Parliamentary questions
Annie Wells
659 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will launch its public consultation on restricting the advertising and promotion of electronic cigarettes, and what the anticipated timetable is for introducing any such measures.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government plans to launch its consultation on restricting the advertising and promotion of Nicotine Vapour Products (NVPs) in November. Timings for any potential legislation that may arise from the consultation will be dependent on the detail of…
4 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) bursary and (b) financial support is available to medical students to assist with their studies, including to support those having to study at home.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Medical students who are studying medicine full-time as a first degree are entitled to the standard undergraduate student support package for their full period of study. This means their tuition fees are paid by the Scottish Government through Student Awards …
23 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support is being offered to dental practices to assist them in addressing long waiting times for patients.
Answer · Maree Todd: The dental sector has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Pre-COVID levels of patient volume are currently not achievable within the current framework of infection, protection and control (IPC) measures. The Scottish Government has recently ann…
20 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider reviewing self-isolation guidelines for staff working in social care in order to ensure that an adequate level of care can be maintained with minimal disruption (a) for vulnerable young people and (b) in all social care settings.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scotland Government no longer require social care staff (in line with the general population) to self-isolate if they are double vaccinated, symptom free and return a negative PCR test. As an additional protection social care staff are also asked to under…
16 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider expanding the number of suppliers offering COVID-19 testing kits to those travelling abroad.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Covid-19 test kits are home PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries. We are having on-going discussions with the UK …
7 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will offer COVID-19 vaccinations to 17-year-olds entering further or higher education in 2021-22 prior to the start of the academic year.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: All young people 16 to 17 years of age are now being offered the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination in Scotland. In line with the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), they will be offered a first dose of the Pfizer-Bi…
9 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been recorded on the palliative care register in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Maree Todd: This information is not collected centrally on a national palliative care register, however, under the Primary Medical Services (Directed Enhanced Services) (Scotland) Directions 2018, Health Boards should each have a local Palliative Care Scheme in place to …
9 Jun 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the arts and cultural sector in Glasgow, in light of the continued impact of COVID-19 restrictions.
2 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there are no discrepancies in pay between nurses and other healthcare workers who administer COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: We have worked to ensure that nobody is placed at detriment as a result of their participation in the programme as a vaccinator. Our desire to protect as much of Scotland’s population as quickly as possible has necessitated the deployment of all available re…
19 May 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to support homeowners who are facing difficulties in selling their properties due to building cladding.
Answer · Shona Robison: Homeowners whose flats have external cladding are being offered a safety assessment, costs of the ‘Single Building Assessment’ announced on 19 March will be met by the Scottish Government. The whole building approach, will release affected buyers and sellers …
17 Mar 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research by the University of Edinburgh suggesting that more than half of severe COVID-19 cases were as a result of transmission in hospital during the second wave of the pandemic.
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £5 million Islands Housing Fund has been allocated.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-36139 on? 19 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…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been (a) built and (b) refurbished through the Islands Housing Fund.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-36139 on? 19 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…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £25 million Rural Housing Fund has been allocated.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-36139 on? 19 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…
11 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been (a) built and (b) refurbished through the Rural Housing Fund.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: There have been 80 homes completed through the Rural and Islands Housing Funds. Of these 54 have been built and 13 refurbished through the Rural Housing Fund. Eight homes have been built and five refurbished through the Islands Housing Fund. A further 85 home…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people are on council housing waiting lists, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Scottish Government annual statistics on the number of applicants on local authority or common housing register lists as at end of March 2019 are published at https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-scotland-2019-key-trends-summary/ , with det…
10 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the cleaning sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Since the start of the pandemic, our support for business totals more than £3 billion, more than a third of total COVID-19 funding. We recognise that businesses which have been able to remain open, such as those in the cleaning sector, have also been affected…
4 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will promote greater female and BAME representation across Glasgow's housing association boards.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government’s Scottish Social Housing Charter sets the outcomes and standards that all social housing landlords are required to meet. The independent Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) monitors and reports on social landlords performance against the…
3 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33657 by Kevin Stewart on 9 December 2020, how many applications have been made to the Tenant Hardship Loan Fund, also broken down by how many have (a) been approved, (b) been rejected and (c) yet to be processed; how much has been paid to date in t…
Answer · Kevin Stewart: As of 8 March 2021 there have been: 702 applications to the Tenant Hardship Loan Fund (a) there have been 118 approvals (b) 255 rejections (c) a further 27 are yet to be processed. In addition, 287 applications are in progress and 15 applications have be…
3 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33656 by Kevin Stewart on 9 December 2020, how many applications have been made to the Private Rent Sector Landlord (non-business) COVID-19 Loan Scheme, also broken down by how many have (a) been approved, (b) been rejected and (c) yet to be process…
Answer · Kevin Stewart: As of 8 March 2021 there has been a total of 107 applications made to the Private Rented Sector Landlord (non-business) COVID-19 Loan Scheme. Within these applications:(a) 47 have been approved(b) 28 were rejected(c) 1 is yet to be processed In addition, 26…
3 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the total number of homes built under the affordable housing programme from the start of the current parliamentary session.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These figures relate to the number of approvals, site starts, and completions of homes. They can be accessed using the f…
1 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage higher education institutions to enrol more young people from Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: New data released by the university admissions service UCAS on Thursday 18 February show that the application rate for Scottish students has increased by 3.9 percentage points to 35.8%, with a 16% increase in the number of 18-year-old Scottish domiciled stude…
1 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency hospital attendances there have been for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in each year since 2017, broken down by the average (a) length of stay and (b) cost of treatment per patient.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: a) The following table shows the number of emergency hospital attendances with a main diagnosis of COPD. Please note that the data for 2020 only covers up to September as the data for October 2020 onwards is not yet complete. Table: Number of emergency admis…
1 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the respiratory care action plan will supersede the 2017 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) best practice guide.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland is not intended to be a replacement of current clinical guidance. The purpose of this Plan is to set out our vision for driving improvement in the diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with resp…
1 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) of the 2017 COPD best practice guide, and what additional resources have been made available to (a) NHS boards and (b) integration joint boards to implement the guide's recommendations.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Since the publication of the COPD Best Practice Guide in 2017, which was backed with a £200k investment, there has been a reduction in hospital admissions including COPD and overall time spent in hospital. The Scottish Government has been supporting Health B…
17 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the Managed Isolation Welfare Fund.
Answer · Michael Matheson: We are working with the UK Government to put in place support for people who are unable, because of financial hardship, to afford the fees associated with managed isolation. The current UK position is that a payment plan can be taken out at the booking stage …
17 Feb 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to help pupils catch up on lost teaching time.
15 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any exemptions on compassionate grounds regarding the £1,750 cost for a person's managed isolation in a quarantine hotel.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There are two routes to exemptions on compassionate grounds regarding the cost for provision of managed isolation. The first route is set out in the following regulations: The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Managed Accommodation and T…
18 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to self-employed business owners, affected by COVID-19 restrictions, who operate within their domestic residence and do not pay non-domestic rates.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government has listened to business is providing support on a sector-by-sector basis so that it is appropriately targeted. This includes up to £15m for mobile close contact services as well as £30 million to local authorities to provide additiona…
12 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support and advice is available to businesses in Glasgow that do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Strategic Framework Business Fund but have been adversely affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
Answer · Kate Forbes: We continue to do all we can to support business. The £30 million discretionary fund has been provided to enable local authorities to provide additional support for businesses where they consider that necessary or justified. We have also created a new package…