Parliamentary questions
Rachael Hamilton
1,432 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
16 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific training is offered to nurses for assisting disabled people to have their cervical screening test.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: In initial sample taking training, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provide information for sample takers to address the potential issues in assisting disabled people at their cervical screening appointment, along with many other groups where there may be bar…
16 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what public awareness campaign it has promoted to increase the uptake of cervical screening tests and address disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: A marketing campaign intended to raise awareness and increase uptake of cervical screening was planned for early 2020. Unfortunately, this had to be postponed due to the impact of Covid-19. This campaign will be launched as soon as is practical given the cont…
16 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken on the recommendations made at the most recent meeting of the UK National Screening Committee.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government monitors and considers all available evidence and recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group, which informs decisions taken across the UK on screening programmes. It is the p…
16 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to progress the necessary research to roll out self-sampling in the cervical screening programme and whether there is a timescale for such a roll-out.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) has not yet recommended that self-sampling should be incorporated into the cervical screening programme. It continues to gather and evaluate the evidence on this matter, and it is not possible to say when this will be…
9 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the timescales for soft play centres to reopen.
Answer · John Swinney: Beyond the phased re-opening of schools (ELC, P1-3 possibly from 22/2 and to be reconsidered on 16/2), we are not in a position, at this time, to offer any dates for the re-opening of soft play centres and the sector. We are currently revisiting our overall …
8 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with forestry and environmental organisations regarding the impact of any future reintroduction of the lynx, or other large carnivorous species.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to PQ S5W-35090 on 23 February 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/288…
8 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of any future reintroduction of the lynx, or other large carnivorous species.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessment of the impact of any future reintroduction of the lynx or other large carnivore species into Scotland. Anyone seeking to reintroduce lynx or another species into Scotland would require a licence from…
8 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with (a) farmers and (b) agricultural organisations, regarding the impact of any future reintroduction of the lynx, or other large carnivorous species.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce lynx or any other large carnivorous species into Scotland. We have not recently engaged with stakeholders on this issue.
5 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that any future legislation is rural-proofed.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: All good policy making and legislation should be addressing the needs of our rural communities and businesses at present. The Scottish Government recognises that a cross-portfolio approach is needed to support rural matters. This wish for rural mainstreaming,…
4 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Scotland Food & Drink's funding it provides; how much it allocated to Scotland Food & Drink in 2020-21; what the structure of the organisation is, and what the nature is of its relationship with Scotland Food & Drink.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is providing up to £5.5m this financial year to a range of bodies across the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership to support delivery of the Food and Drink Recovery Plan, which seeks to mitigate the adverse effects that Covid-19 and Brexi…
2 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research it is funding to drive efficiencies in agriculture.
29 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will issue guidance to GPs and vaccination centres regarding the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine for unpaid carers, and how this will relate to the guidance for people with underlying health conditions.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: All unpaid carers in Scotland 16 years and over will be offered vaccination, and they will start to receive appointments from now. It is our intention to contact as many unpaid carers as possible to invite them for their vaccine appointment. The Scottish Gove…
29 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed increase in discretionary funding for local authorities in its recent Budget, when the new funding will be received by local authorities, and what the earliest date is on which businesses will receive the new uplift.
Answer · Kate Forbes: At the Finance and Constitution Committee on 9 February I announced a further £60 million in funding for the Local Authority Discretionary Fund. Alongside the additional £30 million I announced in my Budget Statement this means we have now quadrupled the fina…
29 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will prioritise unpaid carers for the COVID-19 vaccine, as set out in the JCVI priority list.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: All unpaid carers in Scotland 16 years and over will be offered vaccination, and they will start to receive appointments from now. It is our intention to contact as many unpaid carers as possible to invite them for their vaccine appointment. We will be usin…
26 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken to respond to correspondence from MSPs to Scottish Ministers has been in each of the last 12 months.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government aims to respond to all ministerial correspondence within 20 working days. Due to the Covid pandemic, the Scottish Government have received a significant increase in correspondence. The following table outlines information as at 1 Febru…
22 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it can provide to allow community events to be held digitally, in light of them having to be cancelled because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: In September 2020, the Scottish Government launched the £40m Scottish Government Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme, which aims to support community groups, charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises by providing support on planning …
20 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in care homes have received vitamin D supplements each month since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Information on the number of people in care homes that have received vitamin D supplements each month since the last of the pandemic is not held centrally. The Chief Medical Officer issued a letter to all adult care home providers on Thursday 21st January 20…
20 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Farming and Food Production Future Policy Group will publish its final advisory report.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Farming and Food Production Future Policy Group was established as an independent Group, comprising representatives from the farming and food production sectors in addition to environmental and land management representatives. Given the industry involveme…
20 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its plans for replacing the common agricultural policy (CAP) schemes, and what plans it has to replace the Basic Payments Scheme.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020 requires Scottish Ministers to lay a report before the Scottish Parliament on progress towards establishing a new Scottish agricultural policy no later than 31 December 2024. Future rural policy,…
20 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent comments about Scottish independence by Spain’s former Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy.
19 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken is to process export certificates for seafood by Marine Scotland.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Export Health Certificates (EHCs) are not dealt with by Marine Scotland. EHCs for seafood exports are normally issued by Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) working for local authorities. However, given the anticipated massive increase in demand for EHCs ar…
19 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Food Standard Scotland’s two key logistics hubs for leading on Export Health Certificate provision in Scotland, which are designed to help business export post-Brexit.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Food Standards Scotland operational hubs are completing Export Health Certificate documentation to ensure that the EU authorities will accept them. Between 1 and 27 January 2021, the total number of EHCs completed across the three central logistics hubs in Sc…
19 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed at Marine Scotland to deal with export certificates for Scottish seafood.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Export Health Certificates (EHCs) are not dealt with by Marine Scotland, so no staff are employed for that purpose. EHCs for seafood exports are normally issued by Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) working for local authorities. However, given the anticip…
13 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it has made to ensure that "click and collect" and online food shopping deliveries are exempt from the charge on single-use plastic bags.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We have laid draft regulations to re-instate the temporary COVID-related exemption from the single use carrier bag charge for deliveries, collection of pre-ordered groceries and takeaways. If approved by Parliament, these regulations will remain in force unti…
13 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there will be any exemptions to the recently-announced increase in the minimum charge for a single-use plastic bag to 10p.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer you to the answer for S5W-34557 on 20 January 2021, which covers the temporary COVID-related exemption. Aside from that, there is no change in the existing exemptions set out in Part 1 of the Schedule to The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) R…
12 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding formula Police Scotland uses to determine the amount it allocates to deal with rural crime, and how much has been allocated towards this in each of the last five years, broken down by police division.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. This year the Scottish Government has increased funding for policing in Scotland by £60 million to more than £1.2 billion. The allocation of these resources across policing priorities is a matter for th…
12 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government to what extent its (a) current and (b) proposed policies and budgets are rural-proofed.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Government recognises that to address the challenges rural Scotland faces, a cross-portfolio approach is crucial. In September 2018, the National Council of Rural Advisers (NCRA) published over 50 recommendations of which we accepted over 90%. Their …
12 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the gene editing of crop varieties in order to deliver greater food production and achieve environmental targets.
12 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to bring forward further legislation to restrict or prohibit unregulated cosmetic treatment practices.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34530 on 18 January 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/parliamentarybusines…
12 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential health side effects of unregistered cosmetic treatments.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: All cosmetic procedures carry the risk of potential harm regardless of who performs them. The Scottish Government wants all non-surgical cosmetic procedures to be as safe as they can be. That is why we carried out a public consultation on the regulation of n…