Parliamentary questions
Neil Bibby
1,029 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Dec 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to analyse the reasons for the reported increase in waiting times in ophthalmology services, including the impact of "do not" and "cannot attend" cases.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Where Health Boards have concerns about cannot attend (CNA) and do not attend (DNA) rates, patients are being contacted and encouraged to attend an appointment when one is offered. Patients are being risk stratified on a continual basis ensuring that those wi…
2 Dec 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent reported increase in waiting times, what steps it is taking to prevent avoidable sight loss because of delays for eye care appointments, surgery and treatment.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting ophthalmology services across Scotland and the management of waiting times and delays to eye care treatment. The Scottish Government has made available £3 million of additional funding to NHS Boards in…
20 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure the financial sustainability of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The development of a masterplan for the Cairngorm Estate, of which the funicular railway is an important asset, aims to develop an agreed vision and strategies to support the sustainability of the resort. Alongside this, HIE is reviewing operating and governa…
20 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it held with Highlands and Islands Enterprise Board and the board of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway regarding removing the funicular railway and replacing it with a gondola service, such as the scheme at Ellmau in Austria, prior to the recent announcement of funding for …
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Government held regular discussions with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) during the development of the Cairngorm Mountain Full Business Case which considered a range of options, including removal of the funicular and replacement with a gondola…
20 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated lifespan of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway will be following the repairs to the system.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Highlands and Islands Enterprise is confident that, together with a robust care, maintenance and replacement programme, the reinstatement works now underway will secure use of the funicular for many years.
20 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what benefits it considers repairs to the Cairngorm Mountain Railway will bring compared with its replacement with a gondola service.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Cairngorm Mountain Full Business Case concluded that reinstatement of the funicular is more cost-effective and will provide a service that is less prone to severe weather related disruption than replacement with a gondola service. The funicular will attra…
19 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the continued use of the Protect Scotland app after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has no plans to continue using Protect Scotland beyond the current pandemic. Protect Scotland relies on the Google/Apple' Exposure Notification System (ENS) to work. Access to this ENS technology has only been granted for use during th…
16 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to protect (a) teachers and (b) families from COVID-19 infection transmitted by school-aged children.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government’s guidance on reducing risks in schools is intended to keep schools safe, open and welcoming. It takes full account of the evolving COVID-19 situation in Scotland, the experience of reopening schools to date, the advice received from…
16 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that school-aged children are more likely than adults to bring a COVID-19 infection into a household.
Answer · John Swinney: Currently, the extent to which children contribute to transmission of Covid-19 is not completely understood. However, Public Health Scotland (PHS) publish data on cases amongst children and young people each week and there are a number of recent publications,…
16 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought to quantify the level of (a) absence and (b) repeated absence among senior school pupils as a result of (i) COVID-19 infection and (ii) self-isolation due to close contact with COVID-19 cases in school and, if so, whether it will publish this information; what it co…
Answer · John Swinney: Learner absences are being monitored and all currently available data is published on our website. This can be accessed at: https://public.tableau.com/profile/sg.eas.learninganalysis#!/vizhome/COVID19-SchoolsandChildcareInformation/Introduction https://www…
16 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent studies presented to the UK Government that reportedly show that the number of school-aged children with COVID-19 has risen considerably in the second wave when compared to the first; whether it has commissioned similar research in Scotland, and, if so, whether this w…
Answer · John Swinney: In Scotland we are fortunate to have evidence which shows us how well local authorities, teachers, other school staff, children and young people have worked to mitigate the risks of Covid-19 since schools reopened. Public Health Scotland publish regular data …
10 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its decommissioning plans are for the NHS Louisa Jordan facility.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The lease for the Louisa Jordan currently runs until the end of April 2021. If it is necessary to do so, we will negotiate an extension to the lease if the facility is still needed to support our pandemic response. In the meantime we are, perfectly sensibly, …
10 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the NHS Louisa Jordan facility.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31712 on 10 September 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/parliamentarybusin…
10 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have contracted COVID-19 while in hospital in each month since March 2020, also broken down by how many have subsequently died.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on cases of hospital onset of COVID-19 is published weekly by National Services Scotland, ARHAI (Antimicrobial Resistance Hospital Acquired Infection). Reports are published here: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population…
10 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances might the NHS Louisa Jordan facility be used for COVID-19 patients.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The NHS Louisa Jordan was established to help ensure NHS Scotland had extra capacity to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and stood ready to do so since 20 April 2020. Building the NHS Louisa Jordan was a precautionary action and I was always clear …
10 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the usage figure for the NHS Louisa Jordan facility has been each month.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The usage figures for the NHS Louisa Jordan: September - 2612 attendees October - 2916 attendees November to date (19 November) – 2600 attendees
4 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to monitor the prevalence of flu this year.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Flu season in the UK begins in December and reaches it peaks in January and February. Therefore, anyone who gets the seasonal flu vaccine by the end of December will be protected in advance of when we expect incidences of seasonal flu to be at their highest. …
4 Nov 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided to care home workers through Test and Protect in relation to returning to work after testing positive for COVID-19, and whether this is the same as care home guidance.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The National Clinical and Practice Guidance for Adult Care Homes states that “staff should not work while even mildly symptomatic and should follow guidance on self-isolation”. Additionally, Health Protection Scotland guidance states that staff can return to…
28 Oct 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that public services meet the needs of older people and that their rights are respected.
26 Oct 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have contracted COVID-19 in each month since March 2020, and how many of those have subsequently died.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The number of cases of Covid-19 per month as reported by PHS on the PHS open data platform are in the following table: Number of positive cases with at least one COVID-19 test result reported, by specimen date, 2020. March April May June July August S…
23 Oct 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked each NHS board to provide details of their 2020-21 flu vaccinations plans and, if (a) so, whether it will publish the responses received and (b) not, whether it will consider doing so.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government has received Seasonal Flu Vaccination delivery plans from all Health Boards. Although we do not have plans to publish the responses that have been received, Ministers have written to all MSPs and MPs providing a summary of how each boa…
21 Oct 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 cases associated with (a) primary and (b) secondary schools there have been in each week since 11 August 2020.
Answer · John Swinney: Weekly surveillance data on cases among children of school age are published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) with the weekly statistical report: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/ …
7 Oct 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, whether it will be offered to everyone in Scotland and, if not, what percentage of the population will be offered it, and what criteria will be used to determine who is offered it.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Access to a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccination is dependent on success in at least one of over 200 vaccine trials underway worldwide. When a vaccine might become available in Scotland, and how it might be prioritised and delivered, will depend in part on…
6 Oct 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what ferry repair and maintenance contracts have been awarded by CalMac for the forthcoming winter period.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: As a longer-term yard strategy, CalMac is conducting a procurement exercise for vessel maintenance and upgrades. This will consist of two multi-year contracts covering the 33 vessels within the CalMac fleet. These contracts aim to deliver cost savings and imp…
30 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a target for the level of flu vaccine uptake among over 65s, and what it is doing to promote uptake of the flu vaccine among this group.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government aims to vaccinate more people within groups with existing eligibility than ever before. Scotland has a reputation for high seasonal flu vaccine uptake and our working assumptions for the 65 years and over is 75% for this year’s flu sea…
9 Sep 2020 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider its position on holding an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the murder of Craig McClelland, following the decision by the Lord Advocate not to conduct a Fatal Accident Inquiry.
8 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement the accessible home testing kit trial recommendations suggested by the Department for Health and Social Care, including introducing steps that will make these more accessible for blind and partially-sighted people, such as assisted home testing and pre-registere…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Home testing kits are provided by the UK Government and we continue to work with them to make accessibility improvements. DHSC has been working in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to better understand the end-to-end experiences of…
8 Sep 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to include (a) blind and partially-sighted and (b) other disabled people in testing the accessibility of the proximity tracing that app that it plans to launch.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: An assessment and accessibility testing was completed for the Protect Scotland app. This assessment informed the development of the app and considered the needs of people with a visual impairment and or a disability. These needs will be considered in an ongoi…
10 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what direction it provides to the SQA regarding protecting the interests of pupils in the most disadvantaged SIMD quintile.
Answer · John Swinney: Under the Equality Act 2010, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) cannot discriminate or victimise in conferring qualifications. During 2018–19, SQA reviewed its equality impact assessment practices, and incorporated the Fairer Scotland Duty into the p…
10 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the SQA alerted it regarding the potential impact of the moderation methodology used for the 2020 awards on pupils from disadvantaged areas and, if so, on what date.
Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) provided a broad indication of the equalities impact of its awarding model on 30 July. The SQA results as announced on 4 August showed progress in closing the attainment gap.