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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 270 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5O-04561

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in meeting its climate change targets and, to help achieve this, what support it has made available to reduce emissions on farms and crofts.

Question reference: S5O-04531

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will fully implement the recommendations of the Cumberlege review regarding children damaged by sodium valproate and, if so, what the timescale will be.

Question reference: S5O-04498

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the justice secretary has received a response from the UK Government to his calls for an urgent four nation ministerial meeting on fisheries and maritime security.

Question reference: S5O-04472

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to tackle climate change.

Question reference: S5W-30455

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2020
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will further support performing arts venues in Scotland that have been seriously affected by COVID-19.

The Scottish Government today is announcing a new £10m fund to support not-for-profit venues in the performing arts sector who are experiencing significant difficulties from the impact of Covid-19. The fund adds to measures introduced for the culture sector and creative industries who were amongst those affected by closures in the very early stages of the pandemic. The £10 million will be aimed at organisations that cannot yet open because of physical distancing restrictions, but whose return to creative production is key to Scotland’s vibrant arts scene. Creative Scotland will manage the Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund and will be publishing further details shortly.

Question reference: S5W-28611

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether an asymptomatic care worker who has not been tested can make an accurate assessment that they are not carrying COVID-19.

Question reference: S5O-04450

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations in South Scotland have received support from the Third Sector Resilience Fund.

Question reference: S5O-04418

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to evidence submitted to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee stating that over 320 financial services firms have taken steps to relocate to Europe before the end of the Brexit transition period.

Question reference: S5W-28615

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly not instructed care workers who come within two metres of a vulnerable person to wear a protective mask in every instance, given that the rest of the population are obliged to stay two metres apart from each other in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our national expert body, Health Protection Scotland, jointly with the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health Wales, Public Health Agency Northern Ireland, Public Health England and NHS England published updated PPE guidance in relation to COVID-19 on Thursday 2 April. The revised guidance is available at https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/covid-19/

The guidance outlines what type of PPE frontline health and social care workers should be wearing in different settings and scenarios. The guidance itself recommends the safest level of PPE to protect health and social care workers and it specifies the type of PPE that should be worn in the various healthcare and social care settings where patients or residents could be cared for. Importantly, the updates reflect the fact that COVID-19 is now widespread in the community, meaning clinicians and care workers are more likely to see people with the virus, some of who will not have symptoms yet.

The guidance makes very clear (in table 2) that care workers who are providing direct care to, or visit, any individuals in the extremely vulnerable group or where a member of the household is within the extremely vulnerable group undergoing shielding should wear a face mask.

Given the recognised sustained transmission of COVID-19, table 4 of the guidance also includes detailed advice around risk assessing use of PPE, including aprons, gowns, Fluid-Resistant Surgical Masks and eye protection, in a range of different clinical and care scenarios, including community settings where the person being cared for is not currently a possible nor confirmed cases of COVID-19. The guidance also asks that organisations themselves undertake risk assessments to ensure that they provide the correct PPE for the safety of their staff.

Furthermore, I also published a joint statement on 9 April with COSLA and the Trades Unions which emphasised that social care workers can wear a Fluid-Resistant face mask along with other appropriate PPE where the person they are visiting or otherwise attending to is neither confirmed nor suspected of having COVID-19, if they consider doing so necessary to their own and the individual's safety.

Question reference: S5W-28618

Asked by: Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether a vulnerable cared-for person, or their guardian if they do not have capacity, has a right to demand that the person caring for them wears a protective mask in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.