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: S5W-31121

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the hospitality sector should invest in temperature screening devices to tackle COVID-19 and support the reopening of businesses.

Guidance for the hospitality sector requires businesses to undertake a risk assessment to determine what measures are required to operate safely and ensure physical distancing is observed along with high standards of cleaning and hygiene. It does not stipulate whether businesses should use temperature screening devices but if risk assessments determine this to be a reasonable measure to reduce risk then that is acceptable.

Question reference: S5W-31122

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance and advice it has issued to the hospitality sector regarding the use of temperature screening measures to tackle the spread of COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-30971

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the paper on lessons for Scotland looking at evidence from schools in Australia, South Korea and Israel that was referred to in the minutes of the COVID-19 advisory sub group on children's issues meeting of 21 July 2020.

Question reference: S5W-31210

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that some schools have withdrawn water fountain access because of concerns regarding COVID-19, what additional resources it is providing to (a) education authorities and (b) the managers of grant-aided schools to support them in meeting their statutory requirement to provide free drinking water on premises at all times.

The provision of free drinking water is a key factor to support children’s health and wellbeing as they return to school. Since 2007, education authorities and managers of grant aided schools have been under a duty to ensure that free drinking water is available to pupils throughout the day. Although water machines are often a common feature in schools, the legislation does not require or expect the use of them, instead it provides the flexibility to offer free drinking water in a way that meets local needs and circumstances. Where one method of delivering water to pupils is no longer appropriate, either due to COVID-19 or other circumstances, we expect schools to adjust accordingly in order to continue to meet this duty whilst taking account of the latest health protection advice.

To support Education Authorities and schools prepare for reopening the Scottish Government published guidance ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on preparing for the start of the new school term in August 2020’. The guidance also provided a reference to guidance produced by ASSIST (local authority catering and facilities management representative body), which provides practical measures that schools can adopt to ensure the health and safety of children, young people and staff, including consideration of the use of hand sanitisers prior to using water machines.

Question reference: S5W-31022

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether consortia travel arrangements, which allow pupils to travel to other schools to sit senior phase qualifications, will be permitted in the 2020-21 term.

Scientific advice published by the Covid-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues stated that dedicated school transport should be treated as an extension of the school estate. While the provision of school transport to enable pupils to travel to other schools as part of senior phase qualification courses may continue, local authorities should consider whether distancing is possible for secondary pupils or those in the senior phase, in circumstances where children attending different schools travel on the same vehicle. Schools and local authorities should carry out relevant risk assessments. Further advice for schools and local authorities is available in - Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance on preparing for the start of the new school term in August 2020 .

Question reference: S5W-30990

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce an active travel commissioner watchdog, similar to that proposed for England.

There are no plans to introduce a similar body in Scotland. Delivery of our key active travel infrastructure investment programme, Places for Everyone, is managed by Sustrans. All bids to the programme are assessed in accordance with published criteria drafted in consultation with local authorities and agreed by Transport Scotland.

New walking and cycling design guidance is being produced by Transport Scotland in collaboration with local authorities and Sustrans and an interim update will be published this year.

Scotland’s first Active Nation Commissioner, Lee Craigie, was appointed in January 2019 for a term of three years. The Commissioner is the national advocate for walking, cycling and wheeling in Scotland. Her role has a dual purpose, challenging local and central Government to deliver world class active travel infrastructure and inspiring us all to use it more it.

Question reference: S5W-30213

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many tests for COVID-19 were carried out by each NHS board in each month between November 2019 and February 2020, also broken down by the number of positive test results.

	Covid-19 Testing by Board (Nov 19-Feb 20)
	Dec	Jan	Feb	Total	Includes positive (Feb)
NHS Ayrshire and Arran			30	30
NHS Borders			27	27
NHS Dumfries and Galloway			26	26
NHS Fife		2	68	70
NHS Forth Valley			69	69
NHS Grampian			90	90
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde			138	138
NHS Highland			36	36
NHS Lanarkshire		1	62	63
NHS Lothian	1	3	186	190
NHS Orkney			7	7
NHS Shetland			0	0
NHS Tayside			80	80	1
NHS Western Isles			2	2
NULL		1	37	38
	1	7	858	866	1

There were no tests conducted in November

Question reference: S5W-31080

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its planned date is for the commencement of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020, and whether it will provide an update on progress towards this following Royal Assent.

The Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020 passed its final Stage in the Scottish Parliament on 23 June 2020, and received Royal Assent on 28 July 2020.

The Scottish Government is currently developing its approach to implementation of the Act. There are a number of tasks to be taken forward as part of this, including:

A package of legislation in the Scottish Parliament
An order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 to make provisions on reserved and cross-border matters
Public-facing guidance
Guidance and training for registrars
IT changes to registration systems

As part of our work on implementation, the Scottish Government is taking into account that some couples have expressed an interest in entering into a mixed sex civil partnership. We are committed to implementing the Act as soon as possible.

However, the public health emergency is ongoing and there are still uncertainties about what the coming months may hold. Accordingly, the Scottish Government does not feel able to provide assurances now about mixed sex civil partnership becoming available on a particular date.

We will publish information about our implementation work on the Scottish Government website as it progresses.

Question reference: S5W-30638

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the education outcomes for looked-after children report for 2018-19.

Question reference: S5O-04460

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what funding the finance secretary will allocate to supporting workers in the longer-term once the furlough scheme ends.