Parliamentary questions
Monica Lennon
3,484 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to integrate women’s equality and rights into economic recovery planning.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We are driving forward an ambitious and progressive agenda to ensure women’s equality rights are embedded within our economic recovery planning, and in all we do, to mitigate against the disproportionate impacts COVID-19 has and will continue to have on diffe…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the recommendation in its report, Economic Recovery Implementation Plan: Scottish Government response to the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery, to “Establish a short-life Ministerial Working Group to maintain momentum and ensure these ambitions are …
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The short-life Ministerial Working Group will form part of our approach to establishing a Centre of Expertise in Equality and Human Rights to work across the Economy portfolio within Scottish Government. This involves ensuring that it advances upon our wider …
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards the recommendation in its report, Economic Recovery Implementation Plan: Scottish Government response to the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery,to “Establish a Centre of Expertise in Equality and Human Rights to work across the Economy portfolio.”
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We are currently developing our approach to establishing a Centre of Expertise in Equality and Human Rights to work across the Economy portfolio within Scottish Government. This involves ensuring that it advances upon our wider equality and human rights mains…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support small building and construction firms to access financial support as a result of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Kate Forbes: We recognise the financial challenges being experienced by businesses in the construction sector, particularly smaller firms and tradespeople whose business relies on doing work in domestic premises. The limited funding made available to us to support busines…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the current restrictions on non-essential construction works inside people’s homes will be eased before the week beginning 26 April 2021, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The current regulations limit the entry of other people into homes for the purpose of the upkeep, maintenance or functioning of the house to where the work is essential for that purpose in level 4. These restrictions have been put in place to limit the transm…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the unit price of alcohol, in light of its commitment to do so after two years of implementation.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Work to review the Minimum Unit Price (MUP) level was paused in order to respond to the urgent demands of handling the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This has restarted in order to review the level of the MUP in the course of this year. The price level will be co…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that health warnings and the low-risk drinking guidelines are displayed on alcoholic drinks, and what its position is on whether the alcohol industry has taken sufficient action to place health information on product and packaging labels.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Framework 2018 is clear that action is needed to inform consumers about the health impacts of alcohol consumption and the UK Chief Medical Officers’ lower-risk maximum drinking guidelines. We delivered the Count 14 marketi…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to fulfil its commitment to scope research into online and telephone alcohol sales, in light of the changes in patterns of alcohol availability, sales and consumption because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Alcohol Framework 2018 commitment to further understand online and telephone sales remains important and it is crucial that these market routes are also viewed through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government commissioned Public Health …
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of what (a) employment and (b) business support schemes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic it offers, and how much it is allocating to each scheme in the 2021-22 Budget.
Answer · Kate Forbes: In the 2021-22 Budget, we announced an additional £125 million of funding to help people impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic access employment opportunities. This includes:£70 million for the Young Person’s Guarantee – continuing to provide work,…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many businesses have been ineligible for any form of assistance from its COVID-19 support schemes.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government does not hold data about how many businesses have been ineligible for any form of assistance from its COVID-19 support schemes.
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been awarded to businesses by the Strategic Business Framework Fund, and how much has been allocated to businesses to date.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government regularly publishes statistics and management information relating to its Covid-19 business grants on its website. The latest publication that includes details of the Strategic Framework Business Fund was published on 10 March 2021.
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Strategic Business Framework Fund (a) have been approved, (b) have been rejected and (c) are yet to be processed.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government regularly publishes statistics and management information relating to its Covid-19 business grants on its website. The latest publication that includes details of the Strategic Framework Business Fund was published on 10 March 2021.
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many places have been delivered by the Young Person’s Guarantee to date, and how many it expects the scheme to deliver by 31 December 2021.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As detailed in the Scottish Government’s response to questions S5W-34614 and S5W-34612 on 1 February 2021 we have provided funding for around 18,000 new and enhanced opportunities to support young people in 2020-21. We have previously stated, in response…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether unpaid carers should have access to a social security payment that is equal or similar to the real living wage.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting unpaid carers in recognition of the vital role they play, and we have already improved the social security support available to unpaid carers in Scotland, through our Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Young Ca…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Alzheimer Scotland's Fair Dementia Care Campaign for parity of access to healthcare for people with advanced dementia.
Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government welcomed Alzheimer Scotland’s Fair Dementia Care Report and began consideration of the report’s call for a definition of advanced dementia care, free at the point of delivery, prior to the onset of the pandemic. The Cabinet Secretary …
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the establishment of the Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, as a result of the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2003, has helped to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people in Scotland, and what its position is on whet…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government recognises the role played by the Commissioner and their role as the guardian of children’s rights in Scotland. The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body sets the terms of the Commissioner’s appointment, including the allocation of res…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government and (b) other organisations regarding proposals for an Irish Sea crossing or tunnel.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has not investigated or undertaken any feasibility work for a fixed link (bridge, sea crossing or tunnel) between Scotland and Northern Ireland and has no current plans to do so. Transport Scotland officials have had limited discussio…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether all children and young people attending state schools should have access to free musical instrument and voice tuition.
Answer · John Swinney: Expressive arts (which includes music education) is one of the eight core areas of Curriculum for Excellence that all children and young people have access to. Provision of the curriculum, as well as the way instrumental music tuition is provided, is for loca…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it plans to support (a) Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and (b) Hamilton BID during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Building on over £1.85 million direct funding to BIDs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will provide more than £600,000 funding to Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in 2021-22 to support economic recovery. This will support BIDs to manage c…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of its latest assessment of the impact on (a) human health and (b) the environment of energy from waste facilities and incineration.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Emissions from energy from waste plants are strictly controlled under the Pollution Prevention and Control regulatory regime. Correctly operated, modern energy from waste facilities should have minimal impact on overall local air quality. A multi layered and…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support the economic recovery of town centres following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: We are focused on delivering the maximum support for the economic recovery of our town centres. Grants of up to £7,500 for retailers and up to £19,500 for hospitality and leisure businesses will be paid in April to help businesses, including town centre busi…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to support local authorities in developing publicly-owned bus companies, and when it expects new municipal bus companies to be established.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Work on implementing the provisions of Part 3 (Bus Services) of the Transport (Scotland) 2019 Act was paused while officials had to prioritise the Scottish Government’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, work has now restarted and an online stakeh…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34227 by Mairi Gougeon on 14 January 2021, whether it will provide an update on what (a) assessment it has made of the impact of COVID-19 on the viability of leisure centres and (b) progress has been made to provide financial support to leisure …
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We are continuing to work with sportscotland to continually review and establish the needs of the sector. For leisure centres which are owned by the public sector, the Scottish Government and COSLA have now finalised a lost income scheme, including support fo…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the 'Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland', which is due to be published in March 2021, will have an impact on SPIRE data collection.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We recognise that high quality data is important to the NHS because it can lead to improvements in both care and safety. Our Respiratory Care Action Plan will aim to build on existing data from the Atlas of Variation from ISD Scotland and work towards a core …
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which SPIRE reports that explore respiratory conditions are currently available.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The SPIRE Multi-morbidity local report has the following Respiratory Conditions •Patients with currently treated asthma •Patients with Bronchiectasis •Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease This is a local report which sits within local GP IT…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how GP practices identify high-risk people with asthma.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: GP practices can identify high-risk people with asthma by searching their records for patients codified as having asthma alongside other factors such as inhaled steroids, courses of oral steroids prescribed, hospital admissions, or smoking status.
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the SPIRE report, 'Respiratory search', will provide data on respiratory conditions other than high-risk asthmatics.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The original specification for this report was for Patients fully registered of all ages with a coded diagnosis of asthma (and no more recent code of asthma resolved) who: Have had one or more hospital admissions or A&E attendances with asthma in the previou…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the SPIRE report, 'Respiratory search', which is currently under development, will be made available.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The SPIRE ‘Respiratory search’ report is currently on hold, however it should be noted that this is a local report which sits within local GP IT systems and would allow GPs/Practice Managers only to see the data for their patients.
9 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) economic and (b) cultural impact is of the music sector, and what action it takes to promote (i) the sector and (ii) Scotland-based recording artists.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: (a) The latest Scottish Government Growth Sectors Statistics for the Creative Industries, published in December 2020, show that the music sector contributed £19.8 million to the Scottish economy in 2019 (Source: Growth sector statistics - gov.scot ( www.gov.…
9 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact on Scotland-based recording artists of the Official Charts Company (OCC) ceasing to publish its Scottish Singles Chart since December 2020, and what discussions it has had or plans with (a) OCC, (b) the Musicians’ Union and (c) other stakeho…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the Scottish Singles Chart to Scotland’s music scene, in helping to bring artists to wider audiences and boosting their profile. The chart has played an important role in showing what the people of Scotland…