Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-01071

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected timetable is for the Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education Programme to report.

Question reference: S6W-08079

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent student homelessness, including for care experienced students.

Local authorities are obliged by law to offer the minimum of temporary accommodation, advice and assistance to anyone at risk of homelessness. Anyone who is threatened with or experiencing homelessness should contact their local authority in the first instance.

We already have a national strategy to end homelessness and rough sleeping in Scotland, which was updated in October 2020. Our Ending Homelessness Together action plan, backed by funding of £100 million between 2018-26, demonstrates our commitment to end homelessness in Scotland and we publish an annual report to show the progress being made to tackle these issues.

The Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward a Student Accommodation Strategy for Scotland which, in part, will be informed by a review of Purpose Built Student Accommodation, now underway. We will look to develop and incorporate this alongside and within the Rented Sector Strategy. This will include issues such as supply, affordability and wider planning and regulatory issues.

Question reference: S6T-00671

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is putting in place to ensure that Ukrainian families understand the conditions of its Super Sponsor Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-08126

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the creation of a new hate crime strategy as outlined in its Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan.

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a new hate crime strategy, for publication later this year, to help guide how we successfully tackle hatred and prejudice in Scotland.

On 28 April 2022, I chaired the inaugural meeting of the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group (SPG), comprising a range of third sector organisations and public bodies. The representatives on the SPG each possess specific expertise in tackling hate crime and building community cohesion, and will provide a multi-agency approach to development of a new hate crime strategy for Scotland.

At the meeting, the SPG discussed draft Terms of Reference and I invited members to share their key priorities for tackling hate crime, to help shape development of the new strategy.

In the coming period we will publish relevant information relating to the SPG, including membership and an agreed Terms of Reference.

Question reference: S6W-07895

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government to ensure that Ukrainian refugees seeking to come to Scotland and who apply for a visa through the Ukraine Family Scheme can access up-to-date information about the status of their visa application.

We have repeatedly called for the UK Government to waive all visa requirements but, in the absence of this, what we now need is for the Home Office to give people visas quickly and efficiently.

I have held several meetings with Lord Harrington, Minister for Refugees, on the UK response and how our governments work collaboratively. I recently met with Kevin Foster, Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, and raised my many concerns about the significant administrative issues, complex application processes, and unacceptable delays for individuals who have been forced to flee their homeland.

To alleviate confusion with the process, the UK Government should immediately implement automatic status updating for applications (on all routes) that have been outstanding for more than 5 days and an escalation process for applications that have been outstanding for more than one week.

Question reference: S6W-07896

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government to ensure that the application process for Ukrainian refugees seeking to come to Scotland, and who apply for a visa through the Ukraine Family Scheme, proceeds in a timely manner.

We have repeatedly called for the UK Government to waive all visa requirements but, in the absence of this, what we now need is for the Home Office to grant people visas quickly and efficiently.

I have held several meetings with Lord Harrington, Minister for Refugees, on the UK response and how our governments work collaboratively. I recently met with Kevin Foster, Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, and raised my many concerns about the significant administrative issues, complex application processes, and unacceptable delays for individuals who have been forced to flee their homeland.

Many of these challenges are a direct consequence of the decision to use the immigration and visa system rather than properly fund a humanitarian resettlement scheme. The UK Government must put people, not processes, first.

Question reference: S6W-07682

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential for using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to enforce School Streets.

Using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to monitor and fine moving traffic would require local authorities to have the powers to enforce moving traffic violation. Local authorities currently do not have the powers for such enforcement. This would require a change to primary legislation and to date there has been no significant call for these powers from local authorities in Scotland.

In Scotland, moving traffic violations remain a matter for the Police.

Question reference: S6W-07680

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what financial support it will offer to people who are detrimentally affected by the upcoming increase to the energy price cap.

Through our £290 million Cost of Living support package, we will give 1.85 million (73%) of Scottish households £150 of extra support via the Council Tax. We have also allocated a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which is aimed at those in greatest need.

The Fuel Insecurity Fund is delivered through trusted third sector partner organisations, providing direct support to people at risk of severely self-rationing their energy use, or self-disconnecting entirely, due to the cost of their fuel bills. Assistance can be accessed by households on any tariff type and using any fuel source.

Question reference: S6W-07776

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support women who have long COVID and who are struggling to balance maintaining their employment with existing caring duties.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is determined everyone with long COVID gets the care and support that is most appropriate for them - regardless of their gender. NHS Scotland is already providing support and care across the full range of NHS services, including primary care teams and community-based rehabilitation services with referrals to secondary care where necessary.

We understand many unpaid carers have required extra support balancing work and care during the pandemic and we have made it very clear that employers should use carer’s leave flexibly in these circumstances. We are promoting awareness and flexibility for unpaid carers in the workplace through the Carer Positive initiative.

Flexible working practices are another way to support women in the workplace and is especially important for those with health concerns and those with caring responsibilities– particularly women, to whom the balance of caring still too often falls.

The Scottish Government funded Flexibility Works in 2021-22 with £94,850 to support and promote the development of flexible and family friendly workplaces. We are developing a programme of further support this year which will include offering vital advice and support to business and organisations on the benefits of flexible working practices such as working from home, hybrid and remote working.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government also introduced new criteria in its Fair Work First approach, asking employers who are receiving public sector grants and delivering public contracts to commit to offering flexible and family friendly working practices – helping people to balance work and family life.

We have worked in partnership with NHS 24 to develop a long COVID information resource on NHS Inform, in order to provide people living with long COVID with clear and accessible guidance about self-management. This resource includes specific advice on navigating a return to work.

Question reference: S6O-01003

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland, Network Rail, Winchburgh Developments Limited and West Lothian Council relating to the provision of a railway station at Winchburgh.

Chamber and committees