Murdo Fraser

11 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many individual users of the COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme, who have used either the App or the paper form, there have been, broken down by age group.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04202 on 25 November 2021. 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-commit…

5 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many vacancies for qualified STEM teachers are unfilled in secondary schools.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Vacancies are now advertised on “myjobscotland” which allows for easier continual monitoring by local authorities in line with their responsibilities for teacher employment.

5 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure an adequate supply of STEM teachers for secondary schools, to address any concerns about current shortages.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is offering 150 bursaries of £20,000 for career changers to do teacher training in STEM subjects where the demand for teachers is at its greatest. A new phase of our teacher recruitment campaign is underway. The recruitment campaign a…

5 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve the teaching of STEM subjects in secondary schools.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government's STEM Education and Training Strategy has set out a range of actions designed to support STEM teaching and learning in Scotland’s secondary schools. Measures include supporting the STEM enhanced professional learning grants programme…

4 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have (a) successfully downloaded Covid Vaccination Status QR codes via the NHS Scotland Covid Status App, (b) been issued paper Covid Vaccination Certificates, (c) downloaded PDF Covid Vaccination Certificates and (d) obtained proof of COVID-19 vaccination status through …

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Public Heath Scotland publish a weekly COVID-19 statistical report every Wednesday which includes this information. As at 15 November 2021 the:COVID Status app had been downloaded over 1.5 million; and separatelyvaccination status letter has been requested…

2 Nov 2021 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle fly-tipping, in light of reports of there being just three prosecutions from 32 reported cases of fly-tipping in the 2019-20 financial year.

21 Sep 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to cultural organisations in Mid Scotland and Fife.

13 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its COVID-19 vaccine certification app will include an option for people who have certification for antibodies or previous infection.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: On 30 September 2021 we launched the NHS Scotland COVID Status app which was developed for vaccination information initially. We have developed our app to meet the EU requirements so we expect this to be compatible with the IATA Travel Pass. We have and conti…

7 Sep 2021 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the level of ambulance cover across Mid-Scotland and Fife.

2 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32512 by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2020, how many cases of fly-tipping have been recorded in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 to date.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: There is no single dataset of all flytipping incidents in Scotland, as there is no legal requirement for duty bodies or landowners to report on flytipping externally. The figures provided below represent incidents reported via the Litter Monitoring System and…

31 Aug 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support the bids from the Tay Cities region and Stirling to be UK City of Culture 2025.

17 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it next plans to review its contract for the delivery of general dental services.

Answer · Maree Todd: General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) do not have a contract with the Scottish Government to provide General Dental Services (GDS). They are independent contractors who make arrangements directly with the NHS Board to provide GDS in their area.

17 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients received dental treatment under the NHS between 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, and how this compares with the same period in each of the previous five years.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. However, the number of patients who attended the dentist can be found on Public Health Scotland at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/dental-statistics-registration-and-participat…

17 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on dentistry in each of the last five years, and how much of this total was paid to general dental practice.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This information is available in the Scottish Health Service Costs (often referred to as the 'Costs Book'), published annually by Public Health Scotland (previously Information Services Division). Report R820 provides details of expenditure on dental services…

13 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in the short-term to improve the junction of the A9 and A822, in light of residents in Strathbraan reportedly facing difficulties and dangers when crossing the A9.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The A9 in the Dunkeld area and the associated junctions are busy particularly in summer carrying the combination of strategic commercial, commuter and tourist traffic. Transport Scotland is aware that at the busiest times, which often align with periods of …

13 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates work will commence on the Birnam to Jubilee Bridge section of the A9 to upgrade it to a dual carriageway.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Following completion of an innovative co-creative process with the community, work to assess four route options, including the community’s preferred route option, is ongoing to identify a Preferred Route option. This is being progressed in accordance with des…

4 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding whether Dunkeld and Birnam railway station is eligible for support from the Access for All fund to improve pedestrian platform access, including the immediate instalment of a temporary footbridge throughout the period of the co…

Answer · Graeme Dey: Rail accessibility is a reserved matter for the UK government and the criteria for selection for an accessibility scheme is set by the Department for Transport and assessed by them via the Access for All scheme:- Access for All: funding to improve accessibil…

27 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support will be available for communities, that are not community climate action hubs, to continue to tackle the climate emergency, and how the Net Zero Nation initiatives will support communities in (a) practical and (b) financial terms.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We continue to support community-led climate action in a variety of ways. We have committed £3.4 million in 2021-22 to 46 ongoing CCF (Climate Challenge Fund) projects. The developing network of climate action hubs will empower communities to identify the act…

30 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people had a serious adverse reaction to any of the COVID-19 vaccines, and how many required (a) hospital or (b) medical treatment from their GP as a result of any such adverse reaction.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not collect data on suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK as this a statutory function of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA produces a weekl…

21 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) ceasing to be managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful on behalf of the Scottish Government from 30 June 2021, what plans are in place to support communities to tackle climate and nature emergencies in the future.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We have provided over £110 million through our Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) to enable communities to play their part and we will continue to support community-led climate action as a key part of our just transition to net zero. We are building on the achieve…

16 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the health of the grey partridge population.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government does not hold any trend data for grey partridge across Scotland, due to low sample size in the Breeding Bird Survey annual monitoring scheme. The UK trend shows a 64% decline over the period 1995-2018. The more recent 10-year trend (20…

16 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial assistance is available to farmers and landowners who wish to preserve and increase the existing stock of grey partridge on their land.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Although the Scottish Government’s Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) does not have any options specifically for grey partridge, it does provide funding for options that benefit the habitats of grey partridge, namely:Beetlebanks,Creation of Hedgerows,Mana…

16 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to preserve and increase the stock of grey partridge.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Work to preserve and increase the stock of grey partridge has traditionally been led by shooting interests such as the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). GWCT lead on the PARTRIDGE project in the UK, supported by the EU via the Interreg North Sea R…

2 Jun 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to address the problem of ice falling from the cables of the Queensferry Crossing.

2 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what area of land Forestry and Land Scotland and its predecessor, Forest Enterprise Scotland, has purchased in each year since 2007-08, also broken down by (a) how much this cost and (b) what area has subsequently been planted for woodland creation.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and its predecessor Forest Enterprise Scotland have acquired the following under the New Woodland Investment Programme (2017 - 2021) / Repositioning Programme (2007 – 2016): Financial Year Area (Ha) Price (£) Woodland Crea…

2 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what area of land Forestry and Land Scotland and its predecessor, Forest Enterprise Scotland, has disposed of in each year since 2007-08, also broken down by how much was raised.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and its predecessor Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) has sold the following under the New Woodland Investment Programme (2021 - 2017) / Repositioning Programme (2007 – 2016). The figures in the following table include 6,598 he…

25 May 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a colony of honeybees having to be destroyed in the Stanley area of Perthshire due to the discovery of a hive at an apiary being infected with American Foulbrood (AFB), how common is AFB in Scotland, and what measures it is taking to limit how often it occurs.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: American foulbrood (AFB) is a notifiable disease of honey bees. Figures of the disease incidence in GB are publically available in BeeBase, the database used by Scottish Government and the National Bee Unit in England and Wales. Last season in 2020, AFB was f…

2 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Perth Airport is not included in the Non Domestic Rates (Coronavirus Reliefs) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, and what consideration it has given to excluding other similar-sized airports.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The rates relief was designed to provide support for the aviation sector in Scotland tied to the operation of commercial scheduled passenger services and that have seen a significant decline in passenger numbers as a consequence of Covid 19.

1 Mar 2021 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the legal advice that it received regarding the judicial review into the handling of harassment complaints against the former First Minister, Alex Salmond.

5 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many premises in each sector will be liable for the Higher Property Rate in 2021-22.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Budget 2021-22 maintains the most competitive non-domestic rates regime in the UK. This includes an extension to the COVID-19 relief for properties in the retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation sectors, and newspaper publishing, for all of 202…