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: S6F-00713

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

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

Question reference: S6W-05621

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether IVF treatment for unvaccinated women is being deferred due to the risks of contracting COVID-19 during pregnancy, and whether it will lift the age cap for women whose IVF treatment was disrupted due to the pandemic.

The recommendation that fertility treatment for unvaccinated patients be deferred at the current time was made on the grounds of safety. There is robust published evidence of increased risks of morbidity, risk of severe illness and poorer outcomes from COVID-19 for unvaccinated pregnant women and their babies (including preterm birth and stillbirth), increasing virus incidence and uncertainties about the Omicron variant on pregnant women. The lead Clinicians in the NHS Assisted Conception Units in Scotland had also raised their concerns.

All patients currently having treatment temporarily deferred will have the deferral time added back on to their treatment journey to ensure that no patient loses out on treatment. We recognise this is particularly important for women who are approaching the upper end of the age limit for IVF treatment.

With the exception of a short period of time at the beginning of the pandemic when, on the instruction of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA - the UK fertility regulator), fertility treatment was ‘paused’ in all NHS and private facilities across the UK as a precautionary measure, all four NHS Assisted Conception Units in Scotland have remained open throughout the pandemic. All patients on the waiting list while treatment was paused had an additional 6 months added to their treatment journey. This ensured that women close to the upper age limit for NHS IVF treatment were not disadvantaged.

Question reference: S6O-00645

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions over the festive period on theatres and other performance venues.

Question reference: S6W-05189

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of people with cystic fibrosis in Scotland who are currently on the waiting list for a lung transplant, and what steps it will take to improve outcomes for such people.

At the present time there are 20 patients from Scotland who are awaiting a lung transplant. Due to the very small numbers of patients who have an underlying diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis who meet the criteria for listing for transplantation, to prevent inadvertent patient identification the most specific answer that can be given is that this is fewer than five individuals. These patients are being managed jointly by the Scottish Cystic Fibrosis Specialist Centres and the transplant clinical team in Newcastle.

The Scottish Government is committed to working to improve outcomes for people with rare conditions, including cystic fibrosis. We are developing an Scottish Action Plan for Rare Disease based on the four priorities of the UK Rare Disease Framework: faster diagnoses, increased awareness, better care co-ordination, and access to specialist treatments and care.

Question reference: S6W-05358

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on actions it is taking in response to further reports of increasing levels of drink spiking in hospitality venues.

Following the urgent roundtable meeting I chaired on 4 November, I met with partners and representatives from across the sector on 8 December. The key outcomes were a focus on training and prevention, with the Violence Reduction Unit supporting Police Scotland and Night Time Economy Partners to continue to roll out bystander training to raise awareness for staff to help keep people safe.

Police Scotland’s Strategic Gold Command continues to monitor the situation, and are working closely with third sector and partner organisations, looking into further protective and preventative measures to combat drink spiking, including a public awareness campaign focused on bystanders and perpetrators. We want people to report if they see something suspicious and to step in if they think someone may be at risk or see someone behaving suspiciously.

I would encourage anyone who believes they have had their drink spiked or been assaulted in this way to contact Police Scotland on 101 or in an emergency 999.

Question reference: S6W-05097

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to support NHS boards in (a) creating and (b) delivering a care co-ordination service model that would allow (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) community care services to help those living with long COVID.

Question reference: S6W-05094

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the expert group to identify the capacity needs of NHS boards and staff that it committed to establishing in Scotland's Long Covid Service has been created, and, if so, what work it has carried out.

The Scottish Government has commissioned National Services Division (NSD) to undertake a programme of activity to assist in identifying the capacity needs of NHS Boards and staff in delivering safe, effective and person-centred support for people with long COVID.

As part of this activity, a Short Life Working Group on managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 was set up. The Short Life Working Group identified the need to establish a Strategic Network to support the delivery of the policy framework outlined in ‘Scotland’s Long COVID Service’, which includes exploring how a care co-ordination model might be able to enhance the way in which primary, community and secondary care services work together in order to meet the needs of people living with complex needs as a result of long COVID.

The Strategic Network will then support experts, clinicians and lived experience and will have a key role in identifying and ensuring that the £10m long COVID Support Fund is targeted at areas where this additional resource is most needed and can make the biggest impact.

Question reference: S6W-05092

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the £10 million Long COVID Support Fund has been allocated since September 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05100

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress the nine research projects on long COVID, which it committed £2.5 million funding to, have made.

The lead investigators on the 9 projects funded through the long term effects of COVID-19 infection call were notified on 22nd December 2020 that their projects had been successful in obtaining funding.

Provisional funding letters were issued in January 2021, with the start of transfer of funds as per the payment profile dependent on the receipt by the Chief Scientist Office of a Start Certificate issued by the host institution Finance Office.

Start certificates were returned for all 9 projects, with confirmation of start dates for individual projects of between 01-02-21 and 01-05-2021.

Post award monitoring is through 6 and 12 month progress reports. In addition, a final report for each project is to be submitted on completion of the project. These final reports will be made publicly available on the Chief Scientist Office website.

The end dates for the 9 projects are:

COV/LTE/20/04 HUNT

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/06 PELL

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/08 SCULTHORPE

31.03.2023

COV/LTE/20/10 BERRY

31.01.2023

COV/LTE/20/15 SHEIKH

28.02.2023

COV/LTE/20/26 CARSON

31.03.2023

COV/LTE/20/28 LINDSAY

31.01.2023

COV/LTE/20/29 COOPER/DUNCAN

30.04.2023

COV/LTE/20/32 TORRANCE/GRANT

28.02.2023

For reference, details of the 9 above projects are available from the Chief Scientist Office website

Long Covid Call – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

Question reference: S6W-04382

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether someone who is operating a business from their home can legally refuse to allow a customer who is not wearing a face covering to enter their home.