- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the ecological status of Scotland’s lochs and rivers.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2021
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings and recommendations in the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care report, Every Story’s Ending, published in September 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomes the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care’s report: Every Story’s Ending. This report provides a helpful insight into the experiences that people and their families have at the end of life in Scotland.
The findings of the report will be helpful in shaping the work to take forward our commitment to produce a new palliative and end of life care strategy over the course of the coming year.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with trade unions representing ScotRail staff.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2021
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the development of a National Centre for Music.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2021
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is following World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control COVID-19 contact guidance that (a) contact tracing should include contacts in school, including classmates, teachers and other staff and (b) as well as testing all contacts with symptoms, there should be quarantining and testing of asymptomatic high-risk exposure contacts, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to follow the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Covid-19 contact tracing guidance as well as recent evidence on the impact of vaccination in protecting the population from harm and latest evidence on infection and transmission in children and young people. Contact tracing continues to include all contacts in school with public health advice provided on the basis of whether a contact is ‘high-risk’ or ‘low-risk’ with low-risk contacts being identified by schools and receiving targeted ‘Information’ letters. People identified as asymptomatic high-risk exposure contacts, regardless of age, continue to be advised to isolate and to take a PCR test.
The changes made to contact tracing and isolation policy from 9 August continue to deliver an effective public health intervention whilst balancing the risk of health harms across the population with the harms caused by prolonged self-isolation of children and young people.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the COVID-19 Delta variant, what its position is on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control statement that "children appear to be equally susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to other age groups".
Answer
We welcome and have noted the technical report on ‘COVID-19 in children and the role of school settings in transmission – second update’ from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The COVID-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues has previously recognised that the Delta variant is more transmissible than the previously dominant variants, including among children. However, compared to adults, children are at much lower risk of severe COVID-related health outcomes. Once infected, they are more likely to experience mild or asymptomatic infection. Severe illness, hospitalisation and mortality are rare. Moreover, the evidence base continues to suggest that children transmit the virus at lower rates than adults, are more likely to transmit among themselves than to adults, and that cases in education settings follow and mirror transmission rates in the community where adult to adult transmission is more common. The summary report of the evidence on children, schools, early learning and childcare settings and transmission from COVID-19 provides more detail.
From w/c Monday 20 September all 12-15 year olds will be eligible for one dose of the vaccine which should help reduce transmission in children 12 years old and above.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its policy that schools remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic, what its position is on whether (a) significant mitigations are needed in schools and (b) community transmissions must be kept to a minimum; what additional policies it will implement to ensure that children and young people do not face disproportionate risks to their long-term health as a result of COVID-19, and what the timescales are for any such action.
Answer
Our focus has been, and remains, on keeping our school communities safe including minimising the risk of any long-term impact of the pandemic. The First Minister confirmed in her update to Parliament on 14 September, that we are retaining the current suite of mitigations in schools for the time being. This decision follows the latest recommendations of the advisory sub-group on education and children’s issues, and was taken after very careful consideration. The measures in place in schools and across wider society are crucial in reducing infection but we will continue to keep the requirements under very close review.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when parents will be permitted to attend school sports to watch their children play.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 2 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to doubling the Scottish Child Payment in its forthcoming budget for 2022-23.
Answer
We have committed to significantly increasing the level of the Scottish Child Payment, following the rollout to under 16s, and doubling it to £20 in the lifetime of this Parliament. In addition, as set out in our cooperation agreement with the Scottish Green Party we have a shared aspiration to actively seek ways to accelerate that commitment, including looking at options for staged increases. Final decisions about timing and increases will factor in to the spending review and be taken in the relevant budget.
Scottish Child Payment is unparalleled across the UK and we have already helped over 108,000 children, however our anti-poverty efforts are being seriously undermined by UK Government welfare cuts. So if Mr Balfour is serious about tackling poverty, can I suggest he take this opportunity to call on his own colleagues in Westminster to reverse its plans to cut the £20 increase to Universal Credit.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 27 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the scientific evidence it used to determine that face coverings should continue to be required in places of worship, and by what date this restriction will be lifted.
Answer
The requirement to wear a face covering in certain indoor public places is not specific to places of worship. This requirement is necessary to reduce the number of indoor interactions that occur without a face covering in order to limit the opportunities for transmission. A list of exemptions is included within the Regulations laid in parliament as well as in the Scottish Government's published guidance. Those exemptions cover activities where it would be a disproportionate interference or impractical to require a face covering including eating or drinking, performing, exercising and with some specific exemptions around weddings and civil partnerships.
The Scottish Government regularly publishes evidence and data relating to the response to the COVID pandemic. With regard to face coverings, decisions were based on evidence and advice from both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) both of whom have published extensive evidence and guidance on the use of face coverings.
Mitigations to reduce transmission of the new variant SARS-CoV-2 virus, 22 December 2020 (publishing.service.gov.uk) .
Advice on the use of masks in the community, during home care and in healthcare settings in the context of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak (who.int)
The World Health Organisation recommends the use of face coverings in the community in areas of known transmission and in certain workplaces. The settings of known transmission tend to have identifiable characteristics such as close proximity with people from other households, settings where an individual may stay for prolonged periods of time, confined shared environments and poor ventilation. Any future requirement to wear face coverings will continue to take account of social and economic factors as well as the epidemiological impact on transmission. This is subject to regular review.
