Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-02813

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to improve (a) confidence in medicinal cannabinoids among clinicians prescribing treatments for chronic pain and (b) the availability and affordability of medicinal cannabis in Scotland.

The vast majority of medicinal cannabis products remain unlicensed with a limited, or non-existent, peer-reviewed clinical evidence base. Under the current rules, only specialist doctors on the General Medical Council’s specialist register can prescribe cannabis-based products where there is clear published evidence of benefit. We are encouraging companies to participate in clinical trials so that these products can be tested for quality, safety and efficacy and brought forward for approval through the medicine regulatory and health technology assessments processes. This will enable these products to be readily available through the NHS – provided they met the clinical safety requirements for licencing and the clinical and cost effectiveness approval for routine use in the NHS.

Question reference: S6O-00145

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the finance secretary plans to allocate the Barnett consequentials arising from the UK Government's recent announcement of additional funding for NHS England.

Question reference: S6W-02011

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it has made regarding its policy and practice for note-taking during its meetings to ensure that all details are recorded.

The Civil Service Code of Conduct (Scottish Government & Agencies 2010) clarifies that civil servants are responsible for keeping accurate official records relating to decisions and key conversations. These responsibilities are discharged through the relevant business unit, with chairpersons and secretariats having responsibility for capturing key decisions or actions in the minutes of meetings and ensuring these are saved as part of the corporate record.

Question reference: S6W-00255

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 23 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the names of each Special Adviser, also broken down by their (a) responsibility and (b) pay band, and what the total cost of employing special advisers is expected to be (i) in 2021-22 and (ii) over the course of the parliamentary session.

Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers.

Their specific responsibilities are as follows:

Name

Role

Colin McAllister

Chief of Staff to the First Minister

First Minister's Strategic Programme in Government including Inter-governmental relations
Co-ordination of the Special Adviser team

Liz Lloyd

Strategic Policy & Political Adviser to the FM

Strategic advice to the First Minister on transformational policies and projects

Stuart Nicolson

Head of Communications

Senior Political Spokesperson for the First Minister
Co-ordination of the Special Adviser Communication Team

Jeanette Campbell
‎

Special Adviser

Social Justice, Housing and Local Government portfolio

Ewan Crawford

Senior Special Adviser:

Constitution and External Affairs portfolio (except Culture)

Leanne Dobson

Special Adviser

Finance & the Economy portfolio
Programme for Government

Jennie Gollan

Special Adviser

Justice portfolio (inc veterans)
Culture portfolio (except Broadcasting)

Kate Higgins
‎

Special Adviser:

Rural Affairs and Islands
Transport portfolio

Davie Hutchison
‎

Special Adviser:

Health and Social Care portfolio
Broadcasting policy
First Minister's Questions

Ross Ingebrigtsen

Deputy Political Spokesperson for the First Minister

Strategic communications planning
First Minister's Questions

David Livey

Special Adviser

Education and Skills portfolio

John MacInnes
‎

Special Adviser:

Political Research
Support for First Minister's Questions and Parliamentary debates
Support to communications and policy Special Advisers

Emily Mackintosh

Special Adviser:

Media communications including communications support for the First Minister

Callum McCaig
‎

Special Adviser:

Covid Recovery portfolio

John McFarlane

Special Adviser:

Net Zero portfolio (except Transport)
Parliamentary Business and Parliamentary Liaison

The Special Adviser Pay Bands and Ranges and the number of Special Advisers within each Pay Band currently in place are:

Pay band	Pay Range (£)	Number of Special Advisers
1	£41,442 – £55,582	1
2	£55,583 – £68,307	8
3	£68,308 – £91,336	4
3 (premium)	£90,565 – £104,542	0
4	£90,565 – £108,062	2

The cost for employing Special Advisers in 2019-20 can be found in the answer to question S5W-36009 on 24 March 2021. The total cost for 2021-22 and for the rest of the Parliamentary term is not yet known.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-00727

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the electricity load that can currently be supplied to the City of Edinburgh; what the estimated load would be if every vehicle registered in the city was electric and had to be charged; what the (a) existing and (b) anticipated sources of such electrical power are, and what the estimated costs are to upgrade the city’s power supply infrastructure to meet the anticipated load required for the future.

We do not hold this information centrally. However, we do have a close collaborative relationship with the owner of the electricity network in the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Power Distribution (SPD).

SPD has developed and published Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES), which consider various decarbonisation routes to achieve Scotland’s Net Zero targets. These incorporate a 100% transition of cars / small commercial vehicles to full Electric Vehicles (EVs), including between 240,000-310,000 in Edinburgh by 2050.

SPD’s DFES anticipates growth in demand from customers on its Edinburgh distribution network to double by 2050, with 40% of this related to growth in EVs, as well as heat demand. Meeting this extra demand will need a combination of traditional network reinforcements but also flexibility from other energy resources (e.g. generators and battery storage).

SPD’s high level estimate is that this will require between £150-400 million investment in its Edinburgh network by 2050. The actual scale of investment will ultimately be driven by the technologies adopted by customers and the ways in which they are used.

SPD is currently preparing a draft business plan for investment across all of its distribution networks. The Scottish Government will continue to work with SPD, as well as with Scotland’s other network owners and Ofgem, to ensure that our energy and climate change commitments and targets are fully reflected in these plans and the investment that they will require.

Question reference: S6W-00843

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the accuracy of PCR testing for COVID-19, and how the error rate informs its Test and Protect level decisions.

Protective measures, and the Levels Approach, are informed using a range of data on epidemiological conditions and health system capacity. Numbers of Covid-19 cases being just one of these considerations. PCR tests are the key diagnostic tool in identifying infected persons. They are highly accurate and represent the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. They work by detecting the Covid-19 virus from a swab sample taken from the nose and or throat. There are a variety of PCR tests used in Scotland, all of which are rigorously tested and are regulated and approved by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The Scottish Government are aware that, as with any medical test, there is a margin of error and that false results can occur. This margin however is very small.

Further information regarding the RT-PCR test can be found in Public Health Scotland’s frequently asked questions document: https://hpspubsrepo.blob.core.windows.net/hps-website/nss/2961/documents/1_covid-19-laboratory-testing-faq.pdf .

Further information regarding how the various protective measures are informed can be found here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) protective measures: indicators and data - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-00329

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which of the business support grants that it has introduced in response to the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions have recorded an underspend, also broken down by the amount underspent.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have directly benefitted from £3.6 billion in support and the Scottish Government has provided more funding than the consequentials received to support businesses. The Scottish Government publishes statistics, management information & budget allocations relating to its Covid-19 business grants on its website at Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The next management information update is scheduled to be published on 11 June 2021.

Question reference: S6W-00463

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost for ministerial travel, including car fleet purchasing and maintenance, is for 2021-22, and how this compares with actual spend on this in each of the last five years.

Estimated costs for the Government Car Service (GCS), including purchasing and maintenance, for 2021-22 and actual spend for each of the last 5 years, are provided in the following table.

Year	Total cost (1)
16-17	£ 1,125,173
17-18	£ 1,248,912
18-19	£ 1,556,863
19-20	£ 1,685,164
20-21	£ 1,369,852
21-22 (2)	£ 1,375,695

1. Costs include fuel, maintenance, private hire, staff, travel and subsistence and vehicle procurement.

2. Estimated costs – budgets not formally agreed.

Question reference: S6W-00331

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what target it has set for the number of young people it aims to offer a placement under the Young Person’s Guarantee by December 2021; what action it is taking to achieve this target, and what progress it is making towards meeting it.

The Scottish Government is supporting the commitment set out by Sandy Begbie, that every young person aged between 16 and 24 in Scotland will be guaranteed either the opportunity to study at university or college, take part in an apprenticeship programme, take up a job or work experience, or participate in a formal volunteering or training programme according to their own personal circumstances.

We are committed to offering support to every young person who requires it. In addition, as per our response to question S5W-33395 on 2 December 2020, due to the uncertainties regarding the labour market, impact of Brexit and the furlough scheme we have not set targets for the Guarantee. Details on the number of opportunities created through the initial funding has been made available in response to questions S6W-00024 on 25 May 2021 and S5W-34612 on 1 February 2021.

As restrictions begin to ease, we will continue to work closely with our delivery partners to maximise the number of young people being supported into opportunities and to enable partners to respond flexibly to meet the needs of young people during this challenging time. The duration and level of support required by young people to access and sustain their employment will depend on their needs.

Our initial activity plan published in November 2020, sets out the steps we are taking to progress the Guarantee. Our equality action plan also details specific activities we are completing to ensure young people from all backgrounds are able to access the Guarantee.

We are also considering progress made on each of Sandy Begbie's initial recommendations for the Young Person's Guarantee, and will produce a report to set out this progress and the future priorities for the Guarantee in Autumn 2021.

We detailed our commitment to producing a detailed Measurement and Evaluation Framework in response to questions S5W-35911 on 24 March 2021 and S5W-34614 on 1 February 2021. As part of this process we are developing a set of Key Performance Indicators that will help us understand the cumulative impact of the Guarantee. These are due to be finalised in Summer 2021.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-00333

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 11 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the amount of business debt that has been accumulated by SMEs because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

Scottish Government regularly monitors SME debt levels and meets monthly with Scottish Financial Enterprise and the main banks in Scotland to monitor trends in lending facilities and identify key emerging themes. In the event that these identify areas of concern, Scottish Government will work with UK government (Treasury, British Business Bank) as well as other SG policy areas and enterprise agencies to develop an appropriate response.

Chamber and committees