- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalty notices have been issued to hospitality businesses under the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 in each quarter since they came into force, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Local authorities and Police have a range of powers under the current Coronavirus regulations, including the power to issue notices and directions on businesses to take specific actions. Similar powers have been in place under previous regulations. Enforcement action is the last step of the 4 Es approach (Engage, Explain, Encourage and Enforce).
No Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued to hospitality businesses by local authority officers under these regulations. Local authorities have sought to resolve any issues with businesses without resorting to formal enforcement, and where this has been necessary direction powers and improvement notices are the tools that have been used. Engagement and enforcement of the regulations on business premises has been led by the local authorities, rather than Police Scotland. Police Scotland do not publish data on FPNs issued.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the challenges raised by the Omicron variant of COVID-19, what funding will be available to the taxi and private hire sector; from what date any fund will open for applications from operators and drivers, and what the eligibility criteria will be for applying to any fund.
Answer
We recognise the pandemic’s impact on the economy and businesses across a wide range of sectors. So far, the Scottish Government has provided £79.3 million directly to taxi and private hire drivers and operators in response to the pandemic. Further support of up to £28 million was announced on 5 January 2022 from within the £375 million package of funding announced on 21 December 2021, bringing total support for the sector to over £107 million. We will work closely with delivery partners to make payments to eligible businesses at the earliest opportunity, which is of course our established approach. Eligibility criteria will be published shortly.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to understand what proportion of local area emissions public bodies have (a) direct and (b) indirect leverage over.
Answer
The statutory targets to reduce Scotland’s economy-wide emissions to net-zero, set under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and Climate Change (Emissions Reductions Target) (Scotland) Act 2019, are set at the national level and are not disaggregated to local authority levels.
New regulations, which came into force on 9 November 2020, require around 180 Scottish public bodies by November 2022 to report, where applicable, the body’s target date for achieving zero direct emissions of greenhouse gases (or such other targets that demonstrate how the body is contributing to Scotland achieving its emissions reduction targets) and, where applicable, targets for reducing indirect emissions of greenhouse gases. It is for those public bodies to determine where best to target their resource and effort to support achievement of respective targets to reduce emissions.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many public bodies’ carbon management plans are assessed annually.
Answer
Since 2015-16, around 180 listed Scottish public bodies have been required to report annually on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. To assess progress on emissions reduction, the Scottish Government funds the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) Secretariat to produce an annual analysis of the submitted reports. Reported emissions from the public sector continue to decrease, with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions down 28.5% since mandatory reporting began in 2015-16.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04732 by Maree Todd on 8 December 2021, whether it will provide details of the composition of the Burial Regulations Working Group; whether the group met on 9 December 2021, and, if so, where the minutes of this and other meetings are published.
Answer
The Scottish Government reconvened the Burial Regulations Working Group (first established in 2016) on 9 December 2021 to continue work to develop burial regulations, as provided for in the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016.
At that meeting the Group reassessed the remit and membership of the Group, progress to date and the approach to take going forward.
The membership of the Group includes both public and private burial authorities, third sector organisations, special interest organisations and funeral sector trade organisations, ensuring views from across the sector are represented.
The Group agreed that the membership be expanded to the wider funeral sector, and invitations to join the Group are being sent to the identified parties. It would not be appropriate to share members’ details until the membership is agreed.
The minutes of the previous meeting will be published on the Scottish Government website once they have been cleared by the Group.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will update the Parliament on when referral pathways for women outside the breast cancer screening age range will be restored.
Answer
The Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB), which oversees breast screening in Scotland, has agreed that the option for women aged 71 and over to self-refer into the breast screening programme will resume once all screening centres are able to offer those aged 53-70 their breast screening appointments within 39 months of their previous screening. Progress towards this is being closely monitored, and the timing for restarting the option for women aged 71 and over to self-refer into the programme is regularly reviewed.
The breast screening programme offers routine screening to women aged between 50 and 70 years old. It remains important for women of all ages to be symptom aware, and to report any concerns about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer to their GP straight away, so that they can be promptly investigated. Their GP will be able to refer women of any age for further investigation and treatment if required. Further information regarding the possible symptoms of breast cancer can be found at https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/cancer/cancer-types-in-adults/breast-cancer-female.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the National Patient Safety Alert issued by Public Health England, Potent synthetic opioids implicated in increase in drug overdoses, which was issued on 18 August 2021, whether it has been notified of any instances of (a) isotonitazene and (b) other synthetic opioids having been detected in the illegal drugs market in Scotland, and, if so, (i) when and (ii) where each instance occurred.
Answer
The emergence of new drugs is regularly monitored by Public Health Scotland and, following the alert from Public Health England in 2021, work is underway to incorporate screening for isotonitazene into toxicology procedures for both drug-related deaths and police seizures in Scotland.
In relation to detection of substances, unfortunately we do not hold information broken down to the level of detail requested. Scottish Government publish statistics on the number of drug possession and supply crimes and the quantities seized. These statistics relate to drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The full report can be accessed via this link:
Drug seizures and Offender Characteristics, 2018-2019 and 2019-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
The Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 made it an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess with intent to supply, possess on custodial premises, import or export psychoactive substances. The number of crimes of production, supply or possession in custody of a psychoactive substance was 2 in 2018-19, 10 in 2019-20 and 8 in 2020-21 (source: annex of the above noted report).
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to work with local authorities that have historically high fuel poverty rates.
Answer
Our Fuel Poverty Strategy, published on 23 December, details how we aim to meet our statutory fuel poverty targets, as set out in the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019 ("the 2019 Act"). The 2019 Act requires us to meet our 2040 targets both nationwide and within each local authority area, so we recognise that local authorities will be key partners in our efforts to achieve our fuel poverty goals.
Local authority fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty rates are used to determine the funding allocations for our Area Based energy efficiency schemes (ABS), which are delivered in partnership with local authorities, ensuring money is distributed according to need.
Local authorities are currently required to set out their plans for how to tackle fuel poverty in their Local Housing Strategies (LHS). We will be refreshing our guidance on the fuel poverty requirements of the LHS to reflect the approach taken in our Fuel Poverty Strategy. In future local authorities will also be required to produce Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), within which they will set out how poor energy efficiency will be removed as a driver of fuel poverty.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not established a drug checking service, such as WEDINOS, which was launched by NHS Wales in 2013, and whether it has any plans to establish a similar service in the future.
Answer
The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce has funded a project through Stirling University to research and develop the key components required to implement Drug Checking facilities in three areas in Scotland (Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen). Research began in January 2021 and will conclude with an evaluation report in January 2023. The project will also include a parallel programme of implementation.
The project team has committed to submitting applications to the Home Office in early 2022. Assuming support from the Home Office is forthcoming, we expect services to be established in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow in 2022.
We have highlighted our desire to introduce these facilities to the Home Office as any activity which involves the possession of controlled drugs would require a Home Office licence. Kit Malthouse, the UK Government Minister for Policing, has indicated that he is open to discussing this with the Scottish Government and conversations have taken place between Scottish and UK officials to progress this.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the early warning system, referenced in the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce’s Interim Report, is on track to be developed and rolled out by 31 March 2022, and whether it will detail how the system will operate.
Answer
The early warning system, referenced in the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce’s Interim Report, is on track to be developed and rolled out by 31 March 2022.
Public Health Scotland is leading the development and will operate this system by working closely with Health Boards to monitor information on drug harms. The early warning system will review evidence of trends or clusters of drug harms or deaths and support early, targeted and intelligence-led action in response. When concerns about clusters or trends in drug harms are identified, a risk assessment will be completed to guide actions and communicate risks where appropriate.
An advisory group will be in place to ensure actions are taken at a local and national level to reduce further harms.