Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,393 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to support mental health in the event of a second wave of COVID-19.
Answer · Clare Haughey: Our mental health policy response to the pandemic will remain fluid and adaptable and will be led emerging evidence as it becomes available. The Mental Health Research Advisory Group has been established to follow research developments to understand the mediu…
1 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place for the mental health of people who are shielding from COVID-19.
Answer · Clare Haughey: The letter issued by the Chief Medical Officer, advising people to shield, provided advice on what people could do to keep mentally active, to look after their mental well-being while they are shielding. It also signposted people to additional advice and sup…
1 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any likely increase in the demand for mental health services following the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answer · Clare Haughey: Clinical advice and available scientific evidence suggests that it is too early to determine exactly what the long-term physical and mental health impacts will be for those who have had COVID-19 or whose mental health has suffered as a result of long-term iso…
1 Jun 2020 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the daily average number of COVID-19 tests carried out last week was.
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many older people’s care homes in the private sector are owned by the same company, broken down by (a) company and (b) number of homes owned.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of care homes for older people registered with the Care Inspectorate as at owned by private sector providers is as follows: Service Provider Count of Care Home Aaron House Limited 1 Abbey Healthcare (Hamilton) Ltd 1 Abbey Healthcare Homes…
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many older people’s care homes in the voluntary sector are owned by the same body, broken down by (a) body and (b) number of homes owned.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of care homes for older people registered with the Care Inspectorate which are owned by voluntary sector providers is as follows: Service Provider Count of Care Home Abbeyfield Ballachulish Society Ltd 1 Abbeyfield Glasgow Society Ltd 1 A…
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of 921 older people reportedly being discharged from hospital at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, which care homes they were discharged to and what the cost was, both broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. Information on the discharge destination of delayed patients was published for the first time as part of Public Health Scotland's April Delayed Discharge census. However, details on specific hom…
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been on implementing each of the 34 recommendations by the Ministerial Task Force on Residential Care for Older People in Scotland, which reported in February 2014, and on what date each recommendation was met.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The 2014 Future of Residential Care for Older People in Scotland report made a number of important recommendations to help shape the future of the care home sector in Scotland. The Residential Care Task Force Implementation Group was established to take forwa…
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many places in private care homes are publicly funded.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on the number of publicly funded places in private care homes is not published. However the report on the Care Home Census for Adults in Scotland published by Information Services Division provides the proportion of care home places that are publi…
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as of 1 June 2020, how many older people’s care homes are in the (a) private, (b) public and (c) voluntary sector.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of Care homes for older people registered with the Care Inspectorate at 31 May 2020 is as follows: sector Total Public 121 Private 605 Voluntary or Not for Profit 89 Grand Total 815 Source: Care Inspectorate service list at 31 May …
31 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish data on the place of death for care home residents, in line with the ONS publication of those statistics for England and Wales.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: These data were published by National Record of Scotland on 3 June. Up to 17 May, there were 1,623 deaths where confirmed or suspected COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate either as the underlying cause or as a contributory cause. A further 154 car…
29 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has set aside to support hospices during the COVID-19 outbreak, and how much has been allocated so far, also broken down by (a) hospice and (b) date of payment.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: On the 29 June, I wrote to Scottish Hospices to confirm that their funding requests related to loss of income during the pandemic during the first financial quarter of 2020 would be met in full, and that £10.1m in total would be provided to Scottish Hospices …
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what contingency planning it has carried out to respond to any second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: This question involves a broad range of policy areas and my answer focuses on Health & Social Care. A range of measures are now in place to ensure Health & Social Care are well placed to respond to any second wave of the virus. This includes more digital too…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the COVID-19 R number is calculated, and what the number is for care homes.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government published a description of how the Covid-19 R number is calculated on 21st May. This is available via the link. https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-modelling-epidemic-scotland/ . The model uses data and provides an R value fo…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the additional finance provided to it by the UK Government in response to the COVID-19 emergency will be used to support the impacts of the outbreak on Scottish Water and its customers, or whether the customers will be expected to meet any additional costs.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Water has made no request for additional borrowing. Scottish Ministers will continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on Scottish Water and its customers.
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support it has given to bus operators to allow them to respond to the loss of concessionary fare and other customers as a result of COVID-19, and in what form any such support was provided.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has introduced COVID-19 support for bus operators to enable them to operate a core network for essential travel by maintaining the value of regular Bus Service Operators Grant and concessionary travel reimbursement payments from Transp…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the borrowing it makes available to Scottish Water is specifically to support capital expenditure or is general revenue support, and whether the aims of this is to benefit customers or households or business customers only.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: As set out in its budget documents, the Scottish Government has borrowing available throughout the 2015-21 regulatory period to support Scottish Water’s £3.9 billion capital investment programme. That programme contains a wide range of projects in all parts o…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much financial support it has provided specifically to meet the cost of the £60 million of support for meeting business water bills that it announced on 23 March 2020.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: As referred to in the answer to S5W-29421 on 29 May 2020, the support that has been provided creates financial liquidity in the retail market to allow the deferral of bills by customers and licensed providers. Therefore, no new funds were required. All answe…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £60 million in support for meeting business water bills that it announced on 23 March 2020 will be paid for by (a) businesses and (b) licensed providers.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This measure supports the liquidity of license providers, allowing them to assist customers through deferred payment terms. Businesses will need to pay their Licensed Provider back over time and Licensed Providers will need to pay Scottish Water for wholesale…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response to the stakeholders that were consulted by the Water Industry Commission on a temporary relief scheme for business water charges in response to the COVID-19 emergency who claim that the actions were not consistent with the commission's own ethical business principles.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and I have asked them to respond directly.
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional borrowing it has provided to Scottish Water to address the impact of the COVID-19 emergency since the lockdown began.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The impacts of COVID-19 on Scottish Water are being closely monitored. As set out in its budget the Scottish Government will lend Scottish Water £215 million during 2020-21. Scottish Water has made no request for additional borrowing in light of the pandemic.
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consultation the Water Industry Commission had with business organisations prior to implementing temporary changes to water charges for businesses in response to the COVID-19 emergency.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is a matter for the independent economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the granting of temporary vacant status to businesses in England affected by the COVID-19 lockdown is more immediately beneficial to the cash demands on those businesses than firms similarly affected by lockdown in Scotland, and what steps it will take to …
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The retail market structures in Scotland and in England are very different. The Scottish Government considers the overall package of support available to Licensed Providers and customers to be appropriate for the market structure in Scotland.
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support it has provided to CalMac to allow it to respond to the financial pressures arising from a loss of customer income as a result of COVID-19, and in what form any such support was provided.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We are using existing clauses within the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services contracts to support CalMac in the current circumstances. These emergency measures have been taken to provide support to CalMac to allow them to cover costs whilst having lower revenues…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support it has provided to Highlands and Islands Airports Limited to allow it to respond to the financial pressures arising from a loss of customer income as a result of COVID-19, and in what form any such support was provided.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28437 on 27 April 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support it has given to its rail franchise operators to allow them to respond to the financial pressures arising from a loss of customer income as a result of COVID-19, and in what form any such support was provided.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has provided additional financial support to rail franchise operators to cover the loss of revenue as a result of the reduction in demand due to Covid-19 restrictions in the form of Emergency Measures Agreements. These are essentially …
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the Water Industry Commission's ethical business principles referred to in the paper, COVID-19 Response and Decision on Measures in Support of Non-household Customers and to protect Household Customers.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and I have asked them to respond directly.
27 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether licensed providers are required by the Water Industry Commission as part of their license to abide by its ethical business principles and, if so, whether imposing such a requirement is of itself consistent with these principles in securing the confidence and trust of stakeholders.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and I have asked them to respond directly.
26 May 2020 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will commence its review of care homes.
26 May 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a timescale target for local authorities between receiving a Small Business Grant application and providing the business with the grant, if it is approved.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Business Support Grant Scheme is administered by local authorities, and they aim to make payment within 10 working days from receipt of a fully completed application and once all information and evidence in support of an application has been verified. App…