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-31802

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make additional financial assistance available to newly self-employed people who did not qualify for the furlough or Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.

We recognised that there are gaps in the business support schemes provided by the UK Government and for that reason introduced the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund on 30 April. The intention of this scheme was to provide a limited amount of support to people who became self-employed on or after 6 April 2019 and were unable to access other forms of business support or working age benefits. The NSEHF has subsequently closed and at present there are no plans to re-open it. We are providing other targeted business supports including funding and the latest information is published at findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

Question reference: S5W-31812

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make additional financial assistance available to self-employed people who remain unable to work due to COVID-19 restrictions and are no longer eligible for support through the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.

The Self Employed Income Support Scheme is a UK Government scheme and applications for the second and final grant are now open. Eligible businesses that have been adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020 can make a claim for the second grant on or before 19 October 2020. Although we welcome the UK Government’s SEISS because it will provide much needed support for many self-employed people in Scotland, we recognise that some self-employed people will fall outside of the eligibility of the scheme. We have called on the UK Government to extend the scheme to end the uncertainty for self-employed people and ensure that they are not left behind in the ongoing response to this crisis. The continuation of the scheme will be crucial for self-employed people to comply with the self-isolation requirements of Test and Protect. The Scottish Government has already and will continue to provide a range of targeted funding supports which can be found at findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

Question reference: S5W-31770

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how people who are unable to download the software necessary to use the Test and Protect App, or do not have a smartphone, will be able to access it.

Question reference: S5W-31559

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider removing the reference to events described as a "lumiere/lighted walk" in its COVID-19 events sector guidance in order to allow organisers of such events to risk-assess capacity and potentially allow more than 200 attendees at any one time.

Question reference: S5O-04610

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional measures it is considering to support pupils and teachers who were shielding before the return to school.

Question reference: S5W-31680

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce the mandatory wearing of face coverings in hospitality venues.

Question reference: S5W-31546

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the United Arab Emirates will be added to the list of countries where people do not need to quarantine when returning to Scotland.

From the outset, we have adopted a public health focused approach to the border health measures. The data and evidence we receive to inform our decisions on these measures comes from the Public Health England and the Joint Biomedical Centre (JBC) via the UK Government. As this data is owned by the UK Government, we are not able to publish the analysis on specific countries and why countries are or are not on the exemptions list. I have written to the UK Government asking them to make the data publicly available.

We are continuously keeping countries under review and where there is clear evidence that it is safe to do so, we will add further countries to the exemption list. Likewise, if the evidence suggests an exempt country may provide increased risk, we will not hesitate to reinstate quarantine arrangements.

Question reference: S5W-31553

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 15 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when mobile nail technicians will be allowed to recommence their services to homes.

We recognise that this is a difficult time for mobile therapists, including nail and beauty technicians.

However, our primary driver is safeguarding public health and wellbeing and preventing transmission of the virus. We are currently developing guidance in partnership with sectoral trade bodies and health specialists to support mobile close contact services to return to work.

While we are not yet able to provide a date for when these services will be permitted to resume, we will aim to do so as soon as is it safe to do so. In the meantime, therapists who operate from a fixed premises – including the practitioner’s own home – are currently permitted to do so provided they follow the relevant guidance.

Question reference: S5W-31582

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether quarantine restrictions for people returning from countries such as Greece also apply to people arriving in Scotland from these countries via another airport in the UK.

The regulations apply to people who live in Scotland and who are returning from outside Scotland, as well as to people visiting Scotland, and apply to international travellers to Scotland irrespective of their point of entry into the UK.

Travellers must complete an online passenger locator form before travelling, and provide contact details, travel details and the address of their final destination. This information will be used to contact the individual if they or someone else they have travelled with develops coronavirus symptoms, and to check that they are self-isolating for 14 days after they arrive in Scotland if required to.

There is further guidance on the regulations available here .

Question reference: S5W-31554

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when NHS dental aerosol-generating procedures will be allowed to recommence.

Certain aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) have been permitted in dental surgeries for NHS treatments since 17 August 2020. This development continues to reflect the phased reintroduction of NHS dental services and is supported by the provision of appropriate face-fitted PPE – free of charge – for all NHS treatments.

Staff across the dental sector are working hard to effect the reintroduction of these treatments in surgeries across Scotland and this process is being fully supported by NHS Boards, with work on-going to expedite the rollout of the specialist PPE required to protect against COVID-19 in dental settings.

In considering the relaxation of restrictions on dental care public health and the prevention of viral transmission remains of paramount concern, especially the safety of both patients and practitioners going forward.