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-00735

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will bring forward proposals to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Question reference: S6W-00737

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 7 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support LGBT+ Pride, including what financial support it is providing for (a) Pride organising groups and (b) LGBT+ charities, in light of the large-scale public events that have been cancelled over Pride month in each of the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government recognises the severe impact that COVID-19 restrictions have on the events sector and on the ability of groups, including Pride organising groups, to organise large-scale gatherings and marches. The measures within the Strategic Framework , including physical distancing and limiting mass gatherings, have been crucial for controlling the virus, particularly as new and highly infectious strains emerge, and have been necessary and proportionate to protect lives and the NHS.

Since the start of the pandemic, Scotland’s LGBTI organisations have, where possible, arranged virtual alternatives to traditional Pride events, bringing people together to celebrate Scotland’s diverse and vibrant LGBT community. We are currently reviewing physical distancing measures, taking account of available and emerging evidence, including the ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme. Public events will be considered as part of this review.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have provided funding of over £74,000 to LGBTI organisations from the Immediate Priorities Fund. This includes:

Funding to LGBT Health and Wellbeing to provide additional cover for the National LGBT Helpline, for an additional 2 days a week (which brings coverage from 2 days a week to overall 4 days a week) and to offer more tailored individual support for particularly isolated members of the community.
Funding to Equality Network to increase access to Zoom for community groups, to maintain social connectivity.
Funding to LGBT Youth Scotland, to fast track their digital youth work platform to ensure that young people are better supported during the pandemic and beyond.

A partnership of LGBTI organisations was also awarded short term funding of £87,700 from the Scottish Government’s Supporting Communities Fund, delivered via the National Lottery, to support a community response to COVID-19. Outputs included the creation of a dedicated LGBTI micro-site to: support Pride organisers to put on events; support LGBTI groups to provide social and COVID-19 services; and provide LGBTI digital care packages to up to 50 isolated LGBTI people through local LGBTI community groups. Further details of this can be found online at: https://www.equality-network.org/funding-announcement/ .

Question reference: S6W-00738

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to implement the recommendations of the Scotland Eating Disorder Service Review.

As announced in March, the recommendations from the Review will be taken forward by an Implementation Group. On the 18 June we announced that the Group will be Co-Chaired by Dennis Robertson and a clinical lead who will be confirmed shortly.

We also announced we are providing £5 million of funding to respond to the recommendations from the Review in this financial year. The majority of this funding will be provided to NHS Boards to support them in responding to the increase in eating disorder presentations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is Recommendation 1 from the Review. This funding is being provided from the £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund.

In addition, in response to Review recommendation 6 (Self-help Resources) and Recommendation 13 (Families and Carers), we are also providing funding to Beat, the UK’s Eating Disorder Charity, to provide a wide range of support options such as support to families and carers of those with an eating disorder; support for children, young people and adults who are currently waiting to be seen by services; and peer support services. We will shortly announce further details of this package of support.

Question reference: S6W-00542

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the COVID-19 vaccination rate for people with (a) asthma, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (c) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), (d) bronchiectasis and (e) obstructive sleep apnoea has been in each month since March 2020.

Data on vaccination is compiled and forwarded to the Scottish Government by Public Health Scotland.

We do not hold data on vaccination rate for specific illnesses of conditions, but on how many people in a specific cohort have been vaccinated.

Latest vaccination figures can be found here : Coronavirus (COVID-19): daily data for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and COVID-19 Daily Dashboard | Tableau Public

Question reference: S6W-00541

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the death rate from COVID-19 for people with (a) asthma, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (c) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), (d) bronchiectasis and (e) obstructive sleep apnoea has been in each month since March 2020.

Question reference: S6W-00540

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the COVID-19 infection rate for people with (a) asthma, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (c) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), (d) bronchiectasis and (e) obstructive sleep apnoea has been in each month since March 2020.

Question reference: S6W-00543

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with (a) asthma, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (c) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), (d) bronchiectasis and (e) obstructive sleep apnoea have been diagnosed with long COVID in each month since March 2020.

Question reference: S6W-00736

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 23 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ban the practice of so-called LGBT+ conversion therapy.

The Scottish Government does not support the practice of conversion therapy in the UK. We are clear that this is an abhorrent practice with no place in modern society.

We strongly support the UK Government’s commitment to ban conversion therapy, and are awaiting precise details of the UK Government’s proposals, including in terms of whether they are likely to apply to Scotland.

If the proposed actions do not result in the banning of this discriminatory and harmful practice in Scotland, we will consider our next steps in banning conversion therapy, in so far as is possible within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S6O-00062

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the National Qualifications Group agreed on the appeals process for 2021 National Qualifications, and whether the decision was unanimous.

Question reference: S6W-00037

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 1 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been made for universities places for 2021-22, and what action is being taken to support universities in coping with any variations in demand.

Following exam changes in 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Scottish Funding Council to fund additional places in Scotland’s universities in AY 2020-21. These places will continue to be funded in AY 2021-22 along with further additional places for affected 2020 students starting their studies in AY
‎ 2021-22.

Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) data covering the 2021 cycle, published in February, shows that, in total across all domiciles, there were 132,960 applicants making 310,190 applications for a Scottish University by the January deadline.

The following link provides further details, including specific domicile groupings:

https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-releases/applicant-releases-2021/2021-cycle-applicant-figures-january-deadline

The Scottish Funding Council continues to work closely with the Universities to determine their AY 2021-22 requirement as definitive student numbers will not be known until courses start.