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-32819

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to encourage the public to partake in the Office for National Statistics COVID-19 infection survey; on what date any communication was sent to the public on this topic, and how many people were contacted.

Question reference: S5W-32820

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason IQVIA has delayed training for swab technician and blood tester roles, recruited by Reed, which are necessary to take part in the Office for National Statistics COVID-19 infection survey.

Question reference: S5W-32805

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what business support is in place for the Scottish Borders tourism and hospitality industry, which is partially closed but still trading.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates the impact the pandemic has had on the tourism and hospitality sector and we continue to support business survival as much as we can. We have been continually seeking to find a balance between action to suppress the virus and the protection of people’s jobs and livelihoods.

In addition to the £2.3 billion business support package we have already provided which now far exceeds the consequentials afforded to us by the UK Government, we have created an additional support package worth over £40m. Of this, £20m has been earmarked for the hospitality sector.

The COVID-19 Restrictions Fund will now provide one-off grants of up to £4,310 to businesses required to close by regulations. For businesses that may remain open but are directly impacted by the restrictions, the maximum hardship fund grant will increase to £2,155. Additionally, grants of £1,650 will help those firms that are required to close to help meet the 20% employer’s contribution that they required to pay under the current UK Government furlough scheme.

Our new five-level Strategic Approach to managing Covid sets out our planned levels of support for business in the event of any future restrictions.

The Scottish Government is committed to the long term recovery of the tourism and hospitality industry both in the Scottish Borders and across Scotland. The report by the Tourism Recovery Taskforce, published on 23 October, makes a number of recommendations that will be considered carefully, to allow us to continue to mitigate against the impacts of the virus, and to protect jobs.

Question reference: S5W-32859

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what equivalent scheme exists in Scotland to the Right to Build register in England, and what support is available to help people purchase a plot of land for a self-build home.

The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a new requirement for planning authorities to prepare and maintain a list of people interested in self-build.

The Scottish Government does not currently provide support to help people purchase a plot of land for a self-build home. The Scottish Government's national self build loan fund offers loans of up to £175,000 to eligible applicants for development costs to support build completion. The scheme requires applicants to have full land ownership or a contract to buy land.

Question reference: S5W-32567

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase (a) awareness and (b) the take-up of the Scottish Welfare Fund's (i) crisis and (ii) community care grant.

Through the Statutory Guidance, the Scottish Government encourages local authorities to adopt a holistic approach to Scottish Welfare Fund applications. By maintaining close working relationships with the support and advice services in their local areas and in their own authority, local decision makers can ensures that applicants are signposted or referred to the Welfare Fund and to other local services which may be of benefit to them.

The Scottish Government also works closely with national agencies and third sector organisations to ensure that people receive advice and information about the support available to them and the benefits to which they may be entitled.

We also highlight the provision of support through the Fund when statistics are published every month.

Individuals who are requested to self-isolate are informed of the availability of financial and other support.

Question reference: S5W-32566

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by the Associate Director Scotland of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) when giving evidence to the Social Security Committee on 8 October 2020 (Official Report, c.16) regarding Scottish Welfare Fund crisis grants that the JRF advisory group had found that "there were definitely people who felt that they should be eligible, for example, those fleeing domestic violence, having to turn to charity because they were not able to access emergency support for things as basic as beds and white goods".

The Scottish Welfare Fund is a discretionary scheme administered by local authorities. The purposes for which the Fund can be used are set out in legislation: to provide occasional assistance to people to help meet immediate short-term needs, and to support people to establish or maintain a settled home who would otherwise be in prison, hospital, residential care or be homeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life. The process through which decisions on applications are made is set out in Statutory Guidance. This is developed by the Scottish Government in conjunction with local authorities, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and other stakeholders.

There is a comprehensive and robust process in place to enable applicants who are unhappy about the outcome of their application to have the local authority’s decision reviewed, firstly by the local authority itself and secondly, if necessary, the SPSO.

Question reference: S5W-32565

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the readiness of local authorities to deliver the (a) Scottish Welfare Fund and (b) Self-isolation Support Grant.

Since the introduction of the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2013, we have built and maintained strong relationships with local authorities, both individually and through engagement with COSLA. The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People had a teleconference meeting with Councillor Kelly Parry, COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing on 29 September to discuss using the Scottish Welfare Fund to deliver the new Self-Isolation Support Grant. Policy officials also hold regular teleconferences with local authorities’ Welfare Fund practitioners. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with COSLA to ensure local authorities were quickly able to deliver the Self-Isolation Support Grant and continue to be able to do so. This vital intervention is enabling people on low income benefits who have been asked to self-isolate, to stay at home and stop the spread of Covid-19.

Question reference: S5F-04516

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2020

To ask the First Minister what guidance the Scottish Government has issued for marking Remembrance Sunday.

Question reference: S5W-32558

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospitality businesses have provided Test and Protect information as part of COVID-19 contact tracing; how many contacts have been made as a result, and how many positive tests have been recorded through this contact tracing, broken down by (a) hospitality business type and (b) local authority area.

The decision to follow up with customers of any individual pub, restaurant or other business is for the local Incident Management Team dealing with a cluster or outbreak, on the basis of their professional risk assessment. Contacts are traced from information collected and made available to NHS Test and Protect by Incident Management Teams. This allows NHS Test and Protect to contact those who may have been exposed to the virus in a particular setting, and request them to take appropriate steps to prevent potential onward spread.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the individual decisions made by Incident Management Teams undertaking a risk assessment during the handling of each cluster or outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-32282

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether social care workers who are unable to work due to experiencing long-term effects of COVID-19 are able to access the social care staff support fund.

The Social Care Staff Support Fund has been put in place to ensure that eligible social care workers receive their expected income and do not suffer financial hardship during the coronavirus pandemic. Full details of the eligibility criteria, categories of eligible workers, circumstances in which the Fund can be accessed, and how to apply can be found in the Fund guidance published on the Scottish Government’s website.