Monica Lennon

7 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02826 by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021, how it is addressing the increase to 5,761 nursing and midwifery vacancies nationally (8.2% of posts) that have been reported by NHS Education for Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: NHS Scotland’s staffing levels are at a record high, following nine years of consecutive growth. This includes record numbers of staff within the nursing and midwifery job family. Creating new vacancies is an essential part of workforce expansion and are to…

7 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the Health and Wellbeing Questionnaire Content Group met, and who attended each meeting.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The specific dates of the meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Questionnaire Content Group were: 26 April 2018 27 June 2018 23 August 2018 25 Sept 2018 16 May 2019 The list of members of the Content Group were as follows; 2 Statisticians, Scottish Gove…

6 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet (a) COSLA and (b) teaching unions in relation to pay restoration for teachers.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Teachers’ pay negotiations are a matter for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), comprising membership from local authority employers, teacher unions and Scottish Government. The last SNCT pay negotiation meeting was held on 17 November. T…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the development of a new gas-fired power station at Peterhead.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government supports the development of new electricity power stations with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) such as the proposal for a new station at Peterhead. This has the potential to ensure that a net zero electricity system in Scottish remai…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether children and young people with poorly-controlled asthma will be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccination due to this group being reportedly at a higher risk of hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Prioritisation within the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is based upon the clinical risk of developing severe disease with COVID-19. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises on clinical prioritisation for vaccin…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support pupils in light of reports of a five-fold increase in the number of children who have missed more than half of their schooling over the last academic year.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This five-fold increase refers only to primary pupils and the proportion of pupils absent for over 50% of the time remains very small at 1% of all primary pupils. The wider context is that in 2020-21 over 41% of pupils had attendance rates over 95%. It should…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the highest level of risk is, on the sliding scale from green to black, that has been identified at each NHS board in 2021.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Each Health Board operates their own policy for the management of risk assessment. This includes well established processes with locally agreed trigger points for maintaining a safe service and ensuring patient safety. At the time of writing only NHS Lanarks…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the terms of reference for the public inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 will make provision for people who are seeking asylum and living under immigration control to be included within the scope of the inquiry.

Answer · John Swinney: The terms of reference for the Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry are designed in such a way that they do not constrain the chair in seeking views and evidence from any group or individual affected by the matters the inquiry is asked to investigate. Scottish i…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) missing children and (b) missing adult incidents were reported to Police Scotland in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Ash Regan: Police Scotland collate missing persons statistics and have provided information from the legacy National Missing Person Database and the current National Missing Person Application which is used to record data on missing people. Prior to 2016 missing person…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, broken down by NHS board, in each year since 2016.

Answer · Maree Todd: The requested information on how many people were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), broken down by NHS board is not held centrally. The Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Register provides information on new diagnoses of MS. The latest publication of the re…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how long the current waiting list is for rape survivors at each rape crisis centre.

Answer · Shona Robison: According to Rape Crisis Scotland, as of October 2020 and December 2021 waiting list times for each centre were as follows: Centre Waiting List 2020 Waiting list 2021 Argyll and Bute 10-12 weeks 2 months Grampian 3-5 months 6.5 months South West (D…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many households in the (a) South Lanarkshire, (b) North Lanarkshire and (c) Falkirk local authority area have experienced fuel poverty in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The number of households in each local authority that are experiencing fuel poverty is published annually in the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) local authority tables. The latest published set of tables for 2017-2019 is available at: Scottish House …

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to (a) calls for a significant and meaningful increase in legal aid funding and (b) the reported comments of the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association that the criminal defence bar is unable to compete with the salaries offered by public bodies, in particular the Crown…

Answer · Ash Regan: a) Since 2019 the Scottish Government has increased legal aid fees by 8% with a further 5% committed to in early 2022. This is a total rise of 13% set against a backdrop of difficult public finances and compares well to public sector pay increases. The 5% plu…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought advice from the Australian government on delivering an apology for historic forced adoption, and, if so, whether it will provide dates of any meetings, telephone calls and correspondence.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government have not made contact with the Australian Government for advice regarding an apology for historical adoption practices.

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it recommends that cyclists wear a helmet.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: Wearing a helmet is a matter of personal choice, not a requirement. The wearing of cycle helmets is covered by the Highway Code and is a matter reserved to the UK Government. It recommends wearing a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the …

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position in relation to introducing an equal right of appeal in the planning system.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government has no plans to make changes to rights of appeal in the planning system. A number of amendments that sought to introduce a third party right of appeal were considered, and rejected, by the Scottish Parliament during consideration of t…

5 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister has visited any care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic to listen to the views of residents, and, if so, (a) where and (b) when these visits took place.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The First Minister has not visited any care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic to listen to the views of residents, but has closely monitored the situation in care homes throughout, discussing developments frequently with officials and Ministers.

2 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is in place for local authorities regarding restrictions on school nativity plays.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Our reducing risks in schools guidance sets out the current COVID-19 mitigations in schools. Current guidance reflects the best scientific and clinical advice, as well as the current state of the pandemic and the anticipated trajectory of infections. The r…

30 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that children and young people are not without warm and weatherproof clothing this winter due to poverty.

Answer · Shona Robison: Tackling child poverty is a national mission for this government and we are delivering a range of direct support to families. The Scottish Child Payment is currently supporting around 106,000 children under 6 with £10 a week payments. Together with Best Star…

30 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide more information about the location of the single event linked to the identification of nine cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As the First Minister set out in her statement of 30 November. The nine cases of Omicron identified at that time continue to be supported by Health Protection Teams and, as enhanced contact tracing is still taking place, it would not be appropriate to disclos…

30 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has launched an Incident Management Team in response to the identification of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Scotland, and, if so, (a) when it first met, (b) who the chairperson is and (c) whether it involves international public health agencies, in addition to na…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: An Incident Management Team was stood up on 27 November specifically for Omicron. The team has met daily since and continues to do so. The group is chaired by Public Health Scotland’s Incident Directors. The team meets with other UK nations and wider partners…

30 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccine doses have not been used within their expiry date, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) type of vaccine.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This data is not currently available in the format requested. Public Health Scotland (PHS) collect and report vaccine wastage data for Scotland. The latest publication of vaccine wastage data is publicly available in the Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Stati…

30 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reopen the NHS Louisa Jordan in order to increase capacity within the health service.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Louisa Jordan was always intended to be a temporary facility to provide additional capacity at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the effectiveness of efforts to suppress the virus, hospitalisations were reduced, NHS capacity was maintained, and …

30 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people in each local authority area have received a free (a) laptop, (b) tablet and (c) Chromebook, in light of its commitment to deliver devices with free internet connection to 700,000 P1 to S6 pupils within 100 days of the May 2021 election.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland have access to a digital device by the end of this parliament. Given the scale and complexity of this programme of work, the 100 days commitment was to…

24 Nov 2021 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to deliver Anne’s Law and other action it is taking to reduce isolation and loneliness in care homes.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We remain absolutely committed to strengthening residents’ rights in adult care homes through the introduction of ‘Anne’s Law’. This will give people who live in adult care homes the right to see and spend time with those who are important to them. Our public…

23 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will confirm the details of its Climate Justice Resilience Fund, and whether it will ensure that its Global South partners are involved in helping determine its priorities.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has agreed to grant £1 million to the Climate Justice Resilience Fund to support their work to address the needs of communities suffering the most acute impacts of climate change and develop and test a framework for delivering loss & d…

23 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to request that the UK Government, its Under2 Coalition partners and other international actors address the issue of loss and damage, which was debated at COP26.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: COP26 delivered some progress on Loss and Damage – and, in pledging £2 million, the Scottish Government were pleased to lead the way as the first [developed nation] to pledge funds. However it is widely acknowledged the issue requires greater prominence and w…

23 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to request that the UK Government, which holds the COP Presidency until the start of COP27, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat consider the lessons of COP26 and develop a plan to improve access and participation for COP27 …

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is currently working with the UK Government and other governments of the UK to gather and review the lessons of COP26 and to discuss implications for the UK Presidency of COP. As part of its Presidency role, the UK Government will be w…

23 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to use the conclusions of the Glasgow Climate Dialogues in developing its post-COP26 climate justice work.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government was pleased to work with Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and partners to deliver the Glasgow Climate Dialogues, and its communique which set out recommendations for COP26 from four thematic dialogues. The Scottish Government has already a…

23 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to continue the discussions and networking established by the Glasgow Climate Dialogues beyond COP26, and whether it will use its role as Co-chair of the Under2 Coalition of sub-states, cities and regions to promote a similar dialogue among all the Under2 Coalition memb…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government will continue to build on the discussion and networking that was in place before and was developed through the Glasgow Climate Dialogues at COP26. This includes hearing directly from partners in the Global South and working in collabor…