- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 August 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it has put in place during the COVID-19 recovery period to increase access to swimming lessons for everyone.
Answer
Our approach during the pandemic has been to permit as much sport and physical activity as much as possible in a safe way, in particular prioritising under eighteen sport. The Scottish Government is in discussion with key stakeholders involved in the provision of swimming lessons and water safety education. We recognise the importance of swimming lessons in helping to build water confidence and learning to be safe in and around water, as well as the benefits swimming provides to physical and mental health.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 August 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in vulnerable groups of type 1 diabetics, in light of the study, Rising Rates and Widening Socioeconomic Disparities in Diabetic Ketoacidosis in Type 1 Diabetes in Scotland: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Observational Study, which concludes that there are rising rates and widening socioeconomic disparities in DKA in type 1 diabetes in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government are committed to improving outcomes for people living with diabetes in Scotland. Our Diabetes Improvement Plan contains specific commitments to raise awareness of the dangers of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and also has a significant focus on equity of access to care and services. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/diabetes-improvement-plan-diabetes-care-scotland-commitments-2021-2026/documents/ .
DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) happens when there is severe lack of insulin in the body. When this happens, chemicals called ketones are released, and can be extremely serious if left untreated. We are working collaboratively with clinical teams, third sector and people living with diabetes to relaunch the national education campaign: Think, Test, Telephone. This campaign is designed to support people living with Type 1 diabetes to better understand the risks of DKA and how to avoid it. We will continue to capture and track data on SCI-Diabetes to assess the impact of this on DKA rates.
Treatments for diabetes are complex and multifaceted. Many treatments require people to go through a formal education programme in order to self-manage their condition from home. This means there are many barriers facing people living with diabetes and in particular, those living in areas of deprivation or people that have English as a second language.
We are committed to understanding these barriers and are working in partnership with Diabetes Scotland and the Alliance to ensure the needs of people living with diabetes are fully understood. We will take targeted action to ensure equity of access across Scotland and share progress of this using data from SCI-diabetes.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 30 August 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what liaison it has with the (a) higher and (b) further education sector regarding increasing the numbers of spoken language interpreters.
Answer
The Scottish Government has had no approach from either Sector regarding increasing the numbers of spoken language interpreters.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is the national, strategic body that is responsible for funding teaching and learning provision, research and other activities in Scotland's colleges and universities. It’s budget provides investment in Scotland's colleges and universities to support the development of well-educated, highly-skilled people and to enable sustainable, inclusive economic growth through enhancing skills and securing world-class research and cutting-edge innovation.
Scottish universities are autonomous institutions therefore it is for the individual universities to decide how to distribute the places it receives between faculties, what courses to offer, and how many of the total funded places will be available on each course.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Scotland's plastic waste is exported; what steps it is taking to reduce this, and what date it has set to end the practice.
Answer
This information is publically available through the SEPA Waste Discover Data Tool: https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/WasteAllSources/
We are actively working with potential investors in plastic reprocessing capacity in Scotland. Zero Waste Scotland have commissioned work to better understand and forecast the volumes of materials, including plastics, collected for recycling.
Once it goes live, Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme will create a stream of high value plastic which will be attractive to reprocessors. Our £70 million fund to improve recycling infrastructure will also help to improve the quality and quantity of recyclate collected.
In addition, we are working with the other governments of the UK on reform of the packaging producer responsibility system to provide greater incentives for domestic reprocessing.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 August 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what proportion of children who finished primary school in each year since 2018 were able to swim, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with the culture secretary regarding the allocation of funding for the culture, arts and events sectors in light of the impact of COVID-19.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2021
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to protect marine wildlife from the impact of jet skiers (a) near Wardie Bay, Edinburgh, and (b) around Scotland's coastline.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to protecting Scotland’s marine wildlife. The current regulatory framework provides a high level of individual and site based protection measures for our iconic marine wildlife with processes in place to ensure that action can be taken where required. It is an offence to deliberately or recklessly disturb European protected species, including whales, dolphins and porpoises. Under the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 these offences could result on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding £40,000 (or both) or on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or a fine (or both).
The Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code provides advice on how to minimise disturbance to marine wildlife, when enjoying the Scottish coast. We would encourage anyone watching or encountering marine wildlife to follow its advice at all times.
There are voluntary agreements in some parts of Scotland around the use of jet skis, including duration of use and timings. We are not aware of a specific agreement covering Wardie Bay. These agreements are not a statutory requirement. If someone suspects that a wildlife crime has been committed, they should report the incident to Police Scotland.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to assess the (a) impact on the environment and (b) noise levels of jet skiers (i) near Wardie Bay, Edinburgh, and (ii) around Scotland's coastline.
Answer
There are voluntary agreements in some parts of Scotland around the use of jet skis, including duration of use and timings. We are not aware of a specific agreement covering Wardie Bay. These agreements are not a statutory requirement.
Our natural geography brings the benefit of increased opportunity to access both freshwater and our unique coastline and we will continue to promote and ensure the safe enjoyment of Scotland’s diverse landscape.
The Scottish Government works closely with Water Safety Scotland (WSS) and other partners, including local councils, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire & Rescue Service to implement and support initiatives that can help raise awareness, this includes providing grant funding to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Scottish Community Safety Network to help promote a co-ordinated and preventative approach to water safety across the country.
WSS has produced a guide on Water Safety Policy in Scotland which is available online.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what help it has made available to potential first-time home buyers since the First Home Fund closed to new applicants, and what support it provides to them when (a) the average price of a home in their area is above the maximum threshold price for the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme, (b) there are no suitable properties available under the New Shared Equity Scheme and (c) they do not have sufficient time or income to set up a lifetime individual savings account.
Answer
First-time buyers can access a variety of support to become a home owner, including the Help to Buy Smaller Developers Scheme and the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT). In addition, the first-time buyer relief for Land and Building Transaction Tax means that an estimated 8 out of 10 first-time buyers pay no tax at all.
Despite being closed to new applications, the main Help to Buy scheme and First Home Fund continue to benefit first-time buyers across Scotland with settlements occurring throughout this financial year.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to review the access arrangements to the Ferrymuir Gait housing development, and what its position is on the impact of the current road traffic on the (a) environment and (b) health and quality of life of residents.
Answer
Ferrymuir Gait is a ‘private’ road, as defined by the Roads (Scotland ) Act 1984 and serves land owned by Scottish Ministers and infrastructure required for the safe operation and maintenance of the Forth Bridges. Ferrymuir Gait housing development shall not be accessed from this road and shall instead takes access from the local road network, which is the responsibility of the City of Edinburgh Council.
Consequently, and as this is a planning issue, it would be for the City of Edinburgh Council as local Planning authority to consider the access arrangements to the Ferrymuir Gait housing development and resultant impact of road traffic on the environment and the health / quality of life of residents.
