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: S6O-00082

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to support more sustainable farming.

Question reference: S6O-00069

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies and actions across government will support the north east to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6O-00068

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage people to engage with and respond to the COVID-19 recovery consultation.

Question reference: S6O-00070

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to ensuring that any legislation it introduces to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic does not seek to allow regulations to be made or changed without being subject to the affirmative parliamentary procedure.

Question reference: S6O-00073

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to implement the provisions on pavement parking prohibition in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Question reference: S6W-02128

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the current guidance on vitamin D supplementation.

We currently have no plans to revise our advice on vitamin D supplementation. We will continue to be guided by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and others as the evidence base on vitamin D develops. We will review our advice as necessary based on their recommendations.

Our current advice on vitamin D supplementation, which is based on recommendations by SACN, advisors to the four UK nations, is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/vitamin-d-advice-for-all-age-groups/

In terms of supplement dosage, our advice is a supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D (400 IU). This applies to adults and children over one year of age. Ten micrograms per day is the average amount needed by the majority (97.5%) of the population to maintain adequate vitamin D levels when UVB sunlight exposure is minimal to maintain bone and muscle health. Our advice is based on SACN’s 2016 report; Vitamin D and Health.

This report is available at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/537616/SACN_Vitamin_D_and_Health_report.pdf

In December 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), SACN, and Public Health England published updated guidance on vitamin D in relation to COVID-19 following a rapid review of recent evidence. The guidance states that there is still currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. It reiterates that people should continue to follow current advice on vitamin D supplementation to maintain bone and muscle health.

The NICE guideline is available at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG187

SACN published an updated rapid review on Vitamin D and acute respiratory tractinfections (ARTI) in December 2020. In it, SACN recommended the reference nutrient intake for vitamin D remain unchanged, at 10 micrograms per day.

The review is available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945179/SACN_December2020_VitaminD_AcuteRespiratoryTractInfections.pdf

In June 2021, SACN published a paper summarising monitoring of recent evidence on nutrition and COVID-19. It did not identify any new trials in relation to vitamin D and COVID-19 that would require the re-review of the current rapid guideline from NICE, SACN and PHE, or that would change current dietary advice.

The paper is available at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/992875/SACN_Process_for_monitoring_evidence_on_nutrition_and_COVID-19__June21_.pdf

SACN will continue to support NICE with their monitoring of evidence on vitamin D.

The UK COVID-19 Therapeutic Advisory Panel (UK C-TAP) continues to monitor ongoing COVID-19 related Vitamin D trials. It is responsible for reviewing and prioritising suitable compounds based on promising scientific evidence. Evidence on vitamin D and on COVID-19 is also being monitored by RAPID-C19, a multi-agency initiative aiming to get treatments for COVID-19 to NHS patients quickly and safely, as well as by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Innovation Observatory (IO), a national medical horizon scanning facility at Newcastle University. SACN has agreed it will no longer monitor evidence in relation to vitamin D and COVID-19/ARTI, as monitoring is being continued by these organisations.

Question reference: S6W-02044

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00894 by Humza Yousaf on 29 July 2021, what incidences of hospital acquired infections at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have ministers been notified of since 1 March 2020, broken down by (a) infection and (b) date of notification.

The Scottish Government is not able to provide the information requested due to this level of data not being publically available. In particular, individual patients may be identifiable should such hospital level information be published.

Quarterly reports on Clostridioides difficile infection, Escherichia coli bacteraemia and Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia are published, with the data broken down by Health Board, and are available her

Additionally, validated data on Covid-19 hospital acquired infection is published weekly, with information broken down by NHS Health Board to protect patient identity. This information can be accessed here.

Question reference: S6W-02083

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop an updated Scottish Organic Action Plan, to build upon that set out for 2016-20.

We are supportive of ensuring the organics sector, as part of the wider Scottish agriculture industry, contributes fully to our Ambition 2030 strategy to grow our food and drink industry.

We have committed to doubling the amount of land used for organic farming, doubling the amount of organic produce that comes from Scotland and are focussing on more organic produce being used in public sector food procurement. We are considering how best to build upon the Scottish Organic Action Plan and will be meeting with the Scottish Organic Stakeholder Group to hear their views.

Question reference: S6W-01975

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many times each ferry service on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service network has been (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in each month since January 2016.

Question reference: S6W-02314

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason people under 40 who were given the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for their first dose, prior to the recommendation that this age group should receive an alternative vaccine, are not being offered the option of an alternative vaccine for their second dose.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have recommended that, where operationally possible, those aged under 40 should receive an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

However, everybody who has already had a first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine should receive a second dose of the same jab, irrespective of age, except for the very small number of people who experienced blood clots with low platelet counts from their first vaccination. There have been no confirmed cases of thromboembolic events to date in second doses.

People will not be offered options on which vaccine they will receive, unless there is a clinical reason why this would be required, such as an allergy. Any vaccine authorised for use in the UK, by the appropriate Medical authorities is safe and effective, and will have a similar effect in terms of protection.

It is also worth noting that this is the case with many other vaccines. People are not routinely offered a choice of the type of vaccines in other vaccine programmes in Scotland. The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce an option for receiving either COVID-19 vaccine, beyond a clinical recommendation as the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for the vast majority of the population.