- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, 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 12 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure delivery on contractual obligations to provide (a) musculo-skeletal, (b) urgent care practitioners and (c) primary mental health nurses to all GP practices by 2021, and whether additional funding has been provided to NHS boards to enable delivery of this contractual obligation.
Answer
Our shared priorities with the BMA were set out in the joint letter of 02 December 2021.
https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/DC20201203GMS_Contract.pdf
This letter sets out the actions we are taking across all the work streams supporting the 2018 GP Contact offer. This includes musculo-skeletal, urgent care practitioners and primary care mental health nurses.
We are taking additional steps on mental health as set out in our PFG. By 2026, every GP Practice will have access to a mental health and wellbeing service. This will fund 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and direct social prescribing.
We have further increased our Primary Care Fund from £195m to £250m in 21-22 in direct support of general practice. As part of this investment support for the Primary Care multi-disciplinary team has increased for £110 to £155 million.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make specific commitments on the cancer services workforce in the forthcoming National Workforce Strategy.
Answer
We are currently working in consultation with partners and stakeholders to agree the scope and content of the National Workforce Strategy. The Strategy will be designed around objectives which support remobilisation, recovery and renewal of Health and Social Care Services. It will articulate a holistic, long-term health and social care workforce vision, alongside our strategic priorities for workforce growth, recruitment, retention, training and development.
The National Cancer Recovery Group (NCRG) are currently carrying out an exercise to identify workforce requirements, looking specifically at roles related to cancer. We will pay close attention to this work, in the development of the National Workforce Strategy.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in compensation by each NHS board in each year since 1999.
Answer
Regarding payments made under the NHS Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS), I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-01770 on 24 August 2016 and S5W-32423 on 30 October 2020 . 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 .
Regarding compensation payments made outwith the CNORIS scheme, the information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many reports have been made each month by (a) NHS and (b) social care staff to the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line.
Answer
The Scottish Government contract with the whistleblowing charity Protect, who provided the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line, ended on 31 October 2020. The final report is available to view on: https://www.gov.scot/collections/nhs-confidential-advice-and-information-line/
The Whistleblowing Standards and Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) for NHS Scotland launched on 1 April 2021. The INWO offers a mechanism for external review of how a Health Board, primary care or independent provider handles a whistleblowing case. Included in this service is a confidential advice and information line which has been in operation since 1 November 2020. This provides support and advice to staff and managers on the application of the Whistleblowing Standards and mechanisms in place to support whistleblowing and whistleblowers. As the INWO operates independently, the Scottish Government do not hold information on the number of cases reported through this service.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to ensure that people's COVID-19 vaccination records are accurate and display the appropriate information.
Answer
The Scottish Government and National Services Scotland are working to ensure that COVID-19 records, in terms of vaccinations show complete accuracy.
This will be assisted by the digital application to record the COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available from 1 October.
Any suspected errors in a person’s COVID-19 vaccination record should be reported to the vaccinations status helpline on 0808 196 8565. The helpline can only resolve issues in relation to vaccinations administered in Scotland.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to findings from the charity,
Cats Protection, which suggests that 29% of owned cats in Scotland are not
microchipped, and what measures it is taking to encourage owners to microchip
their cats to help reunite lost animals and identify those that have been
stolen.
Answer
The Scottish Government Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with them should they be separated.
The findings of the Cats Protection’s survey suggest that the owners of around 71% of cats have accepted that recommendation and voluntarily microchipped their pets.
The Scottish Government does not currently consider that microchipping should be made compulsory for cats but is aware of the Defra call for evidence and recent public consultation on the microchipping of cats. We will give full consideration to the results of this consultation when they are available.
- Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 11 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report of the public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland, whether it will commit to instigating an independent review into Islamophobia in Scotland and, if so, within what timetable.
Answer
The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of hatred or prejudice, including towards our Muslim communities. Scotland is a diverse, multi-cultural society and this diversity strengthens us as a nation. That is why we are determined to tackle all forms of prejudice and discrimination.
In June 2017, we published our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan in response to recommendations made by the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, Prejudice and Community Cohesion. We established a ministerial-led group to take this ambitious action plan forward. A report on implementation of these actions will be published and we will begin development of a new hate crime strategy in conjunction with key partners and stakeholders later this year. The new strategy will support implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.
It is in all of our interests to eliminate prejudice in Scotland, regardless of race or religion, and we would like to reiterate our commitment to working collaboratively with you and the Cross Party Group on Islamophobia to do so, including offering engagement on the range of issues highlighted within the report of the public enquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ash Denham on 11 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 will include a review of the effectiveness of breed-specific legislation.
Answer
Further to the work of the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee in the previous session of Parliament, the Scottish Government has begun the process of reviewing the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”). Earlier this year we published a consultation on dog control measures, with a specific focus on the criminal offence of a dog being allowed to be dangerously out of control contained in the 1991 Act. The views offered in response to the consultation have been analysed and will help to inform and formulate policy as to what specific legislative changes and non-legislative action should be progressed by the Scottish Government through further consultation. This work will include consideration of how banned breeds legislation operates.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on how competitive projects in Scotland can be compared with those in England and Wales, and how disadvantaged they may be in future Contracts for Difference auctions, whether it will consider raising the cap on floating offshore wind innovation projects within Marine Scotland's plan for Innovation projects and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG) from 100MW to 300MW.
Answer
The Sectoral Marine Plan – Offshore Wind for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (“INTOG”) is at an early stage and the Scottish Government is currently consulting on the Areas of Search, areas where projects under this planning process may be located, and on the details of the Plan Specification. This includes the 100 MW cap for Innovation and Test and Demonstration projects. The consultation will close on 20 October and all views will be considered before the next stage of the planning process commences.
It is important to clarify that the INTOG plan allows for any scale of project to proceed, provided it meets the purpose of the plan – to decarbonise oil and gas infrastructure, through electrification of platforms. The 100 MW threshold applies only to smaller projects seeking to test and demonstrate new technology or innovative solutions in the real environment. The planning process allows for both categories of projects to proceed in a sustainable manner with minimal impact to the environment or other sea users.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the European Commission regarding the creation of the Civil Society Forum required by Article 14 of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been using our contact with the UK Government to strongly make the case that Scottish civil society groups should have their voice heard in the Civil Society Forum, including through adequate representation of all four nations in its membership. We are also currently engaging with civil society groups to understand what further support they would find helpful to achieve this aim.