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: S6W-08280

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07335 by Maree Todd on 25 March 2022, which details funding provided to the Scottish Huntington’s Association prior to the lodging of motion S6M-00923, which was supported by 99 MSPs of all parties, what steps it has taken since the lodging of the motion to act on its call to expand specialist Huntington’s disease services in line with rising cases.

Question reference: S6W-08281

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07335 by Maree Todd on 25 March 2022, whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding provided to the Scottish Huntington’s Association in each year since 2012.

The following is a breakdown of the funding provided by the Scottish Government to the Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA), since 2012.

2012 - £103,000

2013 - £93,000

2014 - £88,000

2015 - £138,000

2016 - £133,000

2017 - £133,000

2018 - £145,600

2019 - £50,000

2020 - £40,000

2021 - £15,000

Total Funding - £938,600

This funding largely comprises support for the development of a national care framework for Huntington’s Disease, and organisational core and project funding for the SHA, to support the provision of their specialist services and initiatives for people affected by Huntington’s Disease and their families.

Question reference: S6W-08279

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07335 by Maree Todd on 25 March 2022, what the outcome was of the meeting on 10 November 2021, and what steps have been taken since to "work with NHS, third sector partners and people affected by Huntington’s Disease to drive up standards of care".

The Minister had a positive and constructive meeting with Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) in November to discuss the issues raised within motion S6M-00923. Scottish Government officials will meet with the SHA this month in order to further explore the need for provision and service development across neurological conditions, including Huntington’s Disease.

The pandemic has seen our NHS under the most severe pressure in its 73-year existence. The NHS Recovery Plan sets out plans and ambitions for recovery, backed by more than £1 billion of funding. The plan will support increased inpatient and outpatient activity, including an aim to increase outpatients capacity by 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

In March we published a National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care which supports the remobilisation and recovery of health and social care services and sets out priorities for recruitment, training and retention.

The Scottish Government’s National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery have set up a working group to improve workforce and care pathways in neurology. This includes development of tools to support statutory providers to make effective workforce decisions. Alistair Haw, Chief Executive Officer at the SHA is a member of this group, representing the Neurological Alliance of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-08290

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to provide access for patients with long COVID to laboratory-based long COVID studies.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) supports research grant schemes providing funding opportunities for applied research projects across the range of NHS, health and care challenges in Scotland. These are open to applications for research projects on long-COVID involving long-COVID patients that could include laboratory-based analyses. Applications to these schemes undergo independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees. CSO funded NHS Research Scotland infrastructure also provides support for research in this area including to recruit patients to the UK-wide Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study to understand and improve long-term health outcomes for patients who have been in hospital with COVID-19.

Question reference: S6F-01083

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 09 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-08170

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to accelerate the wider roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment in light of the reported cost of living crisis.

The Scottish Child Payment is one of seven benefits that the Scottish Government has introduced which are not available elsewhere in the UK. We are committed to extending Scottish Child Payment to children under 16 and increasing to £25 per week, per child by the end of this calendar year.

To make payments it is essential we have data on qualification for reserved benefits that establish eligibility, which we will not have until later this year. We are reliant on the UK Government providing us with this data, because we do not have powers or controls over reserved benefit areas. Work is ongoing with the UK Government to ensure the necessary data is in place as quickly as possible, to deliver the extension of our Scottish Child Payment by the end of this calendar year.

We delivered at pace the Scottish Child Payment for under 6s in recognition that 60% of families with children in poverty have a child under 6. We also introduced our innovative Bridging Payments worth £520 across 2022, to support an estimated 144,000 children and young people of school age. This is an investment of more than £76 million.

We are taking a range of actions, within our devolved powers and with our limited resources, to help people facing the current cost of living crisis. Through our cost of living support measures, spend on Scottish social security payments that are not available elsewhere in the UK, and mitigating the UK Government’s bedroom tax, we are set to invest almost £770 million to help households tackle the cost of living pressures this year. This includes £290 million to give 1.85 million (73%) Scottish households £150 of extra support in April and we continue investment in our Fuel Insecurity Fund.

Question reference: S6W-08122

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to ensure that unsuitable landlords in Scotland are not exploiting the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Ensuring the wellbeing and safety of those arriving from Ukraine, who are overwhelmingly women and children is critical. That is why under the super sponsor scheme, and as outlined in the Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities , sponsors and members of their household aged over 16 years are required to apply for an enhanced disclosure when they register for the scheme.

While most offers of accommodation are genuine and well intentioned, there is a clear safeguarding risk posed by the UK private sponsor scheme, which puts people at risk of arriving in the UK and being placed in homes before suitable checks are carried out. I have raised these concerns with the UK Government, and called on them to replicate our super sponsor scheme to prevent vulnerable people being placed in with unsuitable hosts.

Question reference: S6W-08121

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allocate any additional resources to local authorities in order to help them undertake any work they have to do for the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Question reference: S6W-08123

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish a helpline for any Ukrainian refugees in Scotland who may need advice about their accommodation and any difficulties that may arise.

The Scottish Government has provided £1.4 million to the Scottish Refugee Council for the expansion of its Refugee Integration Service including qualified helpline advisers and caseworkers. People arriving from Ukraine will also be able to access help and support on an ongoing basis from local authority resettlement officers, and they will be able to raise accommodation concerns directly to their housing association or local authority provider.

Question reference: S6W-08124

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the average length of time between someone in Scotland registering for the Homes for Ukraine scheme and being paired.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme offers two routes by which displaced people can match with hosts in Scotland. Through the Home Office private sponsor scheme, people match directly with hosts in Scotland and make an application on that basis. The requirement for people to match with a private sponsor before entering the UK undoubtedly delays their progress.

This is why the Scottish Government offered to become a ‘super sponsor’. Through the Scottish super sponsor scheme, people apply to come to Scotland without being required to find a host first. Once people are safely in Scotland, they are accommodated in temporary accommodation before being matched to long term accommodation that has been through appropriate safeguarding and suitability checks.

The length of time these processes take can vary on a case by case basis. The key determinate of time remains the pace at which visas are processed and issued. If the UK Government will not follow the example of the EU and waive the requirement for visas, then they must grant them quickly. We stand ready to welcome people when they arrive in Scotland.