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-07057

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on facilitating care for people, who are living with an eating disorder, at specialist centres in other parts of the UK, when treatment provided by NHS Scotland has not improved a patient's health in the long term.

On rare occasions, where patients require very specialist treatment that cannot be provided in Scotland, cross border transfers are used to facilitate care and treatment in other parts of the UK. Decisions about cross border transfers to specialist centres in other parts of the UK are a clinical decision that needs to be discussed and agreed with the involvement of the patient and their family, taking into account a range of factors.

Question reference: S6O-00826

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review, led by Professor Alison Britton, and anticipated timescale for its completion.

Question reference: S6O-00811

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the 2022 regulations on the prohibition of fishing in the Firth of Clyde will impact fishing businesses.

Question reference: S6W-05881

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with (a) East Renfrewshire Council and (b) other local authorities about (i) any financial support that will be made available and (ii) the process for delivering such funding to close contact service businesses, including hairdressers and beauticians, that have been impacted by the restrictions put in place in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

All local authorities, including East Renfrewshire Council, have been involved in discussions around delivery of this funding and it has been agreed funding for close contact businesses will be distributed by our delivery partner NEC.

We have published initial guidance which includes eligibility for the Close Contact Fund. This information is available on the Scottish Government website: Coronavirus (COVID-19): funding for businesses affected by Omicron control measures - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the Find Business Support website:

Close Contact Services Fund (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) . Businesses will be able to apply for the close contact fund from Monday 14 th February.

Question reference: S6W-05880

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will confirm and publish on its website the (a) application process and (b) eligibility criteria for support for close contact service businesses, including hairdressers and beauticians, that have been impacted by the restrictions put in place in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19, and how much support will be available per business.

We have published guidance which includes eligibility criteria for the Close Contact Fund and this information is now available on the Scottish Government website: Coronavirus (COVID-19): funding for businesses affected by Omicron control measures - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the Find Business Support website:

Close Contact Services Fund (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) . Businesses will be able to apply for the close contact fund from Monday 14 th February. We have been working with relevant industry representatives to understand how best to target this funding as the sector includes a large number of businesses who do not have premise so cannot use non-domestic rates as a way of validating business details .

Eligible Businesses must be registered as a beauty service, hairdressing and hair removal service or a spa and wellness service and provide services listed in the guidance such as, hair trimming and cutting, laser hair removal, nail treatments etc.

The Close Contact grant is a one-off payment at the rate of £1,000 for self-employed businesses and £1,500 for NDR registered premise based business owners.

Question reference: S6W-04308

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that local authorities adhere to the Funding Follows the Child guidance, which states that local authorities should give appropriate consideration to the potential impact of their recruitment activity on the sustainability of funded providers.

Local authorities have worked with local partners to undertake a significant workforce expansion to support delivery of the 1140 commitment and we have seen an increase in the availability of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) places across the local authority, private, third and childminding sectors.

The underpinning policy framework for the ELC expansion, Funding Follows the Child, was developed jointly between the Scottish Government and COSLA. Local authorities are responsible for adhering to the guidance and ensuring they undertake appropriate impact assessments to support their policy and investment decisions, as they do routinely.

Implementation of Funding Follows the Child is overseen by the ELC Joint Delivery Board which is chaired by the Minister for Children and Young People and the COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People. The Joint Delivery Board regularly reviews the risks and impacts of the ELC expansion programme, including any issues with adherence to the Funding Follows the Child and National Standard guidance.

Question reference: S6W-04309

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support funded early learning and childcare providers in the private, voluntary and childminding sectors to deliver on its aim of building a system of wraparound school-age childcare and the ambition to provide funded early learning to one-year-olds from low-income households, in light of the reported recruitment and retention challenges facing the sectors.

We work closely with the childcare sector representative bodies and appreciate the challenges faced by settings in relation to recruitment and retention. We are already providing support to all parts of the childcare sector with regard to recruitment and retention challenges. For example, we have invited those whose registrations to work in childcare have lapsed in recent years to re-join the sector; we are providing work experience in the sector via the National Transitional Training Fund; and our national recruitment campaign provides resources to assist with local recruitment. We continue to support the childminding sector as set out in Our Commitment to Childminding Report, which can be found at: Our commitment to childminding: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We will work in partnership with all parts of the childcare sector to develop delivery plans for school-aged childcare and funded early learning for one year olds and to ensure that the appropriate support is in place. We have also committed to developing a new, five-year Workforce Strategy for the childcare sector. The strategy will address recruitment and retention challenges to build on the support already available, taking into account our commitments to build a system of wraparound childcare and further extend early learning.

Question reference: S6W-03295

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to providing a time-limited exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme for people who have been unable to attend a scheduled appointment to receive their second vaccination because they tested positive for COVID-19, but, by the time the certification scheme is in force, they have competed a 10-day period of self-isolation and are not due to receive their second dose before 1 October 2021 on the basis that a four-week period has not elapsed since they received their positive test result.

We introduced the scheme on 1 October 2021, at which point all people aged 18 or over had had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. In addition we gave a month’s notice of the intention to bring the scheme into place. We recognise there may be a small number of people who caught Covid during this period and whose second vaccination has therefore had to be delayed. Those people will be able to obtain a vaccine certificate once they have been fully vaccinated.

Question reference: S6W-03296

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area will have been unable to attend a scheduled appointment to receive their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before 1 October 2021 due to them previously returning a positive COVID-19 test result.

The requested level of data on individuals who Do Not Attend (DNA) vaccination appointments is not currently held. While we can show the number of people who did not attend a scheduled appointment, or who have cancelled or rescheduled, we don’t know all the reasons why they may have done so.

The Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Statistical Report published on 16 June 2021 contains information on DNAs from 1 Feb to 6 June 20201.

Question reference: S6W-03321

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review.

The Case Record Review is underway. Introductory interviews with the participants are close to completion. More than half of the participants have received an ‘information gathering’ form from the Administrator. Following return of this form, Clinco, a commissioned contractor involved in the retrieval of patient records, will request the appropriate case records from Health Boards. This process is already underway for a number of participants.

As is standard practice, data sharing agreements are required for the release of medical records. Agreements are in place already for a number of Health Boards and it is expected that agreements will be in place in relation to all relevant Boards shortly.

Health Board Accountable Officers have been kept abreast of developments with the Case Record Review through the Short Life Working Group on mesh complications.