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-34413

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32250 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 October 2020, how many people it estimates are eligible to receive the Self-Isolation Support Grant should they need to self-isolate.

We estimate around 44,700 people would be eligible for the Self-Isolation Support Grant, should they be asked to isolate. This estimate reflects those that are 'in work' in receipt of universal credit, adjusted for those we anticipate will not be able to work from home. This number also reflects those that would be eligible should a child be asked to isolate. This estimate of the total potential eligibility should not be interpreted as a the total number of people we expect to ask to self isolate.

Question reference: S5W-34202

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 19 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33864 by Kevin Stewart on 17 December 2020, what analysis it has carried out of the potential impact of asbestos on public health in Scotland; when it last met the UK Government to discuss the eradication of the substance, and how frequently such meetings take place.

The Scottish Government has no responsibilities in relation to asbestos.

The management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive.

I have written to Sarah Albon, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive and to Mims Davies MP, Minister for Employment in UK Government for a response on the potential impact of asbestos on public health in Scotland and any programme of work to eradicate the substance. I will write to you once I have received a reply from both parties to inform you of their response.

Question reference: S5W-34212

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 19 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many care homes have carried out lateral flow testing for visitors in each week of December 2020, broken down by local authority area.

We began rolling out lateral flow testing for care home visitors on 7 December to 14 early adopter care homes across 5 local authority areas.

Two of our three new NHS regional lab hubs went live on a phased basis last week with the West and the North hub are now receiving samples. The East regional hub will be operational by the end of January.

Processing the weekly tests of 42% of care home staff has now moved to our NHS labs as planned and we will complete that transition again by the end of January.

All Care Homes now have the equipment for Lateral Flow Testing and a rolling programme of training is underway to provide testing for care home visitors with Lateral Flow Testing to support professional visitors to care homes from the beginning of January.

Further data on lateral flow is available in the Public Health Scotland Weekly Statistic Report: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/

Question reference: S5W-34412

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish data for November and December 2020 Self-Isolation Support Grant applications and claims.

Question reference: S5W-34415

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the number of grants applied for and claimed broken down by local authority for future publications of Self-Isolation Support Grant data.

Question reference: S5F-04733

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-34210

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many contacts have been traced by Test and Protect (a) overall and (b) using only SMS messages in each week since 1 September 2020.

a) Test and Protect information is published weekly as part of the Public Health Scotland COVID-19 statistical report. The latest data (published 13 January) shows that between 28 May to 10 January 2021:

130,719 individuals were recorded in the contact tracing software,
from which 489,311 contacts have been traced
of which 347,910 were unique.

More information can be found within the publication: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/

b) Since October 2020 some contacts will receive a single SMS only, providing isolation information and signposting. This allows contacts to be traced and isolate quickly. The majority of contacts traced receive a phone call from either local health protection teams or the National Contact Tracing Centre. Information on proportion of contacts traced using the single SMS is not currently published by Public Health Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-34561

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether dog walking businesses are allowed to operate under the current COVID-19 restrictions.

Professional dog walkers may continue to carry out their business under the current Covid-19 restrictions.

The Scottish Government issued Guidance for Animal Owners on 11 January 2021 which permits this to take place within the requirements of the guidance on physical distancing and good hygiene. This guidance is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-animal-owners/ .

Question reference: S5W-34184

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33789 by John Swinney on 14 December 2020, what the job title was of the person it made contact with in the Public Protection Specialist Crime Division of Police Scotland.

I refer the member to the written and oral evidence provided to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints and related correspondence. Following Ms Mackinnon’s appearance at the Committee on 27 October she followed up a number of points in writing to the Committee Convenor. This included confirmation that any request for details of Police Scotland contacts should be made to Police Scotland for consideration under its personal data obligations. I note that the Convenor has subsequently requested this information from Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-34183

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33789 by John Swinney on 14 December 2020, on what dates since December 2017 it has met Police Scotland to discuss the policy on harassment complaints, and who attended.

There was one meeting held on 6 December 2017. This was a generic meeting about addressing sexual harassment using a person centred approach and did not include reference to any specific concerns, complaints or individuals. The meeting was attended by Judith Mackinnon, Scottish Government Head of People Advice and three police officers from Public Protection Specialist Crime Division of Police Scotland.