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-33989

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people will be in wave (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 of the COVID-19 vaccination prioritisation programme, also broken down by how many weeks it will take to immunise them.

Question reference: S5W-33985

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans have been or are being prepared for the use of future COVID-19 vaccines that might require less logistical planning than that developed by Pfizer.

Question reference: S5W-34571

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to recruit retired and former NHS staff to assist in the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Question reference: S5W-34192

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 28 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31900 by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 October 2020, what additional financial support it has provided to (a) CalMac and (b) NorthLink Ferries in each month since August 2020 to enable it to respond to the financial pressures arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further to the answer provided to S5W-31900 the Scottish Government continues to provide additional financial support to CalMac Ferries Ltd and Serco NorthLink Ferries as detailed in the following table.

	CalMac Ferries Ltd	Serco NorthLink Ferries
	£	£
August 2020	1,820,000	1,130,536
September 2020	724,000	636,518
October 2020	** 747,000	473,993
November 2020	** 1,050,000	326,208

** CalMac Ferries Ltd have submitted claims for additional financial support for October and November to the Scottish Government. However, the claims are as yet to be approved.

These emergency funding measures have been taken to provide support to CalMac Ferries Ltd and Serco NorthLink Ferries allow them to continue covering costs whilst having lower revenues as a result of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Question reference: S5W-33909

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) (i) NHS and (ii) social care staff and (b) care home residents will be vaccinated with the initial 65,500 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Question reference: S5O-04974

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the use of do-not-resuscitate orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S5W-34433

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a detailed cost breakdown and variance analysis comparing the original contract price and the current completion cost estimate for the two vessels under construction at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow.

This information can be found in the publicly available Updated Cost and Programme for Vessels 801 & 802 report published by the Scottish Government on 18 December 2019 at Appendix 8, which can be found at Ferguson Marine: report on cost and programme for vessels 801 and 802 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) on the Scottish Government website under publications.

On 25 August 2020 the Scottish Government published a further report titled Update on Progress and Impact of Covid-19 on Programme for Vessels 801 & 802 which can be found at Ferguson Marine vessel programme: progress update August 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) on the Scottish Government website under publications. A breakdown of the costs can be found in Appendix 9 of the report.

All future reports on schedule and cost will provide further breakdowns.

Question reference: S5W-34432

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the current completion cost estimate is for the two vessels under construction at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow.

Question reference: S5W-34434

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected in-service dates are for the two vessels under construction at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow.

The delivery of 801 is planned for the range April 2022 to June 2022 and the delivery of 802 is planned for December 2022 to February 2023. Following delivery it is estimated that a further 3 months will be required by CalMac for each to undergo local area trials and crew training before the vessel will be able to be enter service. This means 801 will be able to serve through the winter of 2022-23 and 802 will be ready to serve the summer of 2023.

Question reference: S5W-34098

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to allowing indoor household mixing in rural and remote parts of mainland Scotland that are in Level 1, in a similar way that has been allowed for those living in inhabited island communities.

On December 8, the First Minister confirmed to Parliament that all islands in local authority areas under Level 1 protective measures without road links to the mainland would mirror the approach taken on the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) and that people could meet another household indoors, subject to the 6 people from 2 household rule in a private home or in a public place such as a bar, pub, café or restaurant.

This was in recognition of the particular impact that isolation and loneliness can have on island communities. It was recognised these same issues can arise in rural communities on the mainland and consideration was given to extending this specific exemption. However, given the need to protect our communities, and allowing for the transport links which connect rural communities on the mainland to more urban areas, the conclusion was reached that a more cautious approach was appropriate.

From 26 December, all areas in Scotland on the mainland come under level 4, with Orkney, Shetland, Na h-Eileanan Siar and the more remote islands in Argyll and Bute and Highland moving to Level 3 and individuals should follow the rules appropriate for their local authority under these levels.