Parliamentary questions
Alexander Burnett
1,406 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic value that Chinese students who come to Scotland to study bring to (a) universities and (b) the national economy.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07566 on 19 April 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committee…
1 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of reported concerns that Confucius Institutes may represent a threat to academic freedoms and freedom of expression.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07562 on 19 April 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committee…
1 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07558 on 19 April 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committee…
1 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to determine how many universities in Scotland provide financial support to Confucius Institute branches.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07564 on 22 April 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committee…
29 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm how many Historic Environment Scotland properties are currently (a) open to the public at full-capacity, (b) partly open and (c) closed.
Answer · Neil Gray: Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to the number of sites open and closed, are best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland who have delegated responsibility for manag…
29 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide farmers, crofters and land managers with advice and opportunities to upskill in order to make transformational changes on-farm.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We recognise that rural communities face particular skills challenges, which the Scottish Government is proactively working to address. This includes: setting up the independent Commission reviewing land-based and aquaculture learning; developing skills and …
28 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £25 million Business Ventilation Fund has been allocated to applicants from low-risk settings.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Data from the Business Ventilation Fund has not yet been published. In line with all previous funds, the Scottish Government will publish data on the Business Ventilation Fund. This is planned for May.
28 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04576 by Kate Forbes on 1 December 2022, whether it will provide an update on how much of the £25 million Business Ventilation Fund, which closed on 11 March 2022, has been allocated.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Data from the Business Ventilation Fund has not yet been published. In line with all previous funds, the Scottish Government will publish data on the Business Ventilation Fund. This is planned for May.
28 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the limits are of any reimbursement claims under the Business Ventilation Fund.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Under the Business Ventilation Fund, the limit of any reimbursement claim was £2500 for each eligible premise. Where a business operates multiple premises, it was able to apply for a grant for each eligible premise. An upper limit of £50,000 in total was appl…
28 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Business Ventilation Fund have been received, and of those how many have been rejected.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Data from the Business Ventilation Fund has not yet been published. In line with all previous funds, the Scottish Government will publish data on the Business Ventilation Fund. This is planned for May.
24 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for improving the accuracy of radiology for suspected sarcomas.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Sarcoma Network is tasked with ensuring equity of care for all patients in Scotland with sarcoma, and for conducting audits of the quality of care provided to improve quality of life for all patients. Sarcoma clinical management guidelines (CMGs…
24 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for improving healthcare professionals' awareness of sarcoma.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Sarcoma Network is tasked with looking at this issue more closely for the whole of Scotland, particularly regarding any educational shortfalls that may exist. The Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer were published in 2019 and suppo…
24 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for increasing public awareness of sarcoma.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Our Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme aims to provide greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer to improve earlier diagnosis rates. A symptom-checker tool is included on the getcheckedearly.org website, to raise awareness of the early signs a…
24 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to change the way sarcoma cancer incidence data counts the yearly number of sarcoma cases.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Sarcoma cancer incidence data is collected by Public Health Scotland. Public Health Scotland is aware of the complexities that can arise when categorising diseases such as sarcoma, where there may occasionally be more than one technically correct option for c…
24 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for improving radiologists' use of sarcoma guidelines.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Sarcoma Network is tasked with looking at this issue more closely for the whole of Scotland, particularly regarding any educational shortfall that may exist. Additionally, every year the network analyses and reports the Quality Performance Indica…
24 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the speed at which sarcoma cancer is diagnosed.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The earlier cancer is diagnosed the easier it is to treat. This is why the Scottish Government continues to invest in our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme, which adopts a whole systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible. A…
23 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which high-risk settings will continue to have access to free COVID-19 lateral flow testing from May 2022.
Answer · Maree Todd: From 18 April, we are no longer asking the general public to test themselves regularly if they are asymptomatic. This change is possible because of the progress we have made in our ability to protect Scotland’s population from the most severe harms of COVID-1…
22 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme in each local authority area, broken down by (a) interim and (b) main voucher scheme, and how these costs compare with its original proposed funding for each scheme.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Details of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) costs as of 1 April 2022 are set out in the following tables. The original estimated costs of the R100 SBVS interim voucher was £3.3 million and the main voucher was between £12.8 million and £18 m…
22 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07084 by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022, how many requests for vouchers through the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme have been declined in each local authority area, also broken down by (a) interim and (b) main voucher scheme.
Answer · Kate Forbes: No requests for a voucher through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) for eligible premises have been declined.
17 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06463 by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022, what steps it is taking to ensure that people are still able to access community defibrillators, that require an access code sent to a phone, during times when mobile and landline networks are down, and when …
Answer · Maree Todd: We recognise that locked defibrillator cabinets, such as those that require an access code sent to a phone, can sometimes present logistical problems for access. We would therefore reiterate the advice in the answer to S6W-06463 that defibrillator guardians f…
16 Mar 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help farmers make improvements to their farms.
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Environment and Forestry Directorate and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) include the impact on emergency services and hospitals in any analysis of plausible extreme scenarios for surface water flooding.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The National Flood Risk Assessment published by SEPA in 2018 provided Scotland with the knowledge and tools to assess the causes and consequences of river, coastal and surface water flooding, taking into account the effects of climate change. The Assessment c…
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it conducts a civil resilience planning exercise for an extreme rainfall event in a major urban area, incorporating the response to significant infrastructure failure.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Local Resilience Partnerships (LRPs) undertake multi-agency tabletop exercises involving flooding or severe weather scenarios as a matter of course. Local flood defence mechanisms are tested by resilience partners on a regular basis.
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Environment and Forestry Directorate supports and funds an ongoing programme of research to specifically identify and monitor any risks associated with extreme sub-daily rainfall in urban areas.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government monitors the size of the challenge ahead by consideration of climate projections, flood mapping, modelling and analysis carried out by a number of key, expert partners such as the Met Office, SEPA and Scottish Water. We recognise that…
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether sewerage companies have a responsibility to ensure surface water sewer networks are not overwhelmed by increasingly heavy rainfall events as the climate changes, and, if so, whether this is achieved through Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMP) or by other means.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Under the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 Scottish Water has the public drainage duty and is responsible for the drainage of foul flows and rainwater run-off (surface water) from roofs and any paved ground surface within the property boundary for normal rainfall…
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has adopted a policy aim of ensuring that electricity substations are protected from all sources of flooding.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Energy Sector which includes resilience of the electricity network is reserved and the responsibility of the UK Government. The Scottish Government works closely with the UK Government, electricity network operators and owners to ensure Scotland’s energy…
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps the Environment and Forestry Directorate and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have taken to improve transparency of flood defence spending decisions in order to facilitate scrutiny and ensure fairness across regions and for deprived communities.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: We aim to ensure the arrangements in place covering spending decisions on flood risk management are transparent. In 2016, agreement was reached between Scottish Ministers and COSLA on a new strategic funding plan for flood protection schemes. The agreement g…
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Scotland has identified any assets included in the high or significant risk maintenance backlog, which are also at risk of flooding or have structural features that may be particularly vulnerable to heavy rainfall, and has then used this information to ensure that such assets…
Answer · Mairi McAllan: A national study on the impacts of climate change on NHS assets was undertaken by Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) in 2016. This included flood risk assessments of 240 key sites utilising SEPA flood risk data. A follow up review of the sites identified as bei…
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has implemented a comprehensive, major public information campaign covering all aspects of flooding, with the aim of increasing national resilience.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Ready Scotland website – ready.scot – is a core part of our public-facing communications work to help make Scotland more resilient to emergencies. It provides up to date, accessible and comprehensive information on a range of threats and risks, including …
16 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it requires telecoms providers to actively assess and disclose assets that are at risk of flooding, and any single points of failure (SPOF) in their networks, and, if it does, in each case, whether an action plan for flood risk management and/or elimination of the SPOF was produc…
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Communications Sector, which includes resilience of the telecoms network, is reserved and the responsibility of the UK Government. There are no specific obligations on telecoms operators to disclose assets that are at risk of flooding or a single point o…