Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-02010

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 28 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken and work has been carried out to ensure that business conducted by its ministers does not involve the use of any (a) personal email accounts and (b) informal means of communication.

Government Business is conducted on the Scottish Government’s internal IT system, "SCOTS," which is available to all Ministers and staff. It runs on a secure network and, using an approved SCOTS laptop or tablet, is accessible from all Scottish Government offices, including London and Brussels, as well as remotely via most home broadband connections (subject to location).

The IT equipment provided in the Scottish Government has been specifically designed to support the secure drafting, sending and storing of digital information classified at OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE level.

Question reference: S6W-02784

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what practical advice it has provided for the public on the installation of interlinked fire alarms, and whether it will provide an update on how people will be helped financially to install them.

To raise awareness of the new Fire and Smoke Alarm regulations coming into force in February 2022, the Scottish Government’s extensive marketing campaign began on 19 August with a TV advert supported by ongoing radio and digital coverage.

Information leaflets are also available in libraries throughout the country. The leaflet provides information about the types of alarms such as battery operated and mains wired which can be used and the necessary kite marks they must carry in order to meet the legislation requirements. A factsheet is also available on the Scottish Government website - https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/ . Our information leaflets - it explains that mains wired alarms should be installed by a qualified electrician and that battery operated alarms can be installed by the homeowner.

Home owners are responsible for the costs of on-going work needed to protect and preserve their own property, which includes the costs for the fire alarms to meet the new standard. We have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled homeowners on low incomes. We have also provided £1 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to provide alarms for owners who are considered most vulnerable to the risk of fire. Local authorities also have broad discretionary powers to provide advice and support to owners.

Following the marketing campaign, and as the fitting of the new alarms in people’s homes progresses ahead of the standard coming into force, the Scottish Government will be able to provide an update on assistance provided to homeowners.

The Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that as many people as possible know about the new fire and smoke alarm regulations ahead of the February 2022 implementation date.

Question reference: S6W-02813

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to improve (a) confidence in medicinal cannabinoids among clinicians prescribing treatments for chronic pain and (b) the availability and affordability of medicinal cannabis in Scotland.

The vast majority of medicinal cannabis products remain unlicensed with a limited, or non-existent, peer-reviewed clinical evidence base. Under the current rules, only specialist doctors on the General Medical Council’s specialist register can prescribe cannabis-based products where there is clear published evidence of benefit. We are encouraging companies to participate in clinical trials so that these products can be tested for quality, safety and efficacy and brought forward for approval through the medicine regulatory and health technology assessments processes. This will enable these products to be readily available through the NHS – provided they met the clinical safety requirements for licencing and the clinical and cost effectiveness approval for routine use in the NHS.

Question reference: S6W-02767

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to people who received their first COVID-19 vaccination in England and who are waiting to have their second dose in Scotland.

Scottish citizens, who have had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine out with Scotland, and 8 or more weeks have past, will be able to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in any of our available vaccination centres.

We have made the vaccine as accessible as possible such as having drop in clinics are available throughout mainland Scotland and also the option to phone the national COVID-19 Vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013.

Question reference: S6O-00145

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the finance secretary plans to allocate the Barnett consequentials arising from the UK Government's recent announcement of additional funding for NHS England.

Question reference: S6W-02011

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it has made regarding its policy and practice for note-taking during its meetings to ensure that all details are recorded.

The Civil Service Code of Conduct (Scottish Government & Agencies 2010) clarifies that civil servants are responsible for keeping accurate official records relating to decisions and key conversations. These responsibilities are discharged through the relevant business unit, with chairpersons and secretariats having responsibility for capturing key decisions or actions in the minutes of meetings and ensuring these are saved as part of the corporate record.

Question reference: S6W-00255

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 23 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the names of each Special Adviser, also broken down by their (a) responsibility and (b) pay band, and what the total cost of employing special advisers is expected to be (i) in 2021-22 and (ii) over the course of the parliamentary session.

Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers.

Their specific responsibilities are as follows:

Name

Role

Colin McAllister

Chief of Staff to the First Minister

First Minister's Strategic Programme in Government including Inter-governmental relations
Co-ordination of the Special Adviser team

Liz Lloyd

Strategic Policy & Political Adviser to the FM

Strategic advice to the First Minister on transformational policies and projects

Stuart Nicolson

Head of Communications

Senior Political Spokesperson for the First Minister
Co-ordination of the Special Adviser Communication Team

Jeanette Campbell
‎

Special Adviser

Social Justice, Housing and Local Government portfolio

Ewan Crawford

Senior Special Adviser:

Constitution and External Affairs portfolio (except Culture)

Leanne Dobson

Special Adviser

Finance & the Economy portfolio
Programme for Government

Jennie Gollan

Special Adviser

Justice portfolio (inc veterans)
Culture portfolio (except Broadcasting)

Kate Higgins
‎

Special Adviser:

Rural Affairs and Islands
Transport portfolio

Davie Hutchison
‎

Special Adviser:

Health and Social Care portfolio
Broadcasting policy
First Minister's Questions

Ross Ingebrigtsen

Deputy Political Spokesperson for the First Minister

Strategic communications planning
First Minister's Questions

David Livey

Special Adviser

Education and Skills portfolio

John MacInnes
‎

Special Adviser:

Political Research
Support for First Minister's Questions and Parliamentary debates
Support to communications and policy Special Advisers

Emily Mackintosh

Special Adviser:

Media communications including communications support for the First Minister

Callum McCaig
‎

Special Adviser:

Covid Recovery portfolio

John McFarlane

Special Adviser:

Net Zero portfolio (except Transport)
Parliamentary Business and Parliamentary Liaison

The Special Adviser Pay Bands and Ranges and the number of Special Advisers within each Pay Band currently in place are:

Pay band	Pay Range (£)	Number of Special Advisers
1	£41,442 – £55,582	1
2	£55,583 – £68,307	8
3	£68,308 – £91,336	4
3 (premium)	£90,565 – £104,542	0
4	£90,565 – £108,062	2

The cost for employing Special Advisers in 2019-20 can be found in the answer to question S5W-36009 on 24 March 2021. The total cost for 2021-22 and for the rest of the Parliamentary term is not yet known.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-00727

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the electricity load that can currently be supplied to the City of Edinburgh; what the estimated load would be if every vehicle registered in the city was electric and had to be charged; what the (a) existing and (b) anticipated sources of such electrical power are, and what the estimated costs are to upgrade the city’s power supply infrastructure to meet the anticipated load required for the future.

We do not hold this information centrally. However, we do have a close collaborative relationship with the owner of the electricity network in the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Power Distribution (SPD).

SPD has developed and published Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES), which consider various decarbonisation routes to achieve Scotland’s Net Zero targets. These incorporate a 100% transition of cars / small commercial vehicles to full Electric Vehicles (EVs), including between 240,000-310,000 in Edinburgh by 2050.

SPD’s DFES anticipates growth in demand from customers on its Edinburgh distribution network to double by 2050, with 40% of this related to growth in EVs, as well as heat demand. Meeting this extra demand will need a combination of traditional network reinforcements but also flexibility from other energy resources (e.g. generators and battery storage).

SPD’s high level estimate is that this will require between £150-400 million investment in its Edinburgh network by 2050. The actual scale of investment will ultimately be driven by the technologies adopted by customers and the ways in which they are used.

SPD is currently preparing a draft business plan for investment across all of its distribution networks. The Scottish Government will continue to work with SPD, as well as with Scotland’s other network owners and Ofgem, to ensure that our energy and climate change commitments and targets are fully reflected in these plans and the investment that they will require.

Question reference: S6W-00843

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the accuracy of PCR testing for COVID-19, and how the error rate informs its Test and Protect level decisions.

Protective measures, and the Levels Approach, are informed using a range of data on epidemiological conditions and health system capacity. Numbers of Covid-19 cases being just one of these considerations. PCR tests are the key diagnostic tool in identifying infected persons. They are highly accurate and represent the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. They work by detecting the Covid-19 virus from a swab sample taken from the nose and or throat. There are a variety of PCR tests used in Scotland, all of which are rigorously tested and are regulated and approved by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The Scottish Government are aware that, as with any medical test, there is a margin of error and that false results can occur. This margin however is very small.

Further information regarding the RT-PCR test can be found in Public Health Scotland’s frequently asked questions document: https://hpspubsrepo.blob.core.windows.net/hps-website/nss/2961/documents/1_covid-19-laboratory-testing-faq.pdf .

Further information regarding how the various protective measures are informed can be found here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) protective measures: indicators and data - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-00463

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost for ministerial travel, including car fleet purchasing and maintenance, is for 2021-22, and how this compares with actual spend on this in each of the last five years.

Estimated costs for the Government Car Service (GCS), including purchasing and maintenance, for 2021-22 and actual spend for each of the last 5 years, are provided in the following table.

Year	Total cost (1)
16-17	£ 1,125,173
17-18	£ 1,248,912
18-19	£ 1,556,863
19-20	£ 1,685,164
20-21	£ 1,369,852
21-22 (2)	£ 1,375,695

1. Costs include fuel, maintenance, private hire, staff, travel and subsistence and vehicle procurement.

2. Estimated costs – budgets not formally agreed.

Chamber and committees