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-31213

Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-29473

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Russell on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish further details on Scotland’s approach to reviewing the COVID-19 restrictions currently in place.

The First Minister has today announced that, as a result of the efforts of the public in sticking with the restrictions of lockdown, sufficient progress has been made in supressing the virus to enable us to move to Phase 1 of COVID-19: Framework for Decision Making – Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis.

The Scottish Government has also reviewed the regulations and guidance which underpin the current lockdown, and have concluded these must remain in place for now, with the exception of those being adjusted through the Phase 1 changes.

We will publish an update to the route map on Friday, showing the move to Phase 1.

Question reference: S5O-04356

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how construction sites could reopen safely in order to allow its Affordable Housing Supply Programme to resume.

Question reference: S5O-04318

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 31 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether GPs, nurses and staff at medical practices are being tested for COVID-19, and also carers making home visits.

Our priorities for testing are directing testing capacity to save lives and protect the vulnerable; ensuring that critical staff can return to work as soon as possible; and monitoring and reporting of the spread and prevalence of the virus in the population and the impact of public health measures.

Guidance has been published for the NHS to support use of the testing capacity in laboratories, in so far as it is not needed for essential care, in order to enable health and social care staff to be back at work when that is safe.

We are expanding this programme to cover critical frontline NHS and social care staff, and workers in other critical areas.

However, the tests we have available are effective at identifying people who have COVID-19, but only when they are symptomatic. They cannot reliably detect infection prior to the onset of symptoms. This is why we are not testing key workers who do not have symptoms.

NHS territorial boards will put in place appropriate local arrangements for testing of NHS and social care staff who are symptomatic.

Question reference: S5O-04283

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on future arrangements for the Erasmus+ programme for Scottish and European students.

Question reference: S5W-27556

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency has received from the CashBack for Communities programme since 2008.

Between 2008 and 2019, the CashBack for Communities Programme has invested £2.1 million in the East Ayrshire area, which includes the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency, delivering over 60,400 activities to support disadvantaged young people.

CashBack projects that have been delivered in the Kilmarnock area include the Scottish Football Association’s School of Football providing social and academic development activities around daily football coaching and Wise Group’s CashBack Wise Academies delivering a structured programme with progression into real employment opportunities.

Phase 5 of the CashBack Programme will run from April 2020 until March 2023 with a budget of £19 million to support projects that look to raise the aspirations of young people from areas of deprivation across all 32 local authorities in Scotland. This will mean that over £110 million has been committed to the programme since 2008.

Question reference: S5O-04175

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether obesity rates in school-age children are reducing and what measures are being considered to make further progress.

Question reference: S5O-04132

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering a policy of granting a right of access for children to their grandparents in cases of family separation.

Question reference: S5O-04096

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the greatest challenges are in Scotland in tackling the climate emergency.

Question reference: S5O-04079

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to ensure that Scotland remains part of the digital economy in Europe post-Brexit.