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-28121

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 April 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional guidance it is providing to key workers who are delivering essential services to students who remain (a) in student accommodation and (b) carrying out research throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Scottish Government’s key workers categorisation, published at the end of March, is designed to support local authorities make decisions regarding access to critical childcare provision. It sits within broader guidance on the closure of schools and non-essential businesses.

In agreement with CoSLA and local councils, decisions about key workers and access to childcare places are taken locally. This allows each community to allow local priorities to be addressed. The Government will continue to work with partners to ensure local and national priorities can be met. It is not publishing further guidance at this time.

Question reference: S5W-28066

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 April 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to parents with children in private nurseries who are unable to attend due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but are expected to pay a proportion of or all of the fees.

Charging policies are a matter for individual businesses, however we encourage all childcare providers to be reasonable and balanced in their dealings with parents, recognising the unprecedented situation in which we all find ourselves.

We fully recognise the critical role that Scotland’s childcare sector will play in our long-term economic recovery from the pandemic, and remain determined to realise our commitment to nearly double the statutory entitlement to 1,140 hours as soon as practicably possible. In addition to guaranteeing the continuation of funding for statutory places throughout the period of closure, the UK and Scottish Governments have made a range of support available to mitigate the economic impact of and disruption to businesses by coronavirus. More information on the range of business and financial support available to childcare providers is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-childcare-closures-and-emergency-provision/pages/overview/ .

Question reference: S5W-28224

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 April 2020

To ask the Sottish Government what meetings it has held with the retail industry regarding critical food distribution and public health in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-28090

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 April 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance and support it is providing to people moving house during the COVID-19 outbreak due to the temporary closure of the Registers of Scotland, and what the legal position is of those who had already changed missives before the closure was announced.

Registers of Scotland, Law Society Scotland and UK Finance have agreed a process to enable transactions to be completed where an advance notice is in place. The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 also contains provisions which will allow property transactions already in progress to proceed to settlement and allow flexibility in the registration process to enable those transactions that have to take place during the COVID-19 outbreak to proceed. The temporary closure of the Registers of Scotland does not change the legal position of missives.

The Scottish Government published guidance on moving home in Scotland during the COVID-19 outbreak on 31 March: www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-moving-home .

Question reference: S5W-28071

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 April 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that safe-distancing measures are followed on public transport in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Transport Scotland continues to engage with service providers during the COVID-19 situation to ensure that the appropriate measures are in place. ScotRail are providing additional carriages on their services to enable maximum space and they are reminding passengers of the importance of social distancing at stations. Bus operators are regularly reviewing their services and in some cases are considering introducing additional vehicles or double decker buses to assist with distancing. CalMac are also asking customers to follow the latest Government advice before boarding their vessels, including social distancing and hygiene, and COVID-19 safety advice has been added to their briefings before every sailing.

Guidance on these matters continues to be updated and therefore we would recommend accessing the NHS Inform website for the latest information, at https://www.nhsinform.scot/ .

Question reference: S5W-28115

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 April 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to enlist NHS volunteers to help the service during the COVID-19 outbreak, similar to that being rolled out by NHS England.

On 30 March 2020 the Scottish Government launched a campaign “Scotland Cares” to encourage people to sign up to make themselves available to volunteer as part of the response to the Coronavirus epidemic.

Members of the public offering support are directed to Ready Scotland www.readyscotland.org/coronavirus/volunteering Those wanting to volunteer to support their communities have three options which are signposted from the Ready Scotland website.

returning health and care workers are directed to a new Health and Social Care accelerated recruitment portal
people wishing to offer their support to our public services, including the NHS and local authorities, are directed to a site co-ordinated by the British Red Cross
those looking for opportunities with other charities or community groups in their area are directed to Volunteer Scotland

Question reference: S5W-27852

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of any impact on the 2020 exam diet arising from potential restrictions being introduced in response to COVID-19, what discussions it is having with the SQA regarding the development of contingencies for the exams, including to mitigate any associated impact on students studying for and sitting them.

In response to the current challenging set of circumstances, I have had extensive discussions with the Chief Examiner. This culminated in my announcement on 19 March that the exam diet will not go ahead this year. SQA are now working to deliver a credible certification model that can be put in place and can command confidence in the absence of the exam diet. This will ensure that young people in our schools and colleges who, through no fault of their own, are unable to sit exams, are not disadvantaged.

We will continue to work with the education sector and SQA to achieve this.

Question reference: S5O-04243

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that there are adequate climate change risk assessments in place in all policy areas.

Question reference: S5O-04189

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what discussions it has had regarding the increase in the MSP staffing budget.

Question reference: S5W-27460

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the coronavirus outbreak, what advice (a) the NHS and (b) Education Scotland is providing to schools regarding pupils returning from visits to south east Asia.

General information on where to find up to date advice on COVID-19 has already been circulated to all Directors of Education for dissemination to schools in Scotland.

Health Protection Scotland’s guidance cell have provided input into Public Health England’s guidance for educational settings and are currently adapting this for use in Scotland. This guidance will cover what pupils, students or members of staff should do if they have returned from a higher risk country within the last 14 days. The guidance will be finalised shortly and distributed across the education sector.