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-02783

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for support from the Investing in Communities Fund it has (a) approved and (b) rejected, broken down by local authority area.

A total of 761 applications were received for ICF Round 1 in June 2019. Of those, 276 were approved and 485 were unsuccessful

The following table shows the number of ICF applications approved and rejected broken down by local authority area

Local Authority	Number approved	Rejected
Aberdeen City	3	6
Aberdeenshire	3	8
Angus	2	3
Argyll & Bute	14	19
Clackmannanshire	3	2
Dumfries & Galloway	17	14
Dundee City	6	10
East Ayrshire	7	13
East Dunbartonshire	1	1
East Lothian	1	9
East Renfrewshire	1	4
Edinburgh	19	28
Falkirk	3	6
Fife	8	18
Glasgow	52	111
Highland	27	48
Inverclyde	1	13
Midlothian	4	9
Moray	7	5
North Ayrshire	7	6
North Lanarkshire	10	10
Orkney	6	2
Perth & Kinross	6	7
Renfrewshire	3	12
Scottish Borders	12	4
Shetland	4	3
South Ayrshire	3	4
South Lanarkshire	14	16
Stirling	6	9
West Dunbartonshire	3	10
West Lothian	9	15
Western Isles	8	6
Projects covering multiple LA areas -(Glasgow, East Ayrshire, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Moray, West Dunbartonshire)	6	54
Total	276	485

Question reference: S6W-02785

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce the membership of the Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 (CAFS 2) Delivery Group.

Question reference: S6W-02759

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that older people resident in (a) care homes and (b) sheltered housing are able to contribute to its consultation, A National Care Service for Scotland.

As part of our consultation on the National Care Service we will be engaging with the Older People’s Strategic Action Forum, the Older Peoples Assembly and Age Scotland. We are also engaging with a range of other third sector organisations to make sure that we capture the views of those with lived experience in the consultation.

Easy Read, British Sign Language and Audio versions of the consultation are available on the Scottish Government website. Braille and Large Font versions are available on request.

Question reference: S6W-02648

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the work of Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit is (a) compliant with UK Government Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance and (b) consistent with its commitment to promote human rights internationally.

The work of Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The Scottish Police Authority has responsibility for oversight of Police Scotland and to scrutinise the decisions of the Chief Constable.

Scotland has a strong and enduring commitment to securing democracy, the rule of law and human rights across the world. We expect all states to recognise fundamental human rights, comply with human rights legislation and condemn human rights abuses wherever they occur. Through International Engagement we will share our experiences, values and expertise in areas such as justice, education and climate change, with a view to seeing the human rights of people across the world fully realised.

Question reference: S6W-02651

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to support the activities of Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for International Development work by Police Scotland in Malawi and Zambia since 2016. The funding provided in 2019-20 was £449,831 and the funding for 2020/21 was £162,000. The current funding supports Police Scotland’s work on a “Rights & Equalities for Marginalised Groups” programme, which helps tackle local issues in Malawi and Zambia, working with a wide range of marginalised groups such as women, children, those with disabilities, LGBTI and people with albinism. The ability to deliver the programme has been impacted by Coronavirus but Police Scotland hope to re-commence in-country training next year.

Question reference: S6W-02749

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the scientific basis is for the continuing COVID-19 restrictions on parents and carers from watching their children participate in organised school sport.

Our priority remains keeping children, young people and school staff safe. The guidance on reducing COVID risks in schools, has been updated and was published on 15 September. It is in line with current advice from the COVID-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s issues. The sub-group keeps the mitigations in schools and Early Learning and Childcare settings under constant review, and will consider the issue of parental attendance at school sporting events at its next meeting on 21 September.

Question reference: S6W-02691

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been undertaken to assess the suitability of COVID-19 vaccines for patients with autoimmune conditions.

Emerging data suggests that some individuals with suppressed immune systems may not mount a full immune response to COVID-19 vaccination.

The multi-centred OCTAVE study led by colleagues from Glasgow University published their preliminary findings with widespread media coverage. The study funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Medical Research Council (MRC) was designed to evaluate the immune responses following COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases including inflammatory arthritis and Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) (an auto-immune disease affecting small blood vessels) who have received Rituximab treatment, along with a host of other conditions with various degrees of immunosuppression.

Initial findings suggest that in total about 40% of those across the patient groups studied produced a low antibody response to two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and the proportion varied depending on the nature of the immune impairment.

The OCTAVE group presented their findings to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the Committee took into account these findings to make their recommendation on a third primary dose of COVID-19 vaccine for severely immunocompromised people.

A second study called OCTAVE DUO, led by the same researchers and also funded by UKRI, is examining whether a third dose will give a stronger immune response in people with impaired immune systems.

Information about these studies is available at: Vaccine responses in patients with impaired immune systems – UKRI

New study tests third jab for people with weakened immune systems – UKRI

Question reference: S6W-02622

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many unused doses of COVID-19 vaccine that were allocated to Scotland are (a) out of date and (b) will go out of date by 30 September 2021, broken down by type of vaccine.

Health Boards throughout Scotland are asked to record any wastage on an online waste recording tool. However in providing some context to the Member there are a number of limitations; it is not mandatory for GP Practices to use the recording tool and most GP Practices do not record waste on the online reporting tool. The vaccine tool was launched in late January; some but not all Boards chose to record wastage from the beginning of the programme (entering data retrospectively)

The total number of vaccine doses recorded as expired since the start of the programme under the reason code ‘expired shelf life’ is 23,312 doses (11,700 Moderna, 5696 Pfizer and 5,917 AZ) however as above, this is not comprehensive.

In terms of stock that will go out of date by 30 September 2021, there is ongoing work to minimise any wastage including sites only drawing down stock where there is certainty that it will be used before expiry.

Given the scale of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, some vaccine wastage has been unavoidable for a variety of reasons. Wastage has remained well below the 5% planning assumption throughout, however, we continue to work with Health Boards to ensure wastage is at a minimum, and maximise the availability of vaccines to the people of Scotland.

Weekly updates on the number of vaccine doses allocated and delivered to Scotland are published at Coronavirus (COVID-19): daily data for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) – see COVID-19 Vaccine supply data in the Vaccination section.

Question reference: S6W-00764

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date secure COVID-19 vaccination status documents will be ready for use by people travelling from Scotland to Norway.

Question reference: S6T-00179

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research stating that no recommendations to improve practice are made in nine out of 10 fatal accident inquiries into deaths in prison.