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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 710 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5F-04627

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2020

To ask the First Minister how many people have been cautioned by Police Scotland for travelling between areas with higher and lower COVID-19 restriction levels since the current legislation was passed.

Question reference: S5W-33258

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether tighter COVID-19 measures will be put in place for the busier Christmas shopping period to ensure that supermarkets can protect their staff.

There are well-established measures in place for supermarkets with many now standard operating practice. These include ensuring there is a two metre distance between customers; limiting the numbers of customers in stores at any one time; managing customer movement within stores through using one way systems; mandatory face coverings for customers and staff, including for staff communal areas; barriers and screens at checkouts; and enhanced cleaning and hygiene measures. All of these measures are contained in the Scottish Government’s Retail Sector Guidance which was co-developed in consultation with industry and trades unions.

As the Christmas shopping period stores will be markedly busier it is vitally important to ensure the safety of both staff and customers that existing measures are followed and customer compliance is encouraged through the Scottish Government’s FACTS campaign.

Question reference: S5O-04786

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide to students in Inverclyde that their exam results will be reflective of the work that they do in this academic year.

Question reference: S5W-32626

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider allowing background music to be played in hospitality venues indoors when they reopen, but specifying a decibel level that should not be exceeded.

Question reference: S5W-33224

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Russell on 12 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the coronavirus legislation in place.

Amendments to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 have been laid before the Scottish Parliament today. These amendments come into force at 6 am on Friday 13 November to change the current allocation of levels to different areas of Scotland. Fife, Angus and Perth & Kinross local government areas will be moved from Level 2 to Level 3 as a result of the most recent data. No other changes will be made to the allocation of levels. The amendments will also adjust the social gathering rules in respect of the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Na h-Eileanan Siar, to permit in-home socialising, subject to the general rule of no more than 6 people from 2 households. For Level 0 areas, the number of people aged under 18 who are permitted to gather in an outdoor public place will be reduced from 15 to 8. Further amendments are made to put aspects of the levels-based approach into law, rather than relying on guidance alone, and to create a new exemption and requirements in relation to the wearing of a face covering. A change is also made to prohibit the sale of alcohol in hotels in level 3 areas, unless this is provided as room service. Finally, miscellaneous amendments are made to correct errors and to ensure consistency. As with previous regulations, the Scottish Ministers will keep the necessity and proportionality of these measures under regular review and will keep Parliament updated.

Question reference: S5O-04742

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in partnership with local authorities, landowners and tourism operators to prevent illegal dumping of waste in laybys.

Question reference: S5W-32332

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Childminding Association's statement on 25 September 2020 that almost half of all professional childminding businesses in Scotland are on the edge of financial viability and require further financial support from the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5W-32108

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to care homes to help increase indoor visiting, in light of the winter period approaching, when the weather will not make outdoor visiting possible for many residents and visitors.

I announced on 12 October 2020 that the guidance to support care homes with visiting had been updated. This guidance provides additional advice to help care homes better balance safety with the need for family and visitor contact and it also offers greater flexibility for indoor visiting in particular, as winter approaches.

The guidance recommends easing restrictions on visiting in a range of ways, including extending indoor visits to up to four hours, and having longer outdoor visits with more people, including children and young people with safety measures such as physical distancing and PPE in place. The importance of essential visits is also emphasised, with increased flexibility being recommended such that these visits can be supported generously to prevent or respond to residents’ wellbeing, as well as in circumstances approaching end of life. The new guidance also supports increased personal interaction, as long as strict PPE and infection prevention control measures are met.

These changes will be implemented once care homes are satisfied that they can be accommodated safely, alongside existing safety measures such as the weekly testing offered to all care home staff, sample testing in homes with no cases and care homes being COVID-19 free for 28 days.

Care Home Staff Testing is a critical preventative safety measure to protecting people living in care homes and we are currently transitioning testing from UK Laboratories to NHS Regional Hubs and will continue to do this over the coming weeks.

The updated guidance is available at : https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/ .

Question reference: S5W-32384

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the most recent COVID-19 restrictions are based on NHS board area, rather than local authority area, in light of this approach resulting in Inverclyde being included in the strictest restrictions despite it having a lower infection rate than other areas that are not included.

The geographical extent of the current measures for the Central Belt of Scotland, which include Inverclyde, is based on clinical judgement, not only of incidence and prevalence, but also of the resilience and workload of public health teams. The Scottish Government considers that Health Boards are the appropriate administrative unit to form the basis of the geographic extent for this reason.

In terms of infection rates within Inverclyde, as well as looking at the levels of confirmed cases per 100,000 people at any given day, it is also important to look at the pace of change in confirmed cases. Two days before the announcement from the First Minister on 7 October, the rate of cases in the last week per 100,000 in Inverclyde was 44. This rate had doubled since the previous week. What was also clear is that there was evidence of the movement of cases between neighbouring areas. As such, the neighbouring areas to Inverclyde had cases significantly higher at the start of October.

Question reference: S5F-04438

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2020

To ask the First Minister what extra support the Scottish Government can provide to Police Scotland to assist with the additional pressures being placed on officers dealing with COVID-19 measures.