a) be fully developed and (b) made available to the general public, and whether it will be recognised by IATA Travel Pass.

The NHS Scotland COVID Status app is being developed for release to the public by the end of September with vaccination information initially. We are developing our app to meet the EU requirements so we expect this to be compatible with the IATA Travel Pass. We are engaging with international stakeholders and UK Government to ensure the app is compatible with the other countries requirements of entry.

We are making PDF downloads of vaccination status and 2D barcodes (known as QR codes) available for international travel from early September to facilitate international travel.

Question reference: S6W-02144

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will review the fees paid to optometrists and, in light of these last increasing 12 years ago, what its position is on introducing a regular review mechanism.

Question reference: S6W-01923

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what pay increase junior doctors will receive in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-02037

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve water safety education in schools, and whether it will consider making swimming lessons available to all young people as part of the health and wellbeing curriculum.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who have recently lost their lives in water-related incidents.

Ensuring that every child learns to swim is a priority for both Scottish Swimming and the Scottish Government. The National Learn to Swim Framework, which is supported by Scottish Water and delivered by aquatic partners every week, already helps children to become safe, competent, and confident swimmers and these water safety themed lessons are an essential part of the Framework to help educate on water safety.

Within schools, Curriculum for Excellence’s flexible guidelines allow teachers to decide upon the content of lessons that best meets the local needs and circumstances of all children and young people in attendance. However, we are working with stakeholders consider the greater opportunities for children and young people to engage in community swimming lessons.

Question reference: S6W-01336

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to publishing a (a) draft HIV Action Plan and (b) precise and timely consultation timetable before September 2021.

On 1 December 2020 Joe Fitzpatrick, the then Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing commissioned leading HIV experts to deliver a proposal for how Scotland can become one of the first countries to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030.

This proposal will form the basis for a framework to eliminate HIV by 2030, which was a commitment in the 2021 SNP manifesto. It will contain advice on definitions, targets and monitoring outcomes, as well as ways to ensure capacity to report timely data. It will also consider current HIV epidemiology, detection and testing to find undiagnosed HIV. Interventions designed to prevent HIV transmission through differing routes will be reviewed, most notably through sharing of injecting equipment and sexual transmission. As this is a complex subject, the work to develop the proposal will take place over the remainder of 2021 and will be shaped by a wide variety of stakeholders, including clinicians, third sector organisations and people living with HIV.

Question reference: S6W-01040

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will fund the development and delivery of bereavement support specifically for those experiencing homelessness, and those delivering homelessness services.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that high quality, person centred bereavement care and support is available for all those who need it, including people experiencing homelessness. Each person’s experience of bereavement is unique as are their support requirements. That is why we undertake a broad range of work to improve the bereavement care and support available for those who need it, particularly at this difficult time.

Since 2016 the Scottish Government has funded Cruse Scotland and Child Bereavement UK through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund to provide support to individuals and families who have been bereaved, including those who are homeless. This Fund has been extended to end March 2022 to provide greater stability to organisations and we will announce in due course plans for funding the third sector from April 2022.

Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published in October 2020, sets out a number of commitments to support the mental health of people following bereavement and we will continue to engage with providers of bereavement support, and people with lived experience of bereavement.

We will continue to work closely with NHS Boards, Integration Authorities and third sector organisations, including those delivering homelessness services, to continually revisit our work in this area and respond to the needs of individuals and families arising from the pandemic and provide additional support where needed.

Question reference: S6W-01041

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to support the provision of palliative and end of life care training for those delivering homelessness services, in order to identify people who could benefit from a palliative approach much earlier.

We want everyone who would benefit from palliative and end of life care to have access to it, including those who are homeless. As the Marie Curie report makes clear, good end of life care requires collaborative, multi-disciplinary support which is based on the specific needs of the individual and their loved ones. However, we know that people experiencing homelessness are less likely to engage with healthcare services regularly and are more likely to have multiple mental or physical health problems - often with uncertain trajectories. This can make it challenging for care and support services to recognise a palliative care need in a timely manner.

To support better identification of the healthcare needs of homeless people, Public Health Scotland published a learning resource primarily aimed at primary care staff earlier this year. The course aims to raise awareness of the health challenges and barriers that homeless people face and support staff in better identifying the health and care needs of people who are homeless. Although the course has been developed with primary care staff in mind as they act as first healthcare points of contact, it is a foundation level course which is accessible and relevant to all staff working with people who are homeless, particularly those working in frontline homelessness services. This course can be accessed here: https://learning.publichealthscotland.scot/course/view.php?id=553

Over the coming months we will continue to work with key stakeholders to explore what further steps we can take to help ensure that people who are experiencing homelessness can access the palliative care and support that is right for them.

Question reference: S6W-01039

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make a commitment to urgent reform to improve access to and the provision of palliative and end of life care for those experiencing homelessness, in light of Marie Curie and Dr Joy Rafferty’s recent report, Dying in the Cold: Being Homeless at the End of Life, which states that, despite people experiencing homelessness in Scotland having significantly worse health than the general population, higher death rates and more complex needs, they have much poorer access to palliative care services.

We want everyone who would benefit from palliative and end of life care to have access to it, including those who are experiencing homelessness.

We are committed to working with key stakeholders to strengthen partnerships between health, homelessness and frontline services to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness with multiple and complex needs. Over the coming months we will continue to work with stakeholders to explore areas where improvements to palliative and end of life care could be made as well as reflecting on lessons learned during the pandemic.

I would also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01041 on
22 July 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers