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

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Question reference: S5W-28174

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh will be able to accept patients.

Question reference: S5W-28385

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the advice it received from the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Officer and National Clinical Director that supports its policy not to carry out widespread community testing for COVID-19.

The Scottish Government does not routinely publish advice to Ministers of this kind. The remit, membership and minutes of the Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group, which considers the scientific and technical concepts and processes that are key to understanding the evolving COVID-19 situation and potential impacts in Scotland, can be found at the following link.

https://www.gov.scot/groups/scottish-government-covid-19-advisory-group/

Question reference: S5W-28422

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what targets it has set for testing for COVID-19 each week since 1 February 2020, and how it has performed against each target.

Question reference: S5W-28924

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many times ministers have met representatives of Murray Capital and/or Charlotte Street Partners to discuss the Garden District project, and which ministers attended.

Question reference: S5W-28842

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether non face-to-face communications should be excluded from the Lobbying Register (a) during the COVID-19 outbreak and (b) at any other time, and what action it will take to amend the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 in light of COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-28806

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a public holiday as mark of respect for the people who lost their lives during the COVID-19 crisis, and in recognition of the contribution of workers at this time.

It is important that we acknowledge the role and sacrifice made by key workers and others during the COVID-19 pandemic. The First Minister stresses this in her daily briefings and also notes the personal loss that is experienced by friends and family to those who have tragically lost their lives.

The Scottish Government’s focus is currently on tackling the disease, its impact on our society and how we might safely ease the country’s current lockdown restrictions. In the fullness of time, we will consider what would be an appropriate and meaningful way for the nation to pay its respects.

Question reference: S5W-28801

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will hold a public inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Scottish Government's focus is currently on tackling the disease, its impact on our society and how we might safely ease the country's lockdown restrictions. This will continue to be our priority. It is right that a process of scrutiny should takes place once it is possible to determine the scope and scale of such a process. Scottish Ministers will carefully consider the most appropriate options for doing so in the fullness of time so that lessons can be learned.

Question reference: S5W-28707

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been discharged from hospital to care homes since 1 February 2020, and how many have subsequently died.

Question reference: S5W-28698

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital patients who had been categorised as a delayed discharge case but were subsequently discharged since 1 March 2020 have died each day.

Question reference: S5W-28658

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it was advised by (a) its and (b) the UK advisory group on COVID-19 that there should be a lockdown in response to the outbreak, and whether it will publish the advice that was provided.

Our decision making in the approach to responding to Covid-19 has been and continues to be guided by the latest scientific evidence from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M), which feeds into SAGE.

SAGE advises both COBR and the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) Group which comprises of the CMOs from all four administrations in the UK. Scottish Ministers received further advice from the Scottish CMO and the Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group.

Advice and guidance on moving into lockdown was provided by these groups and all decisions were made following scientific and medical advice.

Published papers from SAGE and the Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group can be found on the UK Government website and the Scottish Government website .