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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6O-00068

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage people to engage with and respond to the COVID-19 recovery consultation.

Question reference: S6O-00070

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to ensuring that any legislation it introduces to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic does not seek to allow regulations to be made or changed without being subject to the affirmative parliamentary procedure.

Question reference: S6O-00073

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to implement the provisions on pavement parking prohibition in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Question reference: S6W-02044

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00894 by Humza Yousaf on 29 July 2021, what incidences of hospital acquired infections at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have ministers been notified of since 1 March 2020, broken down by (a) infection and (b) date of notification.

The Scottish Government is not able to provide the information requested due to this level of data not being publically available. In particular, individual patients may be identifiable should such hospital level information be published.

Quarterly reports on Clostridioides difficile infection, Escherichia coli bacteraemia and Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia are published, with the data broken down by Health Board, and are available her

Additionally, validated data on Covid-19 hospital acquired infection is published weekly, with information broken down by NHS Health Board to protect patient identity. This information can be accessed here.

Question reference: S6W-02083

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop an updated Scottish Organic Action Plan, to build upon that set out for 2016-20.

We are supportive of ensuring the organics sector, as part of the wider Scottish agriculture industry, contributes fully to our Ambition 2030 strategy to grow our food and drink industry.

We have committed to doubling the amount of land used for organic farming, doubling the amount of organic produce that comes from Scotland and are focussing on more organic produce being used in public sector food procurement. We are considering how best to build upon the Scottish Organic Action Plan and will be meeting with the Scottish Organic Stakeholder Group to hear their views.

Question reference: S6W-01574

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) planning, or (b) preparation it has undertaken to prevent air pollution levels rising (i) to, or (ii) above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

Green recovery must form a central part of Scotland's emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. In relation to air quality, the key challenges will be to understand how the air pollution reductions seen during lockdown periods can be maintained long-term and sustainably, and how these changes can benefit the long-term health of the population

On 15 July 2021 the Scottish Government published its new air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone' (CAFS 2). CAFS 2 sets out a series of actions to deliver further air pollution reductions over the next five years. These actions include work being progressed across Government which will benefit air quality, such as continuing to take forward introduction of Low Emission Zones in Scotland's four largest cities, a £500 million funding commitment to active travel over the next five years, a reduction in motor vehicle kilometres by 20% by 2030 and the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans, also by 2030.

We are also taking forward proposals to control the sale of the most polluting domestic fuels, produce a code of good agricultural practice for improving air quality in Scotland and develop a public engagement strategy on air quality. At the same time we will ensure that CAFS 2 integrates fully with other Government plans and strategies that have implications for air quality, such as the Climate Change Plan update, the National Transport Strategy 2 and National Planning Framework 4.

Question reference: S6W-01408

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date all 16- and 17-year-olds can expect to receive their (a) first and (b) second COVID-19 vaccination, and what procedures are in place to allow for an acceleration in vaccinations among this age group in virus hotspot areas.

The Scottish Government remains committed to offering Covid vaccination to everyone who is eligible. We continue to do so in line with clinical advice.

Following the JCVI’s latest advice on the vaccination of younger people we are now inviting all 16 and 17 year olds to come forward for first dose.

Sixteen or 17 years olds have been able to self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration since 6 August and have been able to attend mainland drop in vaccination clinics from 10 August. They can only be able to attend clinics offering Pfizer, as this is the only vaccine currently licenced for use in the under-18 age group.

Question reference: S6W-02123

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01536 by Humza Yousaf on 6 August 2021, how many calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service have been responded to (a) within (i) under 10, (ii) 10 to 29, (iii) 30 to 59 and (iv) 60 to 120 and (b) over 120 minutes in each month of 2021-22 to date, broken down by triaged category of call.

Please find the requested information set out in the following table.

Emergency Incidents Attended, 01-04-2021 - 31-07-2021

		2021 - 2022	2021 - 2022	2021 - 2022	2021 - 2022
		April	May	June	July
Purple		1027	1203	1162	1130
Purple	10-29 Minutes	340	477	483	519
Purple	30-59 Minutes	8	17	20	11
Purple	60-120 Minutes		1	1	3
Purple	>120 Minutes		1	1	1
Red		4144	4566	4966	5152
Red	10-29 Minutes	2320	2980	3406	3877
Red	30-59 Minutes	86	185	228	252
Red	60-120 Minutes	12	23	28	18
Red	>120 Minutes	2	4	9	6
Amber		4135	4029	3837	3526
Amber	10-29 Minutes	9816	10763	10861	10458
Amber	30-59 Minutes	1974	3025	3602	3965
Amber	60-120 Minutes	258	634	1005	1153
Amber	>120 Minutes	16	129	133	255
Yellow		2475	2253	1736	1835
Yellow	10-29 Minutes	6307	5397	3990	3770
Yellow	30-59 Minutes	4315	3696	2999	2842
Yellow	60-120 Minutes	3322	3549	3023	2704
Yellow	>120 Minutes	1801	3256	3912	4599
Green		66	90	73	53
Green	10-29 Minutes	25	44	32	21
Green	30-59 Minutes	13	33	20	13
Green	60-120 Minutes	16	31	25	14
Green	>120 Minutes	7	18	17	11

SAS launched its New Clinical Response Model (NCRM) in November 2016, based on a detailed clinical analysis of around half a million 999 calls. Since then, following triage, 999 calls are coded to one of five categories based on the likelihood of serious outcomes or the requirement for specific interventions:

Purple: where a patient is identified as having a 10% or more chance of cardiac arrest.

Red: where a patient is identified as having a likelihood of cardiac arrest between 1% and 9.9%,or having a need for resuscitation interventions such as airway management above 2%.

Amber: where a patient is likely to need diagnosis and conveyance to definitive care.

Yellow: a patient who has a need for emergency care but has a very low likelihood of requiring life-saving interventions. For example, patients who have tripped or fallen but not sustained any serious injury.

Green: a patient does not fit the above categories and there is potential for an alternative care pathway.

With regard to the three purple incidents identified in the data as being over 120 minutes, reviews were undertaken into each of the incidents. These incidents were triaged as non life-threatening emergency calls and upgraded due to the caller later advising a change in condition of the patient. When this occurs, the response time is counted from the time of original call rather than when the call is upgraded. On clinical review, there was no clinical detriment to patients due to the delay.

Question reference: S6W-02099

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the new contract for the provision of Scottish National Standardised Assessments, including details of any differences that exist between the new contract and the previous contract.

The new contract will see the continued provision of online assessments for children and young people in P1, P4, P7 and S3. The Specification of Requirements published as part of the Invitation to Tender identified the areas in which continuity of provision is required (general assessment principles, presentation policy and coverage; reports coverage; training coverage; branding), and highlighted some areas around which enhancements were sought. The primary difference between the phase 1 contracts and the phase 2 contract is that rather than continuing to deliver two online systems through two separate contracts, phase two will see the establishment of a single assessment platform, which will provide access to both the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) and their Gaelic Medium Education equivalents, the Measaidhean Coitcheann Niseanta airson Foghlam tron Ghidhlig (MCNG).

Question reference: S6W-02150

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government on what date NHS stakeholders will meet to discuss a pathway to the delivery of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); who will be at the meeting, and whether the (a) papers and (b) minutes of the meeting will be published.