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: S6W-12409

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-12102 by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2022, whether any Integration Joint Boards (IJB) have not returned any surplus COVID-19 reserves in the current financial year, and, if so, whether it will list (a) each IJB and (b) the reasons for which it has not returned any such surplus.

Question reference: S6W-12408

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-12102 by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2022, how much in surplus COVID-19 reserves it has recouped from Integration Joint Boards to date.

With reference to S6W-12070 on 16 November 2022, we continue to work with IJBs to understand their financial forecasts. Therefore, no COVID-19 reserves have been recouped to date.

Further detail will be communicated later in the financial year at an IJB level and the process and timetable will follow through further communications.

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

Question reference: S6W-12436

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £4.859 million allocated to Childsmile in its 2022-23 budget, which was announced on 9 December 2021, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

Question reference: S6F-01607

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will provide an update on whether it will instruct Scottish Water to freeze water rates for 2023-24 to help with the cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6W-12454

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it considers just over a third of health and social care staff have taken up their COVID-19 winter booster and flu vaccinations to date, and what its position is on whether uptake should be higher.

Our aspiration is for uptake to be as high as possible across all groups, this includes health and social care workers.

Vaccination uptake for Frontline Health & Social Care workers is currently at 40% for Covid-19 vaccines. The uptake for Flu vaccines for all healthcare workers is currently at 49%.

We have been working closely with Health Boards to increase uptake in this group. Specific interventions include drop in clinics for workers, outreach vaccination teams visiting workplaces, tailored local and national communications to encourage uptake. We are also conducting surveys to gather insight on why some people are choosing not to get vaccinated this winter.

Question reference: S6W-12431

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many working groups have been established by NHS Scotland in each of the last five financial years, broken down by the (a) total costs incurred in running these bodies, including expenses and (b) number that have (i) formally completed their work and ceased to exist and (ii) not met in the last six months but still exist.

Question reference: S6W-12455

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received their winter (a) COVID-19 booster and (b) flu vaccination, broken down by age band.

COVID-19 and Flu vaccine uptake data is available from the Public Health Scotland dashboard . As of 23 November 2022 there has been a total of 1,625,091 Adult (18+) flu vaccinations and 1,653,929 COVID-19 vaccinations administered under the 2022 Winter Vaccination Programme. The data on the dashboard is updated every Wednesday and includes the latest headline figures by week and JCVI priority group.

Question reference: S6W-12456

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of people who are housebound are still to receive their winter (i) COVID-19 booster and (ii) flu vaccination, broken down by integration joint board area.

While statistics on vaccination rates among those who are housebound are not published, we continue to see very high uptake across all eligible cohorts in the winter vaccination programme.

Housebound patients are identified through their local GP and have been vaccinated in their homes, with some health boards utilising the Scottish Ambulance Service to support this. For those who weren’t identified via their GP, their appointment letter contained information on how to request a home visit.

Question reference: S6W-12441

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date on National Treatment Centres, broken down by financial year since their creation.

Question reference: S6W-12450

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for Covid Recovery outlined in its 2022-23 budget has now been withdrawn, re-profiled or cut from the budget.

The Covid Recovery Strategy focuses on reducing poverty and inequality and making progress towards three priority outcomes: to enhance the wellbeing of children and young people; to increase the financial security of low income households; and to create good, green jobs and fair work. These outcomes have been agreed with local government and the Scottish Government remains committed to achieving these outcomes together with partners across Scotland.

The financial situation facing the Scottish Government is, by far, the most challenging since devolution; the impacts of the pandemic coupled with Russia’s continued illegal invasion of Ukraine have created a disruptive set of financial and economic challenges that every government must address. The fiscal constraints of devolution mean that the Scottish Government cannot borrow to meet increased costs associated with the current financial situation. This means we have had to make hard choices to prioritise spending which supports those who need it most and find savings. In the context of the ongoing cost crisis, we are prioritising funding to help families, back business and protect the delivery of public services; the recent Programme for Government and Emergency Budget Review provide more detail about the Scottish Government’s approach.

The Emergency Budget Review, published in November 2022, identified savings in excess of £1.1 billion from the 2022-23 budget and confirmed a range of additional support in response to the cost of living crisis, guided by the principles of the Covid Recovery Strategy. This includes: expanding the Scottish Child Payment to eligible 6-15 year olds and increasing its value to £25 per child per week; doubling the Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million in 2022-23; and providing local authorities with additional Discretionary Housing Payment funding to mitigate the UK Government’s benefit cap as fully as possible.

The Scottish Government is committed to making progress towards the shared Covid Recovery Strategy outcomes and will continue to prioritise spending which is targeted to support those in most need across Scotland.