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-00549

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 December 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6T-00344

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Lothian, and other NHS boards, given the consequences and impact of delayed discharges.

Question reference: S6T-00339

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what resilience measures are in place to tackle serious organised crime and terrorism, in light of reports that the Assistant Chief Constable in charge has been suspended.

Question reference: S6W-04653

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its estimate is of the cost of rural crime to rural communities, broken down by (a) livestock theft, (b) machinery theft, (c) fuel theft and (d) livestock worrying.

The Scottish Government does not publish information on the costs of rural crime. However, I am aware of the most recent NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report, published in August, which suggested that rural theft cost the UK an estimated £43.3 million in 2020.

The report noted that this was a fall of 20.3% on the previous year, making it the lowest annual cost recorded in five years. While this can be seen as encouraging, we are well aware of the impact of criminal activity in rural areas and are not complacent on this issue. We are therefore committed to supporting Police Scotland and all its partners in tackling all forms of crime and disorder which affect our rural communities.

In particular, the Scottish Government participates fully in the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC), which is chaired by Police Scotland.

SPARC draws together key stakeholders from across the justice and rural sectors to provide a robust, multi-agency approach to rural crime and to support activity at local level. This includes preventative action such as the development of Rural Watch Scotland, which has been delivered by Neighbourhood Watch Scotland working with other partners through SPARC.

Furthermore, the link between rural crime such as machinery theft and serious organised crime is well recognised. The work of SPARC makes a valuable contribution to securing some of the outcomes set out in Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Strategy by helping rural communities become more aware of serious organised crime and how to mitigate its risks.

Question reference: S6W-04650

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many customers of Bulb Energy there are in Scotland; whether it has had any contact with Bulb Energy; if so, when, and what was discussed, and whether it has any plans to support (a) Bulb Energy customers in Scotland and (b) other customers in Scotland affected by failing energy suppliers.

Information regarding the number of Bulb customers in Scotland is not held by the Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with a number of energy suppliers to discuss the ongoing challenges in the energy supply market.

Regulation of the gas and electricity markets is a reserved issue. Within this context Bulb Energy is being managed under Ofgem's special administration process - this process is designed to ensure consumers do not experience disruption to their supply and maintain their credit balances

We are concerned for all Scottish consumers facing rising energy costs particularly those who are in or at risk of fuel poverty. That is why we are making £10 million of funding available to help people struggling with their heating costs this winter. This money is in addition to the £25 million funding we are providing to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6 million.

Question reference: S6W-04636

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date its COVID passport scheme will recognise people who have received a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved vaccine outwith the UK and Common Travel Area.

Our COVID-19 Status Certification scheme already recognises people who have been vaccinated outwith the UK and Common Travel Area. People who want to attend a venue or event covered by the certification scheme should obtain proof of vaccination status from the country in which they received their vaccination.

If the person lives in Scotland they can upload their official proof of vaccination from that country to their Scottish vaccination record. This will mean they will have a combined fully vaccinated status to show for travel or domestic purposes. Further information on this is at NHS Inform: Request an update to your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination record This process will also update their record for the purposes of using the app.

If the person is visiting Scotland from outwith the UK and the EU, provided they have evidence of having had a MHRA approved vaccine that can be used for domestic certification in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have published ‘ Vaccine certification scheme – information for business and event organisers ’ and ‘ Vaccine certification scheme – information for customers ’. This provides guidance so both people attending events and the venue staff are fully aware what can be accepted.

Question reference: S6W-04490

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital patients have tested positive for COVID-19, after having been admitted to hospital without the disease.

Between 24 February 2020 and 31 October 2021 there have been 6,348 COVID-19 cases that were probable or definite hospital onset.

1,973 were reported as probable hospital onset (first positive specimen on days 8 to 14 of admission to NHS board).

4,375 were reported as definite hospital onset (first positive specimen date was 15 or more days after admission to NHS board).

The rate of COVID-19 transmission in hospitals has followed a similar rate in the community. When community prevalence reduces, a general reduction in hospital onset COVID cases follows approximately two to three weeks later.

However, while community prevalence has recently increased, nosocomial cases of COVID-19 were observed to rise at a slower pace, which may be largely due to the vaccination programme.

While patients with COVID continue to be admitted to hospitals, the risk of transmission remains. We cannot be complacent and we must continue to ensure that all infection prevention precautions are strictly followed.

Question reference: S6W-04216

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that not all of the companies, NetCompany, Service Now, Jumio, iProov, Albasoft, Amazon Web Services, CFH Docmail, Microsoft Azure, Gov.uk Notify Service and Royal Mail, are able to access data from the NHS Scotland COVID Status App, even though it is shared, whether it will provide clarification of what this means.

Question reference: S6W-04211

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any communication with the Scottish Human Rights Commission regarding its reported concerns about the NHS Scotland COVID Status App, and, if so, whether it will publish any such correspondence and the minutes of any meetings.

Question reference: S6W-04099

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the findings from each three-week review of the COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme.

We continually keep our COVID-19 Status Certification scheme under review and consider a range of evidence, data, and information which is already published. Information such as the “ trends in daily data ”; the weekly report on the “ state of the epidemic ”, and the anticipated pressures on our public services. Following that consideration Ministers then report to parliament, detailing the outcome of their review every 3 weeks.