- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how long the current waiting list is for rape survivors at each rape crisis centre.
Answer
According to Rape Crisis Scotland, as of October 2020 and December 2021 waiting list times for each centre were as follows:
Centre | Waiting List 2020 | Waiting list 2021 |
Argyll and Bute | 10-12 weeks | 2 months |
Grampian | 3-5 months | 6.5 months |
South West (Dumfries and Galloway) | Up to 6 months | 1 month |
WSRAC (Dundee) | 2-6 months | 3 months |
STAR (Ayrshire) | No wait | 6 months |
Edinburgh | Up to 12 months (waiting list closed) | 4 months |
FRASAC (Fife) | 6-8 months | 9 months |
Forth Valley | 3-6 months | 5 weeks |
Glasgow and Clyde | 10-12 months | 8 months |
Lanarkshire | 5 months | 3.5 months |
Orkney | No wait | 3 months |
RASAC (Perth and Kinross) | 12 months | 3.5 months |
Highland | 9 months | 16 months |
Scottish Borders | 9-11 months | 8.5 months |
Shetland | 2 months | 4.5 months |
Western Isles | No wait | 1 month |
We know that having to wait for support has a real life impact on rape survivors, who deserve to be able to access the support they need. It is deeply concerning that referrals to services have increased during the pandemic. That is why within the first 100 days of this government, we directed new funding of £5m to Rape Crisis centres and domestic abuse services to help cut waiting lists and in 2020 we invested an additional £5.75m to various organisations including Rape Crisis Scotland to allow the rapid redesign of services and meet increased demand.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the original estimated date was for roads to open to traffic following the completion of the Haudagain Improvement project, and what the current estimated date is.
Answer
The A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at: https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ .
I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to announce the next phase of the Learning Estate Investment Programme.
Answer
The Learning Estate Investment Programme has made significant progress since the first projects were announced in September 2019, with projects in construction and in development representing a £1.2bn investment in the learning estate.
The Scottish Government intend to announce the projects that will form part of Phase 3 of the programme within the next 12 months. We will write to local authorities seeking investment proposals in 2022 and in the meantime we will work with local government to agree the development programme timeline.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the NICE guidelines for adults with cerebral palsy in January 2019, what action it is taking to enable the publication of the equivalent SIGN guidelines for adults with cerebral palsy in Scotland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05057 on 23 December 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how long it takes currently, after a COVID-19 booster vaccine is administered, for the information to be available through the COVID status app.
Answer
Proof of COVID-19 booster vaccination will appear on the NHS Scotland Covid Status app within 24 hours of the vaccine being administered.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the current legal status of the drug, Paxlovid, in Scotland; how much of the drug NHS Scotland has (a) ordered and (b) stocked; what models it is aware of regarding its efficacy in reducing hospitalisations of patients with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, and what emergency processes are underway for scaling manufacture and distribution of the drug within a 48-hour period.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to closely monitor all emerging evidence on the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments and their clinical effectiveness. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is now assessing Paxlovid’s safety and effectiveness, and I cautiously welcome analysis of the final clinical trial results from Pfizer (which are yet to be published or verified) which show that Paxlovid cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by approximately 89% in high risk, non-hospitalised adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. If approved by the MHRA, this will represent another significant pharmaceutical option in our response to COVID-19.
On 20th October, the UK Government announced that 250,000 treatment courses of Paxlovid had been ordered, pending regulatory approval. On 22nd December, the UK Government announced that a further 2.5 million treatment courses had been ordered as part of efforts to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant across the UK. If authorised by the MHRA, the intention is to initially deploy antivirals such as Paxlovid to individuals through a UK-wide national study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The University of Oxford has been selected to lead the study . This will enable collection of additional data to address limitations in the company-sponsored trials, for example the effectiveness of the treatments in vaccinated patients, as participants in the company trials were unvaccinated.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its consultation report on short-term let licensing, how it has addressed the specific concerns raised by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, as identified in Annex E of the report.
Answer
In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets, the Scottish Government has conducted three public consultations. Our most recent consultation closed on 13 August 2021, and we received 1,026 responses.
We carefully considered suggestions for changes to the legislation from working group members, and stakeholders responding to our third consultation, including the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers. The changes set out in the consultation report align with the policy objectives of ensuring all short-term lets comply with basic safety requirements, without undermining protections for guests, neighbours and local communities. These include significant and pragmatic changes in response to concerns from the tourism sector, such as the removal of overprovision and stronger guidance on fees.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on short-term let licensing, on what evidence it has based its assumption that “there is no reason why lenders and insurers should be unwilling to extend financial products to such a business, provided that they are satisfied that the business is being run in a safe way”, in light of the view that lenders base their support on the basis of turnover and profitability, as opposed to the safety of an activity.
Answer
At the heart of our licensing scheme is a set of mandatory standards which will help to protect the safety of guests and neighbours in short-term lets across Scotland. Provided an operator continues to comply with their licence conditions, which will often just be the mandatory safety conditions, their licence would normally be renewed. As the licensing scheme requires licence holders to comply with mandatory safety conditions, and they cannot continue to operate if they do not, it is reasonable to assume that lenders will have regard to this as part of their due diligence, alongside other considerations such as turnover and profitability.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of people in the NHS Grampian area who were referred for cancer treatment in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 started treatment within the 62-day target.
Answer
Data published by Public Health Scotland covering the period 01 January 2020 to 30 September 2021 shows that in NHS Grampian 83.7 % eligible referrals started treatment within the 62 day standard in 2020 and 78.2% in 2021. Representing 1081 of 1,291 referrals in 2020 and 815 of 1,042 referrals in 2021.
Further breakdown of this data can be accessed at Cancer waiting times - 1 July to 30 September 2021 - Cancer waiting times - Publications - Public Health Scotland .
Boards are continuing to prioritise new cancer patients being referred with a suspicion of cancer - this is closely monitored through weekly performance meetings with officials and reflected in Boards’ Remobilisation Plans.
A refresh of the Framework for Effective Cancer Management is underway and will support clinicians and NHS managers to drive improvements in cancer pathways, providing Health Boards with the tools to effectively manage cancer patients and ultimately recover waiting times.
£10 million of funding has been directed to support cancer waiting times improvements in NHS Scotland across 2021-22, including up-skilling nurses and investing in diagnostic tests to extended working days and weekend working, to increase capacity and see/treat cancer patients as timely as possible. NHS Grampian received £974,000 as a share of the funding.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether children and young people with poorly-controlled asthma will be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccination due to this group being reportedly at a higher risk of hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19.
Answer
Prioritisation within the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is based upon the clinical risk of developing severe disease with COVID-19. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises on clinical prioritisation for vaccination. Priority groups 1-9 incorporate the highest clinical risk groups and each group cohort is invited to receive vaccination accordingly.
As per guidance outlined within the Green Book, Chapter 14a, children and young people aged 12-15 years with poorly controlled asthma that requires continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission, are included as a high risk group within chronic respiratory disease.
For full details please see p19-23: COVID-19: the green book, chapter 14a - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .