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-35022

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34309 by Aileen Campbell on 22 January 2021, for what reason the constitution, articles of association or registered rules of these bodies must include a minimum of 20 members.

Community controlled bodies wanting to take ownership of land or buildings through asset transfer must have provision within their constitution, articles of association or registered rules stating that they have at least 20 members. This number helps to ensure that there are enough people to take on the responsibilities of ownership and keep the body going. However, section 80 paragraph (d) of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 does include a right for community organisations, who might find it difficult to secure a minimum of 20 members, to apply to Scottish Ministers for designation. This can be done by an order under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 77 as a community transfer body. Chapter 5 of the statutory guidance for community transfer bodies includes guidance for designation requests, which can be accessed via the following link: Community transfer bodies guidance .

Question reference: S5W-35557

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund will be directly invested into specialist CAMHS.

Question reference: S5W-35459

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the demand for adolescent eating disorder services since March 2020.

We continue to monitor research, referral rates and engage regularly with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Lead Clinicians, Service Managers and Heads of Child Psychology Group to provide us with an understanding of how those with an eating disorder, and their families, are feeling during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the right help and support is available.

Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published in October 2020, has a specific action to ensure that the National Review of Eating Disorder Services takes into account the effects of the pandemic and lockdown on access to help and support. The Review will be publishing their final report and recommendations at the end of this month.

Question reference: S5W-35460

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources have been made available (a) nationally and (b) by each NHS board to meet any additional demand for adolescent eating disorder services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have provided Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, with funding to ensure that their online and telephone services were able to support and help as many people as possible during this difficult time. In addition to these services, Beat launched a new moderated online group, The Sanctuary, which focuses on supporting sufferers with concerns relating to their eating disorder and Covid-19.

Furthermore, we provided funding to deliver additional capacity to NHS Lothian and Beat’s National Peer Support Services for both young people with an eating disorder, and their parents and carers.

In addition, we have invested £1.1 billion for NHS Boards and Integration Authorities to meet the costs of responding to the pandemic. Funding for additional mental health costs is included with the £1.1 billion allocation, and we expect that to be used to meet those pressures. Funding for frontline NHS boards will increase to £11.6 billion in 2021-22 and NHS boards will work with their partners to make local spending decisions on mental health that reflect local needs and national priorities, including taking into consideration the demand for adolescent eating disorder services.

Question reference: S5W-35360

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the COVID-19 quarantine requirements are for minors who are travelling home to Scotland, and whether they can self-isolate at home with their families.

We understand how difficult this is for families with children, but to manage the risk of importing new variants and to give vaccine deployment the best chance of bringing us closer to normality these limits on international travel are necessary.

The clinical advice is clear that a comprehensive system of managed quarantine is essential to minimise the impact of new COVID-19 variants. This means children must enter managed isolation regardless of whether they are accompanied or unaccompanied. A parent or guardian will be required to enter managed isolation to ensure the child is not left alone.

We must restrict how many exemptions are in place otherwise the policy will not be effective.

Question reference: S5W-35520

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on local authorities paying different payment percentages for suspended school bus contracts, and what action it plans to take on this.

Question reference: S5W-33913

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether funeral directors and crematorium staff will be part of the second phase of key workers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list has been updated to include funeral workers who are considered frontline funeral operatives and mortuary technicians/embalmers, as they are both at risk of exposure and likely to spend a considerable amount of time in care homes and hospital settings where they may also expose multiple patients. They are eligible for vaccination under category 2 of the JCVI list.

Question reference: S5W-35120

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance and support is in place for teachers of physical education who, due to COVID-19 restrictions, are having to run outdoor activities in poor or challenging weather conditions.

Guidelines on physical education and dance have been prepared by Education Scotland to assist with decision-making and the safe implementation of timetabled physical education. The guidelines are continually updated to reflect any changes in the scientific advice. Currently, two metre physical distancing must be maintained in secondary, minimal sharing of equipment, and being outside all contribute to further lowering of any risk of transmission.

On 9 February 2021, Education Scotland ran a webinar attended by 227 teachers to share online pedagogy and how to create a supportive learning environment. Through online learning, teachers have set physical activity challenges, both indoors and outdoors, so that learners can choose depending on their home setting. These practices were shared at the webinar and welcomed by the attendees. The webinar Teams space is now ‘live’ for teachers to continue to collaborate, share practice, and seek solutions in these challenging times. A recorded version of the webinar will be shared on DigiLearn in due course and similar events will be considered for the future.

Question reference: S5W-35286

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33980 by Jeanne Freeman on 14 January 2021, whether it will confirm by what date all people entitled to the £500 bonus for health and social care staff will have received their payment.

The majority of NHS Scotland staff will receive the thank you payment in February. For those staff who had previously left and have since returned to NHS Scotland, the payment will be made in March. For ex-NHS Scotland staff, the payment will be made from March onwards with timing being dependent on those people returning the necessary forms.

Independent contractors will be paid a lump sum on March which will be their responsibility to disburse to staff. Payments to sessional staff may be later in the new Financial Year.

The Scottish Government are working with Social Care stakeholders to make the payment to staff from March onwards.

Question reference: S5O-05088

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase funding to local authorities.