Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-04507

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-32358

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether physical distancing is possible in all schools that are operating at full capacity.

Implementation of the agreed school reopening guidance is the responsibility of local authorities and schools, working closely with their school communities.

As a precautionary approach, our guidance recommends that distancing is maintained where possible between young people in secondary schools, provided that does not introduce capacity constraints and prevent attendance. This is a proportionate, risk-based approach, that goes further than the current scientific advice on school reopening requires.

We also required risk assessments to be carried out in individual schools in relation to the guidance. We would expect those assessments to consider capacity issues within individual schools, and any impact on the ability of adults and young people to maintain physical distancing.

Question reference: S5W-32354

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some teachers and school staff who were previously shielding are reportedly being permitted to work outside of a classroom environment in some local authorities while in others they are being required to work in the classroom.

The guidance which was prepared to support the return to school, includes advice for those who are considered to be clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding). In line with the position on shielding, the guidance indicates that those who were formerly shielding can return to work in schools, and that an individualised risk assessment should be undertaken. The guidance on special considerations for certain groups is available from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020-version-3/pages/3/

The decisions on where teachers and school staff who have previously been shielding are deployed are for individual schools and local authorities, in line with their responsibilities as employers, following individualised risk assessment.

Question reference: S5W-32355

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether teachers who were previously shielding should be working in classrooms in (a) Glasgow and (b) Scotland, in light of Glasgow City Council's Executive Director of Education writing to schools to highlight an “extraordinary number of cases where teachers have tested positive for COVID-19”.

The guidance which was prepared to support the return to school, includes advice for those who are considered to be clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding). In line with the position on shielding, the guidance indicates that those who were formerly shielding can return to work in schools, and that an individualised risk assessment should be undertaken. The guidance on special considerations for certain groups is available from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020-version-3/pages/3/

As the guidance outlines, risk assessments should consider measures that can be taken to lower the risk of transmission amongst staff and pupils in all parts of the school.

The decisions on where teachers and school staff who have previously been shielding are deployed are for individual schools and local authorities, in line with their responsibilities as employers, following individualised risk assessment.

Question reference: S5W-32356

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the guidance for schools that currently states that teachers who were previously shielding should attend work in the classroom.

The guidance which was prepared to support the return to school, includes advice for those who are considered to be clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable (shielding). In line with the position on shielding, the guidance indicates that those who were formerly shielding can return to work in schools, and that an individualised risk assessment should be undertaken. The guidance on special considerations for certain groups is available from https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020-version-3/pages/3/

The position in relation to shielding currently remains the same, as set out at https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-shielding/ .

The guidance for schools will be updated in due course, to include references to the shielding guidance above, including the steps which those formerly shielding can take to receive shielding updates, and information on the current levels of infection in Scotland.

Question reference: S5F-04450

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 October 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-31911

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 5 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the provisions in the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020, whether students who are seeking to cancel their student accommodation contracts prematurely are required to provide their accommodation provider with documentation that proves that their course has fully moved online before they can expect to be released from their contract.

The Coronavirus (Scotland)(No.2) Act 2020 introduced notice to leave periods for students residing in halls of residence and Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA). The Act states that a tenant may, for a reason relating to coronavirus, bring to an end a student residential tenancy. The Act does not state that a student is required to provide accommodation providers with documentation proving that their course has moved fully online.

Question reference: S5F-04401

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-31647

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on discussions with the licensed trade sector regarding the development of more nuanced guidance for music in restaurants and hospitality settings.

Question reference: S5W-31649

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is no scope for applicants to the Advance Payments Scheme, for people who experienced abuse in care in Scotland before December 2004, to appeal their eligibility based on personal circumstances if they are under 68 years old or do not have a terminal illness.

The purpose of the Advance Payment scheme is to provide acknowledgment and redress for those who may not live long enough to apply to the statutory redress scheme. For this reason the eligibility criteria is limited to those who are 68 or over or who have a terminal illness. We understand that this means that some survivors are prioritised over others. However we believe this is the right thing to do rather than have no redress payments made ahead of the introduction of the statutory scheme, which is the case in other countries. The Government’s proposals for a statutory redress scheme do not base eligibility on either age or health status, and if the Bill is approved will permit wider applications.

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