Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-32882

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to provide internet access to pupils who need to learn from home due to COVID-19 but who do not have a home broadband connection.

The Scottish Government is investing £25m to support digital inclusion amongst school-aged learners across Scotland. This includes the provision of internet connectivity solutions, which are primarily being delivered through mobile broadband MiFi Units and associated data packages for learners who do not have adequate internet access at home. Decisions on the number of MiFi devices and data packages required are being taken by individual councils.

Question reference: S5W-32879

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to expand home learning provision for pupils who cannot attend school due to COVID-19.

Responsibility for arranging learning for children who have to self-isolate or quarantine rests with the child’s school and the relevant local authority.

To enhance the options available to schools, Scottish Government and Education Scotland are working with the Association of Directors of Education to deliver the e-learning national partnership initiative, which seeks to widen access to live lessons, recorded lessons and digital learning and teaching resources. Further detail is available at: https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/news-and-events/new-partnership-offer-to-improve-availability-of-online-learning-across-scotland/ .

Education Scotland's new Scotland Learns mini site provides additional learning at home activities and ideas to complement any online learning and offline learning provided by the school. Further information is available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/scotland-learns/ .

In order to improve access to devices to support home learning, funding allocations for devices and connectivity have been made to all 32 local authorities, helping to provide 70,000 devices and 18,000 connectivity solutions to disadvantaged children and young people across Scotland.

Further advice and support to parents is provided via the Parent Club website, which now has a number of dedicated pages on how to support children’s learning during Covid-19.

Question reference: S5W-32881

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure equality of access to home learning across the country.

The Scottish Government is investing £25m to support digital inclusion amongst disadvantaged children and young people across Scotland so that they can stay connected to their learning, their teachers and their peers if they are unable to physically attend school. It is expected that up to 70,000 individuals will benefit from this investment.

In addition, we fund provision of the national online learning environment, Glow. Glow is comprised of a range of online tools and services such as Microsoft Office 365, Google G-Suite for Education and Wordpress Blogs and is freely available to all learners and teachers in Scotland.

Access to technology and online services is crucial but it is also of vital importance that relevant learning opportunities are available. Schools and practitioners know their learners best and are responsible for arranging learning including through the use of technology. Education Scotland, e-Sgoil, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, the Scottish Government and Regional Improvement Collaboratives are working in partnership to increase the support available nationally for e-learning. This National e-Learning Offer will complement the online learning already being successfully delivered by schools and teachers across Scotland and will comprise live, recorded and supported content.

Question reference: S5W-32454

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2020
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jeane Freeman on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what role it considers COVID-19 testing can play in the resumption of care home visiting.

Question reference: S5W-32964

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been made for a Self-Isolation Support Grant since the scheme's launch; how many of these have been successful, and what the average length of time has been between application and receipt of a grant.

Question reference: S5O-04745

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the rural economy of wildlife crime linked to grouse moor management.

Question reference: S5W-32525

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to respond to demand for child and adolescent mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) continue to support children and young people in need of specialist mental health support, although there have been adjustments in how that is delivered to accommodate coronavirus restrictions. Throughout the pandemic, CAMHS staff have embraced the use of Video Appointments (Near Me) and are one of the largest health service users of Near Me in Scotland. Near Me allows CAMHS to continue providing services for the most vulnerable children, young people and families, while reducing the need for travel and the risks of infection.

We fully appreciate the additional pressures, as well as the operational difficulties caused by Covid-19 and lockdown. That is why our recently published Transition and Recovery Plan, ‘Mental Health - Scotland's Transition and Recovery’, sets out a number of actions to progress improvement on access to CAMHS, including the implementation of our CAMHS Service Specification and the restarting of our improvement programme of work.

A key part of our approach is to ensure support is available that goes wider than NHS services. That is why we have already allocated £2 million to local authorities towards the development of Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Services and Support for 5-24 year olds, their families and carers; with further funding to come in the current financial year and beyond. Local partnerships are aiming to have the first community services in place from January 2021 onwards, with support available across all 32 local authorities in 2021.

We continue to prioritise support for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing in schools and education through actions such as the Mental Health in Schools Working Group which is developing and delivering new mental health training and learning resources, and the counselling in schools commitment.

In addition, Educational Psychologists who work in Local Authorities are providing support, guidance and resources through authority websites, telephone and virtual consultations to support vulnerable children, young people and their families.

Furthermore, we continue to invest in a range of other measures to support children and young people’s mental health. This includes providing enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via Young Scot’s website and social media, and over £1 million to roll out the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme on a national basis to those over the age of 16.

Question reference: S5F-04510

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-32519

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how may staff in each cancer centre have been tested for COVID-19.

Health Boards been routinely testing healthcare workers in key areas (oncology, long stay elderly care and mental health wards where the length of stay is over three months) since 8th July. This includes staff working on Specialist Cancer Wards and Treatment Areas.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Health Boards to develop key data on the testing of NHS staff to ensure robust and reliable information. We are working to ensure the data is robust and aim publish this data once this is confirmed.

Question reference: S5W-32520

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of staff in each cancer centre are tested weekly for COVID-19, and when this testing began.

Health Boards been routinely testing healthcare workers in key areas (oncology, long stay elderly care and mental health wards where the length of stay is over three months) since 8th July. This includes staff working on Specialist Cancer Wards and Treatment Areas.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Health Boards to develop key data on the testing of NHS staff to ensure robust and reliable information. We are working to ensure this data can be published.

Chamber and committees