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-30033

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, what cost allowance the Commission has used for additional cost pressures arising from (a) replacing assets while not interrupting service, (b) replacing assets in more developed areas and (c) new regulations, and whether it will publish details of the calculations and analysis the Commission used to form its view.

Question reference: S5W-30039

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, what the assumptions are for government borrowing in the statistical modelling to 2040-41.

Question reference: S5W-30021

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, how the figure of an additional £50 million per annum for service improvements and growth was calculated and whether it will publish the methodology used.

Question reference: S5W-30023

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, what analysis the Commission undertook to arrive at the figure of up to £150 million that could result from including emissions in appraisals, and whether it will publish any such analysis.

Question reference: S5W-30026

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, whether current water charges are lower than they should be to meet the economic costs of providing the service and, if so, (a) whether ministerial objectives were expressed in such a way as to require that outcome and (b) for what reason the Commission has set charges at this level.

Question reference: S5W-30030

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, whether it will confirm what the aggregate annual cost is of the “prudent”, “reasonable” and achieving “high confidence” assumptions outlined in the paper.

Question reference: S5W-29772

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has undertaken of what impact schools reopening in August 2020 might have on the R rate.

Question reference: S5W-29774

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the R rate has increased during phase 1 of the route map out of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Question reference: S5W-29781

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, for what reason local authorities are reportedly continuing to hire agency staff to work in different care homes.

The National Clinical and Practice Guidance for Adult Care Homes in Scotland states that staff should not work in more than one facility and movement between care homes must be restricted. It is recognised that this can be a fine balance in achieving appropriate staffing levels, service sustainability and reducing the risks of transmission.

It is critical that we protect care homes and their residents by using infection prevention and control techniques to reduce the impact of this virus. Health Protection Scotland has published specific guidance for infection prevention and control to support those working in care home settings which is regularly updated on their website.

The Social Care Covid19 Accelerated recruitment portal, to support social care employers should they require additional staff, remains in place to support the resilience of the workforce. This enables those with relevant skills and experience to come forward and support health and social care services at this time of national emergency, reducing the need for agency staff.

Care providers have direct access to this portal if they require support due to staff shortages.

Question reference: S5W-29775

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the different phases of the route map out of the COVID-19 lockdown and the impact each might have on the R rate.

The roadmap document published on 21 May sets out the criteria for easing restrictions: as we move beyond the first phase, future phases will be based on meeting particular criteria, including those set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

There have been two approaches to assessment of the impact of easing restrictions on the R value. Firstly, the Scottish Government uses the publicly available Imperial College COVID-19 model adapted to fit the situation in Scotland. This uses data for other nations to estimate the impact on R of different interventions (or groups of interventions) introduced by other nations. The second approach estimates the change in the risk of COVID-19 transmission from options for easing restrictions. This is based on how many people are involved in a particular option and the change in risk of any individual transmitting the virus based on the science available at time of assessment.