Questions and answers

Question reference: S5O-04503

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the powers that will come to Scotland once the Brexit transition period is concluded.

Question reference: S5F-04273

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 August 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that more than a third of culture and leisure trusts in Scotland may not be viable beyond six months.

Question reference: S5O-04477

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme on the rural and tourism economies in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30934

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue distributing food boxes to people who have been shielding from the COVID-19 pandemic, and what its policy is regarding items distributed that the recipient says were not required or not used.

Free grocery boxes were made available to people who were shielding from COVID-19 to support them in following the shielding advice. For logistical reasons, these were standardised boxes. In those circumstances, it was recognised that some people could choose not to use all of the items supplied.

We confirmed on 8 June that this support will remain as long as the shielding advice remains in place. Shielding was paused from 1 August and the grocery box service stopped on 31 July.

We are considering the support requirements of the shielding group in the event of future local or national lockdowns. In the meantime, all people who were shielding were told that they could visit shops from 24 July. People who registered for priority supermarket delivery slots by 31 July continue to have access to these slots. Anyone needing urgent assistance with food or other groceries can continue to contact their local authority.

Question reference: S5W-30168

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28463 by Aileen Campbell on 15 May 2020, whether it will provide an update regarding how many people are signed up to the Ready Scotland volunteer scheme, and how many are in a volunteering role.

The ‘Scotland Cares’ campaign was a great success and is testament to the compassion and community spirit of the people of Scotland. As at the week ending Friday 17 July, there were 83,738 sign-ups to the campaign, which was paused on 1 May.

The Scotland Cares sign-ups are in addition to the thousands of people who had already stepped forward, across the country, quickly and spontaneously, to help with the response to COVID 19, as soon as initial needs emerged and, of course, the many thousands of individuals already volunteering in their own communities for other reasons.

So far 4,882 student nurses have been placed with Boards and in community settings, and 276 NHS returners are now in employment. In addition the Scottish Social Services Council has, so far, matched 168 people to positions within the social care sector. Please note that all health and social care positions are paid.

Since 13 April, 1,376 British Red Cross volunteers have been deployed across Scotland. Figures for Volunteer Scotland deployments are not readily available, however. Individuals who signed up, but have not yet been required, for available tasks, may well be critical in efforts to support and rebuild communities over the weeks and months to come.

Question reference: S5W-28468

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many volunteers have been assigned to directly assist the NHS through the Ready Scotland volunteer scheme.

23,101 applicants have offered to support the Health and Social Care response to COVID-19 (May 1). Of these applicants 18,373 returners and students have registered through the Health and Social Care COVID-19 Accelerated Recruitment Portal, hosted through the Ready Scotland website.

The portal helps to match people with relevant skills to paid roles within Health and Social Care. It went live on 29 March 2020. We have temporarily paused further expressions of interest through the portal (as of 30 April 2020), as we move forward with placing applicants who have already expressed their interest.

Offers of employment are being made across NHS Scotland, with 382 applicants ready to be deployed and more than 3,600 returners in the process of completing their pre-employment checks (Apr 30). Additionally, 2,352 student nurses and midwives, and 438 FiYs have completed all checks and have been allocated to a Board.

Question reference: S5O-04446

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking in response to the High Rise Inventory 2020.

Question reference: S5O-04360

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what new targets it has set for its affordable homes programme.

Question reference: S5W-28467

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the processing time is from individuals signing up to be a volunteer through the Ready Scotland scheme to them becoming an active volunteer for an organisation.

The ‘Scotland Cares’ Campaign has been a huge success and it is testament to the generosity and compassion of the people of Scotland that there are now over 77,000 sign-ups, from all across the country, to support the NHS, other public services and our local communities. Those sign-ups are in addition to the thousands of people who had already stepped forward, quickly and spontaneously, to help with the response to COVID 19, as soon as initial needs emerged.

Following ‘sign-up’ through the Ready Scotland website, the NHS recruitment campaign involves the relevant officials working with Health Boards and social care providers, to match applicants to placements. Offers of employment are being made across all Scottish Health and Social Care Partnerships, and processing times for that will vary, but the necessary occupational health and employment checks people normally have to undergo, which can take several weeks, are being streamlined as far as possible. The safety of patients, clients, and of staff themselves, must remain the highest priority, however, and inappropriate short cuts will not be taken. Please note that these are all paid positions.

The ‘Scotland Cares’ campaign also connects British Red Cross and Volunteer Scotland schemes to local authority and third sector activity in communities, creating a pool of volunteers for local organisations to draw upon and deploy as required. Feedback from Local Authorities, Resilience Partnerships, and Third Sector Interface leads, confirms that the volunteering needs of local organisations are being met in a timely way. Volunteers have been contacted to underline Ministers’ appreciation of their goodwill and desire to help, as well as to reassure them that, although many of the volunteers who have signed up will not be needed immediately, they are likely to be critical in efforts to support and rebuild communities over the weeks and months to come.

Question reference: S5W-28469

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations (a) have received and (b) will receive additional volunteers through the Ready Scotland scheme.

The ‘Scotland Cares’ Campaign has been a huge success and it is testament to the generosity and compassion of the people of Scotland that there are now over 77,000 sign-ups, from all across the country, to support the NHS, other public services and our local communities. Those sign-ups are in addition to the thousands of people who had already stepped forward, quickly and spontaneously, across the country, to help with the response to COVID 19, as soon as initial needs emerged.

Following ‘sign-up’ through the Ready Scotland website, the NHS recruitment campaign involves the relevant officials working with Health Boards and social care providers, to match applicants to placements. Offers of employment are being made across all Scottish Health and Social Care Partnerships. Please note that these are all paid positions.

‘Scotland Cares’ connects the British Red Cross and Volunteer Scotland schemes to local authority and third sector activity in communities, creating a pool of volunteers for local organisations to draw upon and deploy as required. Feedback from Local Authorities, Resilience Partnerships, and Third Sector Interface leads, confirms that local volunteering needs are currently being met for the organisations which require support. Although many of the volunteers who have signed up will not be needed immediately, they are likely to be critical in efforts to support and rebuild communities over the weeks and months to come.

Chamber and committees