Parliamentary questions
Foysol Choudhury
467 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
7 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what role spoken language interpreters have been required to take on in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, and what difficulties they have experienced in providing support for those who need it.
Answer · Christina McKelvie: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government has engaged with a range of race equality organisations and specifically convened the Expert Reference Group on Covid-19 and Ethnicity. Issues in relation to spoken language interpreters have not been …
7 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to develop a long-term strategy to meet any future need in Scotland for spoken language interpreting.
Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government is committed to improving and embedding inclusive communication within Government and across public bodies, this is a focus of one of our Equality Outcomes for the 2021-25 reporting period, as well as being a 2020 PfG commitment. The S…
1 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the eligibility criteria for Best Start Food payments to align with the rest of the UK, following the decision by Department of Health and Social Care to extend Healthy Start vouchers to people with no recourse to public funds.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: We welcome this decision by the UK Government as a result of the recent judicial review. We will make similar changes to the eligibility criteria for Best Start Foods as soon as it is practicable to do so.
17 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to support the catering and hospitality sector in incorporating into training courses lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the importance of effective ventilation systems in preventing the spread of airborne viruses.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has engaged with a range of sectors, including catering and hospitality representatives, promoting the benefits of effective ventilation to reduce the risk of transmission within enclosed spaces. I would encourage all sectors to review…
17 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to businesses in the hospitality sector to improve ventilation in their properties.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government has been working with a range of sectors and specialist organisations to develop guidance on enhancing ventilation within enclosed spaces. This guidance includes a range of practical solutions to enhance air flow and can be achieved b…
17 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much additional funding it has allocated to local authorities to ensure that they have sufficient capacity to inspect and support all hospitality venues in achieving the standards required by COVID-19 regulations.
Answer · Kate Forbes: We are working closely with Local Authorities, the Health and Safety Executive and Police Scotland to ensure we are taking a joined up approach to enforcement of regulations and wider workplace health measures. We have committed to £2.9m in funding to support…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the COVID-19 vaccines that it has been allocated has been subsequently offered by it to (a) Bangladesh and (b) other countries with low vaccination rates.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The UK Government announced that the UK would participate in the COVAX initiative in September 2020. COVAX is a World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative to ensure that poorer countries have equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines. The …
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households in each local authority area have received Renewable Heating Incentive payments each year.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Data on Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) accreditations broken down by local authority is routinely published by The Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS): Renewable Heat Incentive statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . Data is published o…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it will offer (a) commercial and (b) domestic premises to assist with installing renewable energy systems after the Renewable Heating Incentive scheme ends in March 2022.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has a number of loan schemes open to those interested in RHI which will continue to be available when the RHI ends in 2022. They include: The Renewables Loan which supports the installation of renewables measures in Scottish domestic …
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on how it prioritises the allocation of support from its (a) International Development and (b) Humanitarian Emergency Fund, and what these priorities are.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted globally, including on our international development partner countries, and our programmes based there. This necessitated a re-fresh of the Scottish Government's approach to International Development, to ensure that we focus ou…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all pancreatic cancer patients are considered for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy at the point of diagnosis.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is aware of the vast challenges in attempting to ensure pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy is offered to every patient at the point of diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer patients can present as asymptomatic despite pancreatic exocrine in…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of pancreatic cancer patients were prescribed pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in the last year, broken down by NHS board.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The data is collected by individual NHS Health Boards and would require permissions from each to be obtained in order to conduct appropriate data linkage analysis by Public Health Sc…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the prescription rates of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy for inoperable pancreatic cancer patients who are not being treated in specialist centres.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: There are some circumstances where there are legitimate reasons for not prescribing pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, such as palliative patients or due to patient’s cultural preference. However, we understand more can be done around education and monito…
3 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline any specific initiatives in the marketing and communications strategy for the COVID-19 vaccination programme, which are aimed at reaching communities and citizens where English is not the first language.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has worked in collaboratively with Public Sector and Third Sector colleagues to produce a number of assets as part of the marketing and communications strategy for the COVID-19 vaccination programme, some of which are outlined below: …
3 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how information about the take up of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is shared with (a) elected Members, (b) local authorities and (c) NHS boards, and how effective targeting is monitored and supported across all agencies.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Vaccination data in Scotland are collated by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and published daily. Data on vaccination take-up may be cross referenced by Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Priority Group, NHS Board, Local Authority, age group,…
3 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made by the COVID-19 vaccination programme management and delivery team in addressing lower confidence in vaccinations in some ethnic minority communities, and in identifying where there are continuing gaps in the take up of the vaccination.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Our inclusive approach to the COVID-19 vaccination is outlined in the letter to Mr Choudhury dated 8 th June. Our approach is constantly adapting in response to data, feedback from stakeholders and other evidence sources. Equality data COVID-19 statistical …
2 Jun 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Farming and Food Production Future Policy Group will publish its report.