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-36210

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will conduct an investigation into the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on domestic abuse rates.

The Scottish Government has for some time been examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the justice system, including information about incidents of domestic abuse reported to police, and introduced a series of monthly data reports from June 2020. The Scottish Government also published reports in June, September, and November 2020, which explored the impact of COVID-19 on people experiencing domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls. Further research expected in Spring 2022, in relation to the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, will include questions which will offer an opportunity to capture information about the impact of COVID-19 on the experiences of victims and witnesses of court.

Absolutely no one should have to suffer domestic abuse and it is deeply concerning that services have reported an increase in referrals during the pandemic. Police Scotland’s recovery planning has been underway throughout the crisis and responding to domestic abuse has remained a priority during the pandemic. To ensure frontline services can meet demand the Scottish Government has allocated an additional £5.75 million to support organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland. We continue to work with justice partners and victims organisations to fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls.

Question reference: S5W-34853

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the COVID-19 clinical prioritisation framework stating that priority level two surgery should be scheduled within four weeks, whether it will confirm that (a) access to surgery will be maintained for (i) patients who require it to alleviate severe pain and (ii) all patients with priority level two surgery scheduled and (b) where there are capacity issues, alternatives such as the Golden Jubilee National Hospital can be used.

Throughout the pandemic NHS Boards have worked hard to minimise the cancellation of elective surgery and continue to balance all clinical requirements to ensure emergency trauma, urgent patients can be accommodated. This, on occasions, has meant the postponement of surgery, and we apologise to any patients who has been affected in this way.

The national Clinical Prioritisation Framework for Supporting Elective Care across NHS Scotland was published on 16 November 2020. The Framework sets out the principles that NHS Boards should follow when considering decisions on prioritising cases on their elective care waiting lists during the pandemic.

Whilst the need to protect non COVID-19 healthcare activity remains paramount, it will inevitably be affected by the degree to which we can suppress the virus. Consequently, given the differing levels of virus prevalence we are seeing across the country, we need to give our clinicians and NHS Boards flexibility to manage the demands of this continuing emergency situation.

The expectation is that NHS Boards will follow the principles of the Framework to categorise patients based on their particular clinical needs, and will step back non-urgent routine procedures to held enable the Framework to be followed. This will allow NHS Boards to ensure that the patients with the greatest clinical need are treated quickest.

In relation to capacity issues, The NHS Golden Jubilee are continuing to provide support and mutual aid to all the territorial Health Boards throughout the pandemic and winter period. The Board are also working flexibly to support urgent national demands, including surgery.

In addition, the Scottish Government have secured further capacity from the private healthcare sector in Scotland to help support this work. Our strategy for using the private sector is to ensure that there is a green pathway for those patients who require vital planned care. The private sector hospitals will provide support for breast surgery, urology, and gynaecology.

Question reference: S5O-04861

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on which post-Brexit trading arrangements between the UK and EU would be best for Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-33185

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that NHS Scotland doctors are being equipped with "repurposed bin bags" in the place of PPE.

The Scottish Government is aware of reports which alleged that bin liners were being repurposed to make PPE aprons. On the same day that these reports emerged on social media, officials in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) checked and confirmed that these were not bin bags and are in fact PPE. Specifically, these are ‘smock style aprons’ that had unfortunately been mislabelled as white tint polythene bags.

NSS procure a range of aprons that vary in style and design and it may have been the first instance of the practices in question receiving this style of apron. These smock style aprons fully comply with all regulations and have passed rigorous quality assurance.

This is a rare instance of mislabelling and NSS worked with supply partners to remedy the problem as swiftly as possible. Additionally, NSS have said to health boards that if any staff would prefer to have a different style of apron, then a replacement request can be raised through their local board supplies team and an alternative will be provided.

Question reference: S5F-04595

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2020

To ask the First Minister for what reason crimes involving offensive weapons reportedly continue to be on the rise, and what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle this.

Question reference: S5W-33184

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many new jobs have been created in the Hunterston area in each of the last five years as a direct result of its investment and support.

Question reference: S5W-33031

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many new overseas offices it plans to open in the next 10 years, and what the (a) budget and (b) location will be for each.

Our existing network of external offices play a critical role in supporting delivery of Scotland’s international objectives, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our current external network of offices, located in China (Beijing), Germany (Berlin), Belgium (Brussels), France (Paris), Ireland (Dublin), UK (London), the USA (Washington DC) and Canada (Ottawa), have been working hard to attract investment to Scotland and helping Scottish businesses to enhance and expand on their ability to trade internationally.

They also continue to play a vital role in improving Scotland’s international profile, and protecting and enhancing Scotland’s interests in the EU and beyond. With so much uncertainty over what the UK’s future relationship with the European Union will be, this will be absolutely critical for Scotland. In this light, we will communicate any decision to expand or develop the network at the appropriate time.

Question reference: S5O-04753

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement Transport Scotland has had with the UK Government regarding the union connectivity review.

Question reference: S5O-04736

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 11 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to support businesses to adapt to new ways of working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government has allocated over £2.38 billion in support for business during the pandemic. We have also provided additional spending of £900 million to support recovery. This includes a £230 million economic recovery capital stimulus package to boost green recovery, speed up digitisation and support jobs.

We are supporting programmes to help businesses adapt including the Public Transport Mitigation Fund. We are continuing our investment in Scotland’s digital infrastructure, supporting innovative businesses through our Civtech 5.0 programme. We have doubled DigitalBoost funding and we are supporting businesses with skills gaps via the Flexible Workforce Development Fund.

Question reference: S5W-32398

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional funding to NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Council in the event of a need to bail out the Scottish Borders Integration Joint Board.

The Scottish Government has consistently made clear that we will provide the necessary funding across health and care services to recognise the additional costs of responding to COVID-19 and to ensure that patient safety remains the top priority at all times.

On 29 September the Scottish Government confirmed funding of £1.1 billion across NHS Boards and Integration Authorities. This included funding of £11.4 million for NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Integration Joint Board to support pressures arising from the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have also committed to provide additional funding across the sector following further reviews in November and January.

Both NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Integration Joint Board continue to work towards financial balance this year.