- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the local government minister has had with the finance secretary regarding creating a permanent financial settlement for local authorities.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2021
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of people receiving letters saying they have not attended their COVID-19 vaccine appointment after receiving their first dose, and whether it can confirm that (a) medical records will not be affected and (b) people will still be invited for their second dose of the vaccine.
Answer
I’m sure you can appreciate the vaccination program has been delivered at a pace and scale we have never experienced before and as such this is one of the largest and most complicated logistical exercises ever undertaken in peacetime. Over 3,267,290 people have received the first dose and 2,075,231 people have received the second dose of the Covid vaccination in the period 8 December to 7:30 am Tuesday 01 June. This is over 71% of our eligible population for the first dose and 45% for second doses.
With any operation of such scale, it is regrettable the administrative errors have occurred.
In a small number of cases across different health boards, some people have received letters incorrectly saying that they had not attended their first vaccination appointment, when they had.
If someone has received one of these letters, and they have had their 1st dose vaccination – they should phone the national phone line on 0800 030 8013 – to help us make sure your central record is up to date and ensure your 2nd appointment is provided for you. We apologise for the inconvenience or confusion that this has caused.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to disseminate information on the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019 to communities in the northeast of Scotland, and who is responsible for this.
Answer
The Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019 removed the common law defence of “reasonable chastisement” from the law of Scotland on 7 November 2020.
That Act also provides that the Scottish Ministers are to take such steps as they consider appropriate to promote public awareness and understanding about the removal of the defence.
The Scottish Government has taken a variety of steps to achieve this, including:
More generally, the Scottish Government is committed to supporting parents. The Scottish Government has run a marketing campaign which promotes positive parenting. This can be seen on the ParentClub website .
Working with the Implementation Group formed by the Scottish Government to consider work required to implement the Act, we will continue to explore options for raising public awareness and understanding about the removal of the defence.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 7 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when dental work under the NHS will be available again for all new mothers up to their child’s first birthday.
Answer
Throughout the pandemic NHS patients, including new mothers, have been able to receive care and treatment, including aerosol generating procedures (AGPs), through one of 75 urgent dental care centres in Scotland. We have taken a precautionary approach to the remobilisation of NHS dental services but work has been carried out at pace to improve our understanding and risk management of COVID-19 transmission in dental settings, and since 1 November 2020 dentists have been able to provide the full range of NHS care and treatment to patients.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 7 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether people travelling to Scotland will be able to buy PCR tests from providers such as Eurofins, in line with other parts of the UK, as opposed to more expensive COVID-19 travel tests purchased through the CTM Booking Portal.
Answer
To date, we have required travellers to use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel.
The purpose of these tests is to identify any positive cases as quickly as possible so that contact tracing and genomic sequencing can be carried out and minimise the chances of delays and the risk of community transmission of the virus.
A robust and fast flow of data from laboratories to Public Health Scotland is therefore essential, and we have had concerns that private sector tests would not be able to meet these requirements.
However, we fully understand how difficult the restrictions on international travel are, both for the sector and for individuals who are keen to travel to see family, as well as for other important reasons. We are therefore exploring options to allow private sector testing to be used for people arriving in Scotland, provided we can ensure the swift and accurate flow of data to Public Health Scotland.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 7 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the telemedical abortion care, “pills by post”, which is provided to women who are unable to access a hospital or specialist clinic for the administration of the medication required to terminate pregnancies, will still be made available after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
Early medical abortion at home and the changes adopted in March 2020 to enable women to take the first abortion drug, mifepristone, at home where this was felt to be clinically appropriate for them and where the patient wished to do so has been an important measure to ensure abortion services continued to be delivered throughout the pandemic, without delays. The ‘Pills by Post’ service is an English service, which is not provided in Scotland. While many NHS Boards in Scotland are following similar arrangements, medication is in most cases delivered or collected from a clinic, rather than being sent by post.
The Scottish Government launched a public consultation on the future arrangements for early medical abortion at home on 30 September 2020, which closed on 5 January 2021. Responses to the consultation have been published on the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space website. The future arrangements for early medical abortion at home are being considered in light of the findings from the consultation and other available evidence and the Scottish Government plans to confirm our approach this summer.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to introduce vaccine certification for people who have received their COVID-19 vaccine.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what COVID-19 protections will be in place for the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, which will be held in Aberdeen.
Answer
Domestic and international elite sporting events are permitted to take place in all strategic framework levels.
Any event organiser must comply with the protocols set out under the Resumption of Performance Sport guidance and run their event in a strict ‘bubble’. Events must have specific Covid secure plans in place and ensure that they have an appropriate testing regime; a clear statement on minimising or eliminating any unavoidable encroachment of physical distancing within the event environment; restrict movement of participants to designated accommodation, training and competition sites; and have contact only with other accredited event participants unless for other exceptional reasons such as medical need or legal requirements. Event participants must also adhere to the international travel regulations for Elite Sportspeople.
The Scottish Government and the sportscotland Institute of Sport (SIS) reviewed the comprehensive plans put forward by the World Curling Federation in advance of the event being approved.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what its position is regarding providing people with a COVID-19 vaccination certificate, similar to that offered in other parts of the UK, and what its response is to reports of some GP surgeries charging people money for such documentation.
Answer
I updated Parliament on COVID 19 Status Certificate on 26 May 2021 in response to question S6T-00019. I refer the member to that answer. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament
Our Freephone COVID-19 Status Helpline on 0808 196 8565 can provide vaccination status certificate records free of charge. However, GP practices can charge their patients for the production of letters and reports at the patient’s request that are not covered by the GP contract.
To help ease the burden on GPs and to ensure people can access this information free we would encourage people to use our Freephone service, and not to ask their GP.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that COVID-19 helplines are frequently out of service or unmanned, with callers being placed in queues with hundreds of other patients and whether it will outline plans to introduce more efficient methods to allow people to access information, reschedule their vaccine appointment, check their vaccine status, and enquire about missed appointment letters.
Answer
The Scottish Government greatly values the work of those working on the national helpline. The national helpline is available 7 days a week between 8am and 8pm as an alternative channel for those patients who are not able to access content or services digitally. On average the helpline answers 23,000 calls on a weekday and around 14,000 calls are answered on each day over the weekend. There are between 200 to 400 people who staff the national helpline, dependent on demand patterns.
The average time taken to answer a call to the helpline, was less than a minute. There has been an increase in calls since 17 May 2021 which has meant people have been place in a queue on weekdays.
Having identified the increase in demand over the last two weeks, additional resources are being mobilised from the week, starting 31 May 2021 to reduce call wait times.
