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-31447

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide permanent local COVID-19 testing facilities in the Dumbarton constituency.

We deploy mobile test units to sites in agreement with local and regional resilience partnerships who work closely with local public health teams and local authorities to identify locations either where there is specific need for testing to manage outbreaks and clusters or to widen community access to testing.

In terms of access for Dumbarton residents we have a Mobile Test Unit in Port Glasgow, the regional test site in Glasgow Airport and a mobile unit which regularly visits Helensburgh. However, we continue to keep locations under review.

Question reference: S5W-31137

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-30898 by Jeane Freeman on 6 August 2020, whether the distance noted from Dumbarton to Port Glasgow is actually 16 miles by road and not 5.5 miles as indicated, which appears to be the distance measured in a straight line.

Question reference: S5W-31274

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has ever waived legal privilege to release legal advice given to ministers regarding (a) past court proceedings against them, (b) policy or administrative matters and (c) the making of potential decisions.

By virtue of the right to legal professional privilege which attaches to all clients including Governments, the content of any legal advice received by the Scottish Government is confidential.

Successive Scottish and Westminster Governments have not disclosed the source or content of legal advice other than in the most exceptional circumstances.

The Scottish Ministers have authorised disclosure of legal advice in the particular circumstances of a very limited number of cases which each involved a judicial inquiry: the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, the (UK) Infected Blood Inquiry and the Trams Inquiry.

Question reference: S5W-31238

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 1 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all of its current special advisers, broken down by (a) job title, (b) role and (c) salary scale.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26805 on 19 December 2019. In addition Mairi McAllan, Special Adviser, Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, was employed with effect from 6 January 2020, initially to provide maternity cover. Stewart Maxwell is no longer a Special Adviser. We will shortly publish the annual list of special advisers.

The Special Adviser pay bands, and numbers within each band are:

Pay Band	Pay Range	Number of SpAds in each Band
1	£39,445 - £52,904	1
2	£52,905 - £66,317	7
3	£65,017 - £88,564	5
3 (premium)	£86,965 - £100,942	0
4	£86,965 - £104,462	1

Question reference: S5F-04344

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2020

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that the Test and Protect system is functioning effectively.

Question reference: S5W-31319

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is being provided to schools on social distancing during transfers between classrooms in order to minimise the spread of COVID-19.

The published Guidance on preparing for the start of the new school term in August 2020 contains a section on minimising contact between individuals and groups (paragraphs 40 to 60). This section notes that within specific school settings, risk assessments should consider the ways in which busy corridors, entrances and exits could be avoided, with mitigations that could include one way and/or external circulation routes.

The guidance has been updated to note that face coverings should (unless exemptions apply) be worn by adults and young people in secondary schools when moving about the school in corridors and communal areas, where physical distancing is particularly difficult to maintain.

Question reference: S5W-31300

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure continued uptake of school milk, in light of its reported plan to leave the UK Nursery Milk Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-29524

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has set aside to support hospices during the COVID-19 outbreak, and how much has been allocated so far, also broken down by (a) hospice and (b) date of payment.

On the 29 June, I wrote to Scottish Hospices to confirm that their funding requests related to loss of income during the pandemic during the first financial quarter of 2020 would be met in full, and that £10.1m in total would be provided to Scottish Hospices for this purpose. Integration Authorities and NHS Boards were also notified of this on the same date, and the funding was processed for onward allocation to hospices at the end of quarter 1 (June 2020). The funding that has been provided to each hospice as per their request has been broken down in the following table.

It is important to reflect that this funding was provided on a one off basis to account for loss of income during the pandemic, and that we expect the existing commissioning arrangements between hospices and Integration Authorities to be maintained going forward.

When we have clarification on the total consequential funding we will receive this will be allocated in full to Scottish Hospices.

Hospice	Amount
Accord	£396k
Ardgowan	£396k
Ayrshire	£792k
Bethesda	£99k
CHAS	£1287k
Highland	£792k
Kilbryde	£320k
Marie Curie	£1,584k
P&PW	£1,089k
St Andrew's	£891k
St Columba's	£792k
St Margaret	£396k
St Vincent's	£297k
Strathcarron	£990k
Total	£10.1m

Question reference: S5W-31299

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish information regarding the milk and healthy snack scheme that is planned to coincide with the expansion of funded early learning and childcare.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Scottish Ministers have postponed the introduction of the new milk and healthy snack scheme. Discussions with key stakeholders paused as public sector resource has been focussed on the Covid-19 response. Discussions with CoSLA and our wider stakeholders are expected to resume soon and we will publish information about the new scheme when a new timescale has been confirmed.

Question reference: S5W-31233

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-3085, S5W-30852 and S5W-30853 by Kate Forbes on 10 August 2020, whether it considers the Water Industry Commission for Scotland's policy on the (a) use of economy, business and first class air travel and (b) air travel loyalty schemes is consistent with the published guidance.