Parliamentary questions
Sharon Dowey
756 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the "ongoing issue around the preferred technical solution", referred to in the minutes from the 17th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare from November 2021, will cause any delay to roll-out of the delivery of the increase in the Scottish Child Payment.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: The ‘technical solution’ referred to will not impact on our commitment to doubling Scottish Child Payment. This increase, forecast to benefit 111,000 children under age 6 this year, is included within the annual uprating regulations that will come into effect…
11 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates any delay to the planned roll-out of the increased Scottish Child Payment.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05691 on 9 February 2022. 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-committ…
11 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date the roll-out of the increased Scottish Child Payment will be complete.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: I refer the member to the question S6W-05691 on 9 February 2022. 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/writte…
11 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a letter of comfort has been provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) regarding the delivery of the roll-out of the increased Scottish Child Payment, as referred to in the minutes from the 17th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare from November …
Answer · Ben Macpherson: I have received a response from Chloe Smith, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, to my letter of 5 January 2022 on the delivery of the roll-out of the extension of Scottish Child Payment to 6-15 year olds. That response confirms the Department …
28 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports suggesting the planting of non-native species of trees in Scotland is (a) creating a biodiversity crisis and (b) resulting in ancient woodlands being lost to non-native, invasive species.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: (a) We would refute the assertion that the planting of non-native tree species is contributing to the biodiversity crisis. In Scotland, over the last 6 years, an average of 40 per cent of all new planting has been of native species, with the rest being produc…
21 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to support outdoor education centres during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Clare Haughey: Since the start of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has provided £2.5million support to outdoor education. We continue to work with the sector on an ongoing basis to support schools to access and use outdoor centres, and to ensure that our Covid-19 guida…
20 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether all individuals involved in the decision-making process for the Health and Wellbeing Census issued to schools have received Disclosure Scotland certificates.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Disclosure Scotland checks and shares information about people's criminal records. This helps organisations to employ the right people for certain types of work, like working with children or protected adults. The requirement for disclosure checks is unlikely…
20 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when financial support will be paid to cultural and heritage venues affected by public health measures to tackle the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is aware of the significant impact that Omicron has had on the culture and major events sector. The Scottish Government has announced a financial package worth £65 million for this sector. The split of the funding is as follows:for cul…
16 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is a need for clearer and more transparent data-sharing in order to improve blood cancer diagnosis.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government’s commitment to the early diagnosis of cancer is reflected in our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme, which adopts a whole-systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible – ranging from screening and publi…
16 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what role multi-diagnosis centres will play in improving the diagnosis of blood cancer.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The National Cancer Plan, published on 9 December 2020, includes 68 actions and has been backed with up to £114.5 million. This includes a flagship innovation of the introduction of Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres (ECDC), with three Early Cancer Diagnostic Ce…
16 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the need for a public awareness campaign for blood cancer.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government’s commitment to the early diagnosis of cancer is reflected in the £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. The NHS Recovery Plan – published August 2021 – commits an additional £20m for the DCE Programme, to provide greater public awa…
16 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to exempting aviation industry staff members from the new COVID-19 rules requiring individuals to undertake (a) a pre-departure test, (b) self-isolation until a negative "day 2" test result, (c) a "day 2" PCR test instead of a lateral flow test where the…
Answer · Michael Matheson: There have been exemptions for airline pilots and crew in place since the international travel regulations were introduced in June 2020. Currently, pilots and crew have exemptions on testing before and after arriving in Scotland, as well on self-isolation and…
14 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether COVID-19 booster vaccinations will be registered on the NHS Scotland Covid Status App; what the reasons are for its position on this matter, and, if they will be registered, by what date this will happen.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster information was made available in the international travel section of the NHS Covid Status App on 9 December and on paper/pdf versions of certificates from 13 December. The inclusion of booster information will allow those travelling to the small num…
9 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of wrongful exclusions from the cervical screening programme.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government remains committed to transparency on this important issue. Since the last update to Parliament on 15 September, I can confirm that:As was the case in September, no invasive cervical cancer has been detected in any individuals who were …
6 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04128 by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2021, whether it will provide an update on its plans to display a person's COVID-19 booster vaccine status on the (a) paper vaccine certificate and (b) digital COVID passport.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Booster information was made available in the international travel section of the NHS Scotland Covid Status App on 9 December, and on paper/pdf certificates from 13 December.
1 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on saving the capercaillie in the last 10 years.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Forestry Grant Scheme, delivered through the Scottish Rural Development Programme and Scottish Forestry, will provide £307,759 of support specifically for capercaillie between 2016 and 2025. Prior to this, the Scottish Government paid out £781,452 through…
1 Dec 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has spent money on saving the capercaillie, and, if so, what the outcomes were.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Significant financial and non-financial investment has been made in capercaillie conservation by Scottish Government, its partners and agencies, NGOs, landowners, communities and individuals. While the status of the capercaillie population in Scotland remains…
1 Dec 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding cross-government action to improve connectivity for Scotland’s island communities.
25 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Police Scotland officers in U Division have been routinely deployed in the Ayrshire area in each month since January 2018.
Answer · Keith Brown: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The recruitment and deployment of Police Officers and Police Staff is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Scottish Government statistics show that we have a higher n…
25 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much additional funding it will allocate to NHS Ayrshire and Arran to manage drug-related hospital stays, in response to recent Public Health Scotland statistics, which state that the NHS board had the highest rate of drug-related hospital stays in 2020-21.
Answer · Angela Constance: Integrated Joint Bodies are best placed to decide how funding can be used to best respond to local needs in their own communities. To allow them to do so, Scottish Government funding to support Alcohol and Drug Partnership projects is transferred to the NHS B…
25 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much funding has been allocated for road improvements on the A77 in its budget for the year 2021-22.
Answer · Graeme Dey: I can confirm that £5.3m has been allocated in 2021-2022 to complete the A77 Maybole Bypass. In addition, £9.95m has been allocated for maintenance activities on the A77 Trunk Road.
25 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the introduction of the named person scheme.
Answer · Clare Haughey: Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) lies at the heart of Scottish Government policies and the services that are available to support children, young people and families. For over a decade, GIRFEC has shaped the way children’s services are planned and de…
25 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) nurses, (b) GPs and (c) doctors other than GPs have been employed by NHS Ayrshire and Arran, in each of the last five years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Numbers of staff in NHS Ayrshire and Arran are up in this Government by 13.6% or 1,104.6 WTE (from 8,114.1 WTE in September 2006 to 9,218.7 WTE in June 2021) The number of Nurses employed by NHS Ayrshire & Arran in the last five years can be found on the NHS…
25 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school teachers have left their post in each year since 2018, broken down by (a) subject taught and (b) local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Table 1 shows the number of secondary teachers in each Local Authority at the time of the census and who did not hold a post in the following year's census. Some teachers may be double counted if they are recorded as working in two different local authorities…
18 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on establishing a mechanism for members of the public to make representations regarding licensing applications under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government does not believe there is a need to establish a mechanism for members of the public to make representations on applications submitted under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. Whi…
16 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03367 by Lorna Slater on 26 October 2021, whether the Deposit Return Scheme will have a phased introduction or will apply to all businesses affected on the same date.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government is committed to our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) being operational as soon as practicably possible. We are working hard with Circularity Scotland Ltd and wider industry to agree a final timescale and clear milestones for delivery, and w…
10 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school music teachers have left their posts in each year since 2019-20.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In September 2019 there were 1,073 teachers in Secondary schools whose main subject was music. Of these 1,073 teachers, 1,007 had posts in September 2020 (irrespective of subject taught or setting) and 66 did not have a post in publicly funded Scottish schoo…
10 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school teachers have stopped teaching as a career in each year since 2017-18, broken down by subject taught.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.
8 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to support the call of Living Streets Scotland to (a) agree and publish in the first half of 2023 guidance as to when the ban on pavement parking and other related provisions, including drop kerbs and double parking, will be fully enforceable, (b) agree and publish an im…
Answer · Graeme Dey: a & b) As you will be aware, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, (the act), introduces new national provisions, prohibiting pavement parking, double parking and parking at dropped kerbs. A suite of secondary legislation is required for this prohibition to work…
2 Nov 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the anticipated timescale is for improving broadband coverage and speeds in Tarbolton.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The vast majority of properties (994) in Tarbolton already have access to superfast broadband speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps) and above, thanks in large part to the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme. The remaining 169…