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-30392

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it is providing during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the trunk road network is made safer for (a) cyclists and (b) other road users.

The Scottish Government has provided financial support through allocating £30 million to the Spaces for People (SfP) fund. This fund helps local authorities to put in place temporary measures which support physical distancing whilst keeping people who are walking, wheeling or cycling safe from traffic during transition out of the Covid-19 lockdown. Since the announcement of the SfP fund, a number of local authorities have intimated that they are looking to introduce SfP measures including temporary 20 mph speed limits on certain trunk roads, as part of their wider SfP scheme proposals. As the roads authority for trunk roads, Transport Scotland is engaging with relevant local authorities to consider these measures.

As part of Transport Scotland’s annual road safety review, we engage with stakeholders including the public to understand local priorities for safer active travel. Where an active travel scheme is identified and progressed on the trunk road, we liaise with Sustrans and local authorities to ensure that this is consistent with strategic plans for walking, cycling and wheeling in their area.

Question reference: S5W-30390

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has carried out since July 2019 to prioritise locations to improve the connectivity, accessibility and safety on the trunk route network for (a) cyclists and (b) other road users; when this work (i) was and (ii) will be completed, and how it is being taken forward.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of a safe, accessible and connected trunk road network for (a) cyclists and (b) other road users throughout Scotland. Therefore, as part of the wider management and maintenance of the trunk road network, when developing maintenance programmes and schemes, Transport Scotland and its maintenance agents explore the opportunities to address any existing connectivity or accessibility issues. We also work closely with local authorities and other external parties to facilitate related works which they are seeking to deliver on, adjacent or intersecting the trunk road network.

This has included the delivery of a variety of schemes including footways, cycleways, pedestrian barriers, lighting and pedestrian crossings. This covers a wide range of schemes and programmes.

We also continue to work with Sustrans and local authorities to explore proposals for active travel measures brought forward as part of the National Cycle Network or through the Scottish Government funded Places for Everyone and Spaces for People initiatives.

Looking to the longer term, the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) commenced in spring 2019 and will inform transport infrastructure investment in Scotland for the next 20 years. STPR2 will help deliver the vision, themes and outcomes for transport set out in the new National Transport Strategy (NTS2) published on 5 February 2020. Interventions will be considered in the context of the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy set out in NTS2. Further information is available at: https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/national-transport-strategy .

We remain committed to working with stakeholders to take forward STPR2, albeit in revised timescales, that take account of the Covid-19 impacts and as we work toward a green economic recovery. We will also need to understand how the impact of the pandemic may shape our future transport system and the demands placed on it. We will do that as part of an overall Government programme, before we can take decisions on future strategic transport infrastructure investment.

Question reference: S5W-30015

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many children in the (a) Perth and Kinross, (b) Stirling, (c) Clackmannanshire and (d) Fife Council area have received a laptop as a consequence of its £9 million initiative to provide 25,000 children with computers.

The Scottish Government has committed to investing a total of £25m to support digital inclusion amongst disadvantaged children and young people. We are in close discussion with local authorities through SOLACE, ADES and Cosla about how to deliver best value and impact on that investment to ensure as many children and young people as possible are lifted out of digital exclusion and are able to connect with their schools, their teachers and their learning. Laptops have not yet been issued to any children and young people.

Question reference: S5W-28291

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 19 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of relatives visiting a Fife care home being asked to sign forms agreeing to nil resuscitation and being advised that older residents may not be taken to hospital in the event of suspected COVID-19 but would only be given antibiotics, what its policy is regarding care homes and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders.

On 10 April 2020 the Scottish Government's Chief Medical Officer, BMA and RCGP wrote to GP practices to provide advice and support on having anticipatory care planning conversations and to make clear that there is no requirement for health professionals to have a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) discussion as part of this conversation, unless the patient wishes to discuss it or clinician feels strongly it is necessary to raise in conversation for the patient’s wellbeing.

As the purpose of Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) conversations is to understand a person’s wishes for their healthcare and ensure that these are recorded appropriately, these can be undertaken by Care Home staff if appropriate and the individual feels comfortable doing so. When an ACP is completed by a member of the wider Health and Social Care team, a copy should be kept with the patient where possible and a copy sent to the GP practice for recording on the appropriate system.

However, it is important to note that conversations relating the appropriateness of specific medical treatments, such as CPR, are always matters for the clinical team responsible for an individual’s care.

Question reference: S5W-29571

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship fund have been (a) approved and (b) rejected, and how many payments have been made.

Question reference: S5W-29572

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that there is national coordination in place to set up COVID-19-free sites for cancer surgery, and what cancers these sites will be able to treat.

We are working hard to ensure vital and urgent care remains, including the use of the Golden Jubilee and the use of private hospital capacity to treat these NHS patients. By utilising the private sector capacity we are able to provide a COVID free environment for urgent cancer procedures.

On 31 May we published our framework for re-mobilising our health services, “Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design.” The framework sets out how Health Boards will follow national and local clinical advice to safely and gradually prioritise the resumption of some paused services.

To complement this we published on 4 June the Framework for Recovery of Cancer Surgery. This includes consideration of establishing dedicated “green” specific areas to carry out cancer treatments.

Question reference: S5W-29305

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has recommended delaying the reopening of businesses in the (a) housebuilding and (b) clothing and textile sector until the second phase of its route map for exiting the COVID-19 lockdown.

Our assessment of which sectors and types of working could open at this time has taken into account which sectors incur a lower risk of transmission as well as the ease of implementing physical distancing. It has also taken into account the low level of interdependencies, with other sectors of the economy as well as against the binding constraints of transport and school capacity. At this point, those types of working which have met these criteria as well as the three pillars of safe working will reopen as part of the phased release. Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis sets out the phased return for other sectors of the economy.

The health and safety of the people of Scotland is our top priority. Our manufacturing sector guidance (published 26 May), notes that due to the increased risk of the transmission of coronavirus, indoor non-essential manufacturing is not expected to resume until phase 2, with preparatory work for ensuring physical distancing and enhanced hygiene measures able to take place during phase 1.

We want to get the housing market moving as soon as it is safe to do so but we will only act in line with the medical and scientific evidence and advice specific to the pandemic in Scotland. As set out in the route map , in Phase 1 we are preparing for the safe reopening of the housing market and, in phase 2, we anticipate a relaxation of restrictions on home moves. The Scottish Government’s Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on moving home (published 31 March) remains in force during phase 1. On 28 May, we issued a short supplementary guidance note on how phases 1 and 2 in the Scottish Government’s route map apply to the housing market and home moves.

We have also signalled that the construction sector could implement the first two phases in its restart plan in phase 1 of the route map, with a decision to move to 'phase 2-soft start' of the construction sector's plan only after consulting with government to ensure it is safe to do so and in line with public health advice.

Question reference: S5F-04162

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 May 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to Police Scotland reporting that nearly 1,700 cases have been recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.

Question reference: S5T-02152

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it will take in light of reports of COVID-19-related attacks on police officers.

Question reference: S5W-28300

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that it will allocate to charities in Scotland as soon as possible the £30 million in Barnett consequentials arising from the UK Government’s £750 million support package for England in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and by what date it expects the charities to begin receiving this.

The Scottish Government announced support for charities via the Community Wellbeing Fund and Third Sector Resilience Fund on 18 March, more than 3 weeks before the UK Government announcement. These Funds provide support in excess of the consequentials resulting from the UK Government's announcement. I am relieved that the UK Government has now also recognised the importance of the charitable sector.