Oliver Mundell

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that the extended period of limited support during the COVID-19 pandemic is having on parents' mental health, particularly those with young children who cannot access childcare.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government has published a series of five research briefings focused around the impact of Covid-19 on children, young people and families. This includes, where data is available, the impact on parents and carers in relation to mental health. The …

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to audit and monitor the new school and nursery milk scheme, and what it will do to encourage the sourcing of local milk.

Answer · Maree Todd: For pre-school aged children in day care and childminder settings, the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme is intended to replace the current UK Nursery Milk Scheme in Scotland from 1 August 2021. The new Scheme does not cover children in school settings, …

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Children's Hearings Scotland and what matters were discussed.

Answer · Maree Todd: Scottish Government officials meet with Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) colleagues on a weekly basis as part of the multiagency Children’s Hearings Covid Recovery Group. The Group last met on 2 February 2021, focusing on winter 2020-21 proposals to add pac…

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have left Children's Hearings Scotland in the last 12 months.

Answer · Maree Todd: 6 substantive staff and 4 on fixed term appointments.

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many new roles have been created at Children's Hearings Scotland in the last 12 months.

Answer · Maree Todd: 8 new posts in total, 3 substantive and 5 fixed term.

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many volunteer panel members have left Children's Hearings Scotland in the last 12 months.

Answer · Maree Todd: 342 Panel Members left CHS in 2020. This is broadly in line with expected retention rates since Children’s Hearings Scotland’s inception in 2013. Maintaining panel membership at these levels in the face of the challenges and uncertainties posed by the Covid 1…

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) funding and (b) rates relief it has provided to CJ Lang & Son Ltd in each of the last five years.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government funds businesses through various programmes, some of which are administered by non-departmental public bodies or by Scottish local authorities. As such, data on total funding to individual companies is not held centrally. The award of…

27 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contact it has had with CJ Lang & Son Ltd regarding proposed Post Office closures in Scotland.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I understand that there are ongoing commercial discussions between C J Lang & Son Ltd and Post Office Ltd. As postal services are reserved there is no locus for the Scottish Government to be directly involved in those discussions but I have written to Post O…

26 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to respond to any questions raised by students calling for better climate education through the Teach the Future campaign.

Answer · John Swinney: As recently set out in answer to question S5O-04966 on 27 January 2021, I have previously met representatives of the Teach the Future Scotland campaign who told me of their experiences of climate education. We are supporting education around the twin global c…

26 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has carried out into teacher knowledge about climate change and their confidence to teach it well.

Answer · John Swinney: As set out in the GTCS Professional Standards, it is the responsibility of individual teachers to identify, plan and develop their own professional learning needs. However, the Scottish Government will look to maintain an overview of professional skills and c…

26 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on any concerns expressed by students that the education system is currently not providing them with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle climate change.

Answer · John Swinney: As recently set out in answer to question S5O-04966 on 27 January 2021, we are supporting education around the twin global climate and ecological crises through the implementation of our Learning for Sustainability Action Plan, which provides a very positive …

22 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the need to reassess the carrier bag charge for supermarket deliveries in light of COVID-19 and concerns from delivery drivers, and whether other solutions that may be more environmentally-friendly have been considered.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 came into force on 29 January 2021 and exempt charges for single use carrier bags for deliveries, grocery collections and take-aways. It re-instates the previous temporary exemption …

21 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to podiatrists who are experiencing disruption to their businesses due to COVID-19.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution that podiatrists make to the health and wellbeing of the population of Scotland. Podiatrists can continue to provide urgent or essential treatment under current restrictions but we are asking them …

21 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recently announced new civilian roles in Police Scotland will be based in Dumfries and Galloway.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Recruitment of police officers and police staff is a matter for the Chief Constable and the Scottish Police Authority. Scottish Government is not aware of an announcement of new civilian roles in Police Scotland. However Police Scotland’s Strategic Workforc…

19 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32931 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 November 2020, whether it will provide an update on progress with bringing the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020 fully into force.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Since the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill passed its final Stage in the Scottish Parliament on 23 June last year, we have been progressing the various tasks required to make mixed sex civil partnership available in Scotland, including:A package of secondary…

19 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether specific support has been made available to driving instructors during the COVID-19 pandemic and, if not, for what reason.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Driving instructors will be offered support through the £15 million mobile close contact fund that was announced as part of the £185 million sector support in December. More information on the Mobile Close Contact Services Support Fund and how to apply will b…

18 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when funds will be released to enable the Cunninghame Housing Association in Dumfries and Galloway and other groups building housing for responsible social landlords to pay their contractors for COVID-19-related delays.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government published guidance outlining the action that local authorities and Registered Social Landlords should be taking to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on delivering grant funded affordable housing projects which were contractually awa…

18 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to young mothers on maternity leave during the COVID-19 pandemic who are not (a) entitled to access paid childcare and (b) part of an extended household.

Answer · Maree Todd: We recognise the difficulties and challenges that new parents, particularly mothers, face during this pandemic. Measures have been put in place to ensure that families continue to get access to the support they need. For households with caring responsibilitie…

18 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff have been vaccinated against COVID-19, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Public Health Scotland report can be accessed via the link here PHS weekly report which includes the number of healthcare workers vaccinated (Table 2) and the numbers vaccinated in each NHS Board (Table 4). The breakdowns of healthcare workers by Board …

12 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason automotive services were classified as "non-retail" and excluded from applying for business grants earlier in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and are now excluded from the strategic framework fund as they have been classified as "non-essential retail".

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government has offered a package of grant support for businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic and each scheme has its own specific eligibility criteria. To qualify for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant businesses had to be operating in …

11 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with dualling the A75.

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its proposed short-term let regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will impact on bed and breakfast businesses, and what consultation there has been with the sector.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The use of houses (class 9 in the Use Classes Order) as bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) is a form of home sharing and these will require a licence. Guest houses (class 7) are excluded from the definition of a short-term let and will not require a licence. The prin…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has sought from local authorities regarding their home learning provision in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · John Swinney: Following publication of the strategic framework for re-opening schools in May 2020, I asked Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education to undertake a review of the local authority local phasing delivery plans for the re-opening of schools. I announced on 13…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Dumfries and Galloway Council regarding the date for the roll-out of the Dumfries and Galloway Virtual School.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has not had direct discussions with Dumfries and Galloway Council, however Education Scotland, in its role as improvement agency for education, has been in contact with the Council in order to share information on progress with its Vir…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role its agencies play in monitoring the quality of home learning provision in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · John Swinney: I have asked Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education to commence with a national review of the quality and effectiveness of remote learning across the country. A programme of ‘national overviews’, will commence immediately and last for the duration of remote le…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have closed due to delays in receiving funding from it in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Since the start of the pandemic we have allocated over £3 billion to help businesses. This includes 383,000 business support awards totalling £2.3 billion between March and the beginning of October 2020.…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it plans to provide to businesses that have not received funding from it in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Kate Forbes: We continue to do all we can to support business. In addition to the one-off top up payments for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses in level 4, I have announced up to £3.3 million of additional one-off funding to these sectors on Scotland’s islands. T…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent COVID-19 developments, whether it will reconsider its proposals to move trials from Dumfries Sheriff Court.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.  

17 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the independent economic impact study of Scottish hospitality carried out by BiGGAR Economics.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government fully understands the challenges facing the hospitality sector as we look to balance measures to suppress the virus and protect lives with keeping businesses open and trading viably. The scale of the impact of Covid-19 on the hospitali…

17 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reported concerns regarding forestry planting at Tansy Hill, and what action it is taking to protect peatland.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Forestry investigated the concerns about forestry planting operations at Tansey Hill in December 2020 and found that some small areas of deep peat, adding up to 0.5 hectares in total, had been ploughed in preparation for tree planting. The Scottish …