Claire Baker

2 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports that a significant proportion of publicly-available electric vehicle charging points are not working.

Answer · Graeme Dey: CPS has transitioned to a new charge point network operator (CPNO), with all charge points and members being migrated from BP Pulse to SWARCO on the 27 th July. This was the outcome of a rigorous tender exercise to find a new operator to manage CPS on behalf …

31 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01507 by Humza Yousaf on 30 August 2021, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what targets it has set for the regular use of lateral flow tests by members of the public.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring Covid testing is as accessible as possible and we have put in place a number of initiatives to encourage the use of lateral flow tests for routine asymptomatic testing. Our communication campaign recommends tha…

11 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will issue regulations and guidance to implement Part 2 of the Alcohol etc (Scotland) Act 2010, which allows local authorities to establish social responsibility levies on alcohol sales to support prevention and treatment of substance misuse.

Answer · Ash Denham: Our Alcohol Framework 2018: Preventing Harm is in line with the World Health Organization’s recommended approach of reducing the availability, attractiveness and affordability of alcohol. On treatment, our Rights, Respect and Recovery: alcohol and drug tre…

11 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any profits made by the alcohol industry following the implementation of minimum unit pricing.

Answer · Maree Todd: Public Health Scotland is leading the comprehensive evaluation of minimum unit pricing which is a five year programme, with a final evaluation report due in 2023. The evaluation includes assessing the impact of minimum unit pricing on the alcohol industry in …

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the uptake has been of the use of regular lateral flow tests by members of the public.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01507 on ? 30 July 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliam…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the change in scheduling of routine invitations for cervical screening from three years to five years applies to women who had their last appointment prior the change to the system in 2020.

Answer · Maree Todd: Following the implementation of high risk human papillomavirus (HPV) primary screening in March 2020, the screening interval for all participants where HPV is not found in their sample will be five years. The five year interval will apply to women only once t…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress is being made on ensuring nationwide availability of home-based testing for HPV.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35673 on 5 March 2021. Since that answer, the working group met again on 5 July and will continue to make progress over the rest of 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Par…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what targets it has set for the regular use of lateral flow tests by members of the public.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has used a number of initiatives to promote regular testing using lateral flow devices. This includes:Running targeted campaigns to promote the importance of testing through platforms including TV, radio and social media.Promoting free…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has taken to address any COVID-19 vaccine-hesitancy that Polish people in Scotland might have.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has set up a National Vaccine Inclusive Steering Group with representatives from Health Boards, faith groups, third and community sector, and works closely with BEMIS, the national umbrella body supporting the development of the Ethnic…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging the use of regular lateral flow testing by members of the public.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01507 on ? 30 July 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliam…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination by Polish people in Scotland compares with the wider population.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As detailed in the Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Statistical Report, as at 19 July 2021, which was published on the 21 July 2021, 46.2% of the Scottish White Polish population have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine compared to 87.8% of the wider…

14 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information has been provided to the public on the decision to extend routine invitations for cervical screening appointments from every three years to five years.

Answer · Maree Todd: On 16 March 2020, the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme replaced cervical cytology (looking at cells under a microscope) with a more sensitive test which screens for human papillomavirus (HPV). The new test is more effective at identifying those at risk o…

16 Jun 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the economic recovery of town centres.

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what reassurances it can provide to parents and carers regarding the risk of COVID-19 to young children, in light of comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care during a radio interview on 2 June 2021 that travelling from a Level 2 area to a Level 1 area to visit a soft …

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Preliminary data indicates that in the Delta wave we are seeing a cohort of younger adults in hospital with Covid. We do not recommend travelling to another area of Scotland to take part in an activity that is not permitted in your local protection level. T…

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent research or assessment it (a) has carried out and (b) is aware of regarding the health risk to children from COVID-19, including from variant strains.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Preliminary data indicates that in the Delta wave we are seeing a cohort of younger people in hospital with Covid. The risk of COVID-19 in young children remains low.

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its assessment of the risk to children’s health from COVID-19 is being revised, and on what basis.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Preliminary data indicates that in the Delta wave we are seeing a cohort of younger adults in hospital with Covid. We do not recommend travelling to another area of Scotland to take part in an activity that is not permitted in your local protection level. T…

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been in increase in cases of children being hospitalised as a result of COVID-19 in the six months up to June 2021.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This data is available on the Public Health Scotland Education Surveillance Dashboard which provides a three-weekly rolling average of hospital admissions for 2-17 years olds - COVID-19 Education Surveillance dashboard - Enhanced surveillance of COVID-19 in …

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 2 June 2021 on National Qualifications 2021, what impact it expects the appeals process to have on the workloads of teachers.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The appeals process was developed following consultation and stakeholder engagement. This included consideration of teacher workload. Teachers are encouraged to have discussions with their learners in advance of submitting their provisional grades and, if le…

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 2 June 2021 on National Qualifications 2021, for what reason the deadline for making priority appeals has been set as 16 August.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The deadline for priority appeals was originally set as 16 August to ensure that SQA and their appointees have sufficient time to process these cases to meet with UCAS deadlines of 8 September. Following discussion with education partners on the National Qua…

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 2 June 2021 on National Qualifications 2021, whether it expects teachers to be in contact with (a) the SQA, (b) schools and (c) individual pupils during the period from 25 June to 16 August 2021.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Teachers are not expected to be in contact with SQA, schools, or individual pupils over the summer break. Results will be published on 10 August, and schools are not required to manage handling of any queries and initiating of any appeals processes at a local…

3 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 2 June 2021 on National Qualifications 2021, how students wishing to use the priority appeal process will be supported during the school summer holidays.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Students will be able to register an intention to appeal from 25 June. However, the formal appeals process will not commence until the results are issued on 10 August. Universities will not confirm offers until they have received the certificated grades in Au…

17 Mar 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is planning to address the backlog in cervical screening appointments that has arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether this will include offering HPV self-testing.

9 Mar 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with its commitment in the 2017 Equally Safe Delivery Plan to develop multi-agency domestic homicide reviews.

4 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether and (b) how the needs of Polish people in Scotland are taken into account in its allocation of funding to organisations that support BAME people.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is committed to creating a fairer Scotland for all, including minority ethnic people in Scotland. This includes all racial and ethnic groups protected under the Equality Act 2010, which defines race as colour, ethnicity, nationality an…

4 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how health data on minority ethnic groups is collected and collated.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health data on minority ethnic groups is collected in a variety of ways. For example, data can be collected through a variety of mechanisms, such as face-to-face interviewing, completion of on-line survey forms or collection of data from an individual at the …

4 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the COVID-19 recovery process, what research it is undertaking into the impact of the pandemic on BAME groups, and how the needs of Polish people are being (a) identified and (b) addressed.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Public Health Scotland (PHS) has periodically published statistics on the impact of COVID-19 on minority ethnic groups in it's weekly COVID-19 statistics report. The latest report was published on 3rd March 2021 and showed that the findings from previous PHS …

4 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to identifying Polish people as a minority ethnic group in order to provide disaggregated health data for them.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is working on implementing the recommendations of the Expert Reference Group on ethnicity. As part of this we will be improving the data collection on minority ethnic groups across the board, which does include Polish people. Any impro…

4 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that public health information about COVID-19 is (a) available in languages other than English and (b) accessible via internet search engines when searches are made in languages other than English.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government works closely with NHS 24, Public Health Scotland and third sector partners to ensure key public health information on COVID-19 is available in multiple languages and accessible formats via the NHS Inform website, which is Scotland’s c…

2 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to address the reported backlog in appointments for cervical screening, and whether a priority system is being used in scheduling these.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The cervical screening programme was paused on 30 March 2020 due to the impact of Covid and resumed on the 30 June 2020. During July and August 2020, participants who receive more frequent screening because of a past result and who had not received their invi…

2 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for HPV self-test kits to be provided nationally.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: There are no plans to issue HPV self-testing kits nationally at this time. This is because the UK National Screening Committee (NSC) has not yet recommended that self-sampling should be incorporated into the cervical screening programme. It continues to gathe…