Jackie Baillie

25 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that universities in Scotland adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07711 on 19 April 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-committee…

25 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns regarding antisemitism within university settings, what plans it has to tackle this issue.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07711 on 19 April 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-committee…

25 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to opposing racism, what its response is to reported concerns that no action has been taken to encourage universities in Scotland to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of racism, including antisemitism. We adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in June 2017. This is the Scottish Government position and it applies to all Ministers. We encourage all bodies to sig…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is participating in the Pay Review Process for 2022-23 or whether it has initiated direct negotiations with health trade unions through the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC).

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Scotland is not participating in the NHS Pay Review Body process for 2022-23.

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether increasing pay may have a positive effect on reducing the reported high level of vacancies in NHS Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland, published on 11 March 2022, sets out a new framework to shape Scotland’s health and social care workforce over the next decade. It places training, wellbeing, job satisfaction and the pri…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the pay increase for NHS Scotland staff will take account of the increases in pension contributions and the changes in National Insurance.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07634 on 21 April 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-committee…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the pay increase for NHS Scotland staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions will be effective from 1 April 2022.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is hugely grateful for what NHS Scotland staff have done and continue to do in caring for patients and coping with the pandemic. As we have done in previous years, we will look to negotiate a settlement for Agenda for Change staff whic…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings it has held with the health trade unions to discuss pay for 2022-23.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Pay is an ongoing issue for Agenda for Change trade unions and the position for 2022-23 has been discussed regularly in the meetings I have had with health trade unions, as well as at the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee, and in meetings involving Scot…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to deliver an above inflation pay rise for NHS Scotland staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07634 on 21 April 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-committee…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what source or calculation it uses for the rate of inflation in relation to its spending decisions; what this rate of inflation currently is, and what it estimates the rate of inflation will be over the current financial year.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government takes the rate of inflation into account when making its spending decisions, but does not index or base all its spending decisions on a single specific measure of inflation. The most frequently used measure of inflation is the Consume…

23 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects agreement to be reached on the salary claim for 2022-23 for NHS Scotland staff.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07634 on 21 April 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-committee…

21 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) COSLA and (b) Scottish Care regarding whether there is a need to increase the mileage allowance for social care workers, in light of the rising cost of petrol and diesel.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the social care workforce and as part of this we have engaged with both COSLA and Scottish Care on this matter. COSLA has informed us that they would expect those working in a local government setting will re…

21 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to re-examine fuel allowance payments for social care workers, in light of reports that most social care workers have not had an increase for almost seven years.  

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Allowances for fuel that are paid to social care workers are a matter for individual employers and are not set by the Scottish Government. We are, however, actively engaged with our partners, including local government, to understand what impact the increase …

21 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to increase mileage allowance for social care workers, in light of the rising cost of petrol and diesel.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Mileage rates, that is the rate per hour that can be claimed back against tax, is set by the UK Government and allows employers to set a mileage rate of up to 45p per hour for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. The actual allowance paid is a …

21 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether social care workers are subsidising the cost of travel as a result of the rise in cost of petrol and diesel.   

Answer · Kevin Stewart: With regards to this specific question, we do not currently hold this information, this would be a matter for individuals based on a range of factors about their own working lives. Employers are able to claim up to 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and …

18 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved Evusheld for use in Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07532 on 19 April 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-committee…

18 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what pre-exposure prophylactics (PrEP) are available for immunocompromised patients in relation to COVID-19.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government closely monitors all emerging evidence on COVID-19 treatments and their clinical effectiveness. On 17 March 2022, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced that it had granted a Conditional Marketing A…

18 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to procure pre-exposure prophylactics (PrEP) as a COVID-19 treatment for severely immunocompromised patients, and, if so, when this will take place.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government will closely monitor the outcome of additional testing being undertaken by the UK Health and Security Agency in order to ensure that any decisions to make Evusheld available to patients in Scotland are based on the best available evide…

16 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost is of continuing to manage the NHS Scotland COVID Status app.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The ongoing costs of the COVID Status App are publicly available via Public Contracts Scotland . The costs of developing and maintaining the App are broken down between Netcompany and Jumio who provide the core App and Identity Verification systems respecti…

16 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many operational Test and Protect testing centres there will be in each local authority area from 1 May 2022.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07468 on 29 March 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-committee…

15 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total number of Test and Protect testing centres was on 1 March 2022, and how many will remain operational from 1 May 2022.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: On 1 March 2022, there were 71 UK Government-operated test centres, 39 Scottish Ambulance Service-run mobile test centres, and around 50 temporary local authority and health board-run asymptomatic test sites across Scotland. There were also 23 operational sma…

15 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has paid private contractors to recruit Test and Protect staff.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We do not hold this information centrally. Private contractor costs that have been incurred relating to Test & Protect staff would be held by the Boards recruiting the relevant staff members. In addition, costs relating to private contractors for staff workin…

15 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Test and Protect staff have been employed since the start of the pandemic, broken down by the number recruited by (a) the Scottish Government and (b) external contractors; how many staff are currently employed, and how many staff are expected to be employed on 1 June 2022.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Whilst the Scottish Government is provided with management information on the scheduled capacity of the contact tracing element of Test and Protect only, the management of the workforce including all recruitment to the Test and Protect service throughout the …

14 Mar 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will remove the provisions on the extension of emergency powers from the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill.

10 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the Detect Cancer Early Programme can be used to help improve awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms. 

Answer · Maree Todd: Our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme adopts a whole-systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible – ranging from screening and public awareness campaigns to diagnostics and data. The NHS Recovery Plan, published August 2021, …

10 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage women who have symptoms of ovarian cancer to contact their GP.

Answer · Maree Todd: Women are encouraged to contact their GP practice if they have any worries about possible ovarian cancer symptoms every time cancer symptoms are referred to, including on our public facing website (getcheckedearly.org). Research is currently being undertaken…

10 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms (a) in general and (b) during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in March 2022. 

Answer · Maree Todd: The NHS Recovery Plan, published August 2021, commits an additional £20m for the Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme, to provide greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer and support the development of optimal cancer pathways to improve earlier…

7 Mar 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the model to reduce the number of headteachers that is reportedly being proposed by Argyll and Bute Council will improve educational attainment.

7 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the three-month reviews attached to the new interim funding model, what assessment it has made of the impact of this on NHS dental practices' ability to plan effectively.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Government is clear that the intended purpose of the revised payment arrangements from April 2022 is to recover NHS dental services to ensure that NHS dental contractors can provide necessary care to patients. NHS dental contractors will therefore receiv…

3 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of more than 960,000 people reportedly being prescribed antidepressants in 2019-20, how many of these were given some form of psychological or talking therapy.

Answer · Maree Todd: This information is not held centrally.