Parliamentary questions

Neil Findlay

2,296 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

3 Aug 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who was the author of the policy guidance regarding patients being sent to care homes without being tested for COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Clinical advice is provided through the offices of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). Early on in the pandemic the CMO and CNO commissioned a Clinical and Professional Advisory Group for Care Homes to combine advice from medi…

3 Aug 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who was the author of the policy to advise care homes that residents who were showing symptoms of COVID-19 should not normally be admitted to hospital.

31 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the view expressed by the Chief Executive of Scottish Care during the BBC programme, Disclosure: The Care Home Scandal, that the initial Scottish Government advice to care homes that residents who were showing symptoms of COVID-19 should not normally be admitted t…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The answer to question S5W-31050 on 26 August 2020 confirms that the clinical guidance is provided through the offices of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and that early on in the pandemic the CMO and CNO commissioned a Clin…

28 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27893 by Michael Russell on 26 March 2020, what support it can provide to people who support the Colombian peace process, in light of continuing reports of the murder of human rights activists and former FARC combatants and paramilitary attacks duri…

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government remains deeply concerned by the situation in Colombia, including the widespread murder and intimidation of human rights defenders. The perpetrators of human rights abuses are often able to act with impunity and representatives of commu…

28 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the BBC programme, Disclosure: The Care Home Scandal; what action it will take to reform the care home sector, and for what reason the (a) First Minister and (b) health secretary did not participate in an interview for the programme.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The First Minister confirmed on 29 July that the issues raised in the BBC Disclosure programme are important and substantial and require consideration and scrutiny to enable lessons to be learned for the future. Since the start of this pandemic the priority o…

14 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many asymptomatic (a) NHS and (b) social care staff have been tested for COVID-19 each day since the start of lockdown.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: All symptomatic health and social care workers, and symptomatic household members, are eligible for testing through local NHS facilities. As of 8 July 2020 there has been routine testing of NHS and social care staff working in; Specialist Cancer Wards and Tr…

14 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people completed suicide in each of the last six months, broken down by those aged (a) 0-19, (b) 20-40, (c) 41-60 and (d) over 60, and how these figures compare with those over the same period in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Currently information on deaths by suicide are published yearly by National Records Scotland (NRS), usually in June for the previous calendar year. At the moment the most recent figures held are up to 2018. The report for 2019 has been delayed as NRS has not …

13 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to put in place a system to recompense mesh-injured women who have had to pay for private surgery to remove a mesh implant originally implanted by the NHS, given that full mesh removal by the NHS is not available in Scotland.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The member is referred to the answer given to S5W-30013 on 11 August 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/parliamentarybusines…

8 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the former Chief Medical Officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, is employed by NHS Scotland, and, if so, in what capacity.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Dr Calderwood was an NHS Lothian employee at the time she was seconded to the Scottish Government as Chief Medical Officer. Questions regarding her NHS employment should be directed to NHS Lothian.

3 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of calls to the police using 101 are abandoned.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Delivery of the police 101 service is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

3 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time is that people have to wait to speak to an operator when phoning the police on 101.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Delivery of the police 101 service is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

3 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish performance figures for the Police Scotland call centre.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The publication of Police Scotland performance figures is operational matter for the Chief Constable. Call handling statistics are regularly published on the Police Scotland website, and can be found at https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/our-performance…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what non-financial support is being provided to businesses by Scottish Enterprise and its contractors during the COVID-19 crisis.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As an immediate response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Scottish Enterprise has mobilised to undertake a variety of activities to provide non-financial support to businesses during this difficult time. These activities have included co-ordinating activity to suppo…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers We are Umi to be a Scottish company, and what analysis (a) it and (b) each of its agencies has carried out on the company’s performance and effectiveness in providing business support services, including during the COVID-19 crisis.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: WeareUMi, an employee-owned business has a substantial presence in Scotland and were an existing supplier of public sector services via the Crown Commercial Services framework, a contract it won via open competition. It has previously worked with both the UK …

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) each of its agencies has paid to the company, We are Umi, for the provision of business support services during the COVID-19 crisis.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Our approach to supporting businesses is tailored to Scotland’s economic needs and we have developed a package of measures that reflects that Scotland’s economy is different to the rest of the UK and consequentially providing support which is unavailable else…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how each of the business support schemes that it announced on 30 April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis was managed; what the criteria was for accessing support from each; how many applications were made; which businesses had their applications (a) approved and (b) rejected, and h…

Answer · Ben Macpherson: The Scottish Government continues to support Scotland’s businesses by passing on every penny we receive from the UK Government for this purpose, and more, directly to businesses. Our approach to supporting businesses is tailored to Scotland’s economic needs a…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what business support services (a) it has and (b) each of its agencies have outsourced during the COVID-19 crisis, and for what reason these were not provided in-house by Scottish Enterprise.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government and its agencies provides a wide range of different forms of business support. This includes the funds to support businesses through the COVID-19 crisis which were managed by Local Authorities and Enterprise Agencies. Recognising the u…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual cost is of (a) picking up litter and (b) clearing up fly tipping.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not held centrally. In 2013, Zero Waste Scotland published Scotland’s Litter Problem which estimated that the direct costs associated with tackling littering and flytipping totalled £53m per annum for public agencies. This does not include…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase fines for (a) littering and (b) fly tipping.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The current Fixed Penalty Notice for littering is £80 and fly tipping is £200. There are no plans to increase these levels at present. The levels were increased in 2014 taking account of evidence and views expressed via the National Litter Strategy consultat…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to address reported increased levels of (a) littering and (b) fly tipping.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Littering and fly tipping are unacceptable, whatever the circumstances. Responsibility for dealing with litter and fly tipping rests with local councils as part of their role in delivering waste services. Most local waste services are returning to normal afte…

1 Jul 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many contracts it has awarded to private hospitals during the COVID-19 crisis; what services these have been awarded for; what their total value is, and when they were awarded.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As of 31 March four contracts were procured through National Services Scotland for the use of private hospital facilities throughout the COVID19 pandemic. These facilities provide a COVID-19 free environment for patients to receive urgent cancer surgery, outp…

25 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28663 by Jeane Freeman on 25 June 2020, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how many people have been contacted through contact tracing following a patient testing positive for COVID-19 on each day since 1 February 2…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W 28663, which gives all the information held by the Scottish Government in relation to the number of people contacted via contact tracing following a patient testing positive for Covid-19 since 1 February 2020. …

21 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the latest drugs death figures are.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: National Records Scotland (NRS) are responsible for publishing the Scottish drug death statistics on an annual basis. The last publication from NRS providing drug death figures was in July 2019 and stated that 1,187 drug-related deaths were registered in Scot…

21 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the system of information sharing and notifications of drug-related deaths between Police Scotland and the alcohol and drugs partnerships has been suspended.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Arrangements for the sharing of Police information is a matter for Police Scotland. With the Drug Deaths taskforce, I have asked Public Health Scotland to work with Police Scotland to monitor drug deaths during the pandemic. Together they have agreed a new co…

17 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is as it applies to Scotland on the recent report by Quebec’s college of physicians on mesh removal.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has noted the Quebec report. Whilst some of the recommendations it contains are specific to the circumstances to be found in Quebec, some are more generic in nature, for example in relation to rebuilding trust between patients and the …

17 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Quebec's college of physicians recommending that mesh injured women are reimbursed by the province's health insurance board for mesh removal surgery undertaken in the United States, whether it will reimburse women in Scotland in the same circumstances.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health Boards may seek out-of-area treatments for patients where considered necessary and appropriate. Precise detail of the process will differ between Health Boards but, typically, a patient would firstly be expected to discuss any such referral with their …

16 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to approaching the chair of the Investigative Review into the Process of Establishing, Managing and Supporting Independent Reviews in Scotland prior to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Independent Review being established.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Independent Review of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, co-Chaired by Dr Andrew Fraser and Dr Brian Montgomery, was entirely independent of the Scottish Government and both the conduct of the Review and its processes were a matter for the co-Chairs…

15 Jun 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting older people during the COVID-19 outbreak.

15 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) which of the recommendations in the report, An Investigative Review into the process of establishing, managing and supporting Independent Reviews in Scotland, by Prof Alison Britton were implemented in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Independent Review.

15 Jun 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether an application has been submitted to the General Medical Council for registration of Dr Veronkis in order for him to come to Scotland.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: There is a range of evidence that the applicant is required to submit to the GMC in order to seek clearance to practice in the UK. Further, the application process also requires confirmation of employment by the Health Board concerned. GMC clearance would the…