Alexander Burnett

17 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33489 by Jeane Freeman on 16 December 2020, whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to provide certification for people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35171 on 11 March 2021. 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/parliamentarybusiness/…

16 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that older patients in hospital are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

16 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the (a) laying of regulations for minimum energy efficiency standards and (b) compliance dates which will be set out in the regulations.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The draft Heat in Buildings Strategy (HBS) published on 5 February 2021, brings together the Scottish Government’s ambitions on energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation into a single framework, and provides an update to the 2018 Energy Efficient Scotland Ro…

16 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether CalMac charters ferries to cover outages and, if not, whether it will consider using its available vessels to do so.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Vessel deployment is a matter for the operator. During an outage, CalMac will consider the feasibility to cascade vessels from within the fleet or may seek to charter a vessel, taking into consideration the circumstances and vessel availability. Any redeploy…

10 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans there are to increase the number of divisional police officers in the north east.

9 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance and support is in place for teachers of physical education who, due to COVID-19 restrictions, are having to run outdoor activities in poor or challenging weather conditions.

Answer · John Swinney: Guidelines on physical education and dance have been prepared by Education Scotland to assist with decision-making and the safe implementation of timetabled physical education. The guidelines are continually updated to reflect any changes in the scientific ad…

5 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34309 by Aileen Campbell on 22 January 2021, for what reason the constitution, articles of association or registered rules of these bodies must include a minimum of 20 members.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Community controlled bodies wanting to take ownership of land or buildings through asset transfer must have provision within their constitution, articles of association or registered rules stating that they have at least 20 members. This number helps to ensur…

28 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether self-catering accommodation businesses in island communities will have access to the same financial support as self-catering properties in areas subject to Level 4 restrictions.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Islands businesses in Level 3 are also eligible for support to the equivalent of Level 4 Strategic Framework Business Fund. Eligible businesses, including self-catering accommodation businesses will be able to access closure funds as well as, where applicable…

28 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of some people experiencing long-term symptoms of COVID-19, such as fatigue, that prevent them undertaking everyday tasks, when patients will be able to access treatment for the condition, long COVID, in a similar way to the services provided by NHS England.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: There are already a range of services in place, to support people experiencing symptoms of Long COVID, including local primary care teams, community based rehabilitation services and specialised secondary care where needed. As we continue to learn and respon…

28 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the current guidance which states that children under 12 can meet outside for organised activities, whether it will change this to instead refer to children attending primary school and younger, in order to prevent the potential isolation of some primary school children who wi…

Answer · Maree Todd: The Organised activities for children guidance was updated on 5 January 2021 to bring it into line with the Stay at home guidance . The guidance is for organised unregulated activities and services provided outdoors for children, including babies and tod…

21 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 18 January 2021, Extra funding to support unpaid carers, what analysis it has carried out of local carer centre services to ensure that they can adequately support unpaid carers in their respective areas.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Local Authorities and Integration Joint Boards have statutory duties to support unpaid carers under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, many of which they often decide to deliver through local carer centres. Ensuring carer centre services are adequate is a matter…

21 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 18 January 2021, Extra funding to support unpaid carers, when this funding will be made available to local carer centres, and which centres will be allocated funding, also broken down by the amount each will receive.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The information requested is not held centrally. This funding is being administered by Shared Care Scotland in line with its existing arrangements for distributing Time to Live grant funding to local carer support organisations. Shared Care Scotland have tra…

21 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 18 January 2021, Extra funding to support unpaid carers, what action it is taking to ensure that support is made available to unpaid carers who are unable to access their local carer centre services.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government made available a £500,000 fund in April 2020 to support local carer centres and young carer services to transition to working remotely during the pandemic. A second round of the fund was opened in May 2020 to ensure all services had a …

19 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support is being provided to teachers to support pupils with additional needs.

18 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether, under the COVID-19 restrictions, people who experience issues with utilities in their home are permitted to stay in a hotel or other accommodation while the issue is being remedied.

Answer · John Swinney: Right now, unless you have an essential reason to go out, everyone must Stay at Home in order to slow the spread of the virus, to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed and allow time for the vaccine rollout. These essential reasons include activities in conn…

12 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the information in its publication, Wildlife crime in Scotland: 2019 annual report, whether it will provide further information on (a) the outcome of the offence in relation to freshwater peal mussels during 2018-19 and (b) what measures and actions are being taken to protect…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: (a) This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or Police Scotland. (b) Freshwater pearl mussels are a UK wildlife crime priority species, with a dedicated sub-group within the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotlan…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide rates relief to external catering companies that are unable to operate due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government does not intend to extend the existing rates relief any further in the current financial year. In designing the COVID-19 reliefs, we aimed to help as may business as possible. Like all governments we were constrained by affordability a…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether section 80(b) of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 requires the constitution of a community-owned group to state that the group must comprise 20 trustees; what the reasons are for such a requirement, and whether it has any plans to review any such requirement.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: To make an asset transfer request for ownership, a Community Controlled Body must be incorporated as a company, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation or a BenCom (Community Benefit Company). The Body’s constitution, Articles of Association, or regis…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has been made of electric vehicle charging installations that require upgrading; what its plans are to ensure that all electric vehicles will be compatible with the new second generation electric vehicle charging devices, and what assessment it has made to certify that…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has invested over £32m in public charging infrastructure, throughout the country, to build a diverse vehicle charging network (ChargePlace Scotland); in close collaboration with Scotland’s Local Authorities. Scotland has one of the mos…

21 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether police officers will be included on the priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government are following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in the planning of vaccine delivery. This evidence based guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age, and…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available for the space sector, and what plans it has for future support for Scottish space programmes.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The space sector is a key priority for the Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies. As highlighted through the Inward Investment Plan, the global space market is estimated to be worth £400bn by 2030. The Scottish Government’s ambition is for Scotland …

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider removing casinos from the list of businesses required to close in areas subject to Level 2 COVID-19 restrictions.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The overall package of measures within each level of the Strategic Framework is designed to suppress the virus as far as possible whilst minimising broader harms. The Scottish Government will keep the protective measures in all levels under review to ensure t…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33586 by Joe FitzPatrick on 7 December 2020, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how many people who have died as a result of COVID-19 since 1 September 2020 had a post mortem.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Authorised post-mortem examinations are undertaken for deaths in hospitals by NHS Boards, where the cause of death is unknown, to establish the medical cause of death. Requests for information on hospit…

14 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many contractors are used by Warmworks; what the cost is of each contract for services, and in which country each contractor is registered.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Warmworks has sub-contractor framework agreements in place with 22 installers and 3 support suppliers. Warmworks follows OJEU best practice in tendering its supply chain opportunities and is a registered vendor on Public Contracts Scotland. It does not procur…

14 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been assisted by Warmworks to date, broken down by the regions these homes were in.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Warmer Homes Scotland contract is delivered on the basis of 6 separate regions. From 1 October 2015 to 30 November 2020 a total of 20,698 properties have been assisted. Highlands – 1,858 Islands – 1,126 North East – 3,314 South East – 4,198 South Wes…

14 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total client contribution requested by Warmworks has been since the start of the scheme until 31 March 2020, and how these contributions are treated for accounting purposes.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The total amount of customer contributions paid since Warmer Homes Scotland commenced in September 2015 to 31 March 2020 is £925k. Where customer contributions are required these are treated as revenue in Warmworks’ accounts. The net value of the customer con…

9 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities were chosen to participate in its Autism Strategy Evaluation; what the criteria were for choosing these local authorities, and whether unselected local authorities can request to be included in the evaluation.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government commissioned Blake Stevenson to carry out the independent evaluation of the Scottish Autism Strategy. Blake Stevenson plan to hold workshops in local authorities to evaluate the impact of the strategy at local level. The local authori…

8 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether funeral directors and crematorium staff will be part of the second phase of key workers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list has been updated to include funeral workers who are considered frontline funeral operatives and mortuary technicians/embalmers, as they are both at risk of exposure and likely to spend a…

7 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the cost of applying to the Court of Session is prohibitive for most families dealing with executors considered problematic. 

Answer · Ash Denham: It is important to remember that where executors are appointed in a will they are chosen by the deceased to carry out their last wishes and the terms of the will. Removal of executors under statute can, in certain circumstances, be done by application to the …

7 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to take forward the Scottish Law Commission's 2014 proposals to modernise the powers for removal of executors.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government continues to give full consideration to the SLC’s Report on Trust Law and the 8 discussion papers and 2 consultation papers that informed its detailed and extensive recommendations. The content of the next legislative programme will be…