- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what liability Scottish Water has for any debts of Business Stream, and whether domestic customers are insulated from any liability it might have as a result of business customer income reducing to Business Stream.
Answer
Business Stream is a subsidiary of Scottish Water and as such its financial position is consolidated into the Scottish Water accounts. Business Stream operates under a robust governance code such that it trades fully at arm’s length from the core business of Scottish Water. Household customers are not exposed to any liability that may result from Business Stream’s retail operations.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether Business Stream is the provider of last resort for licenced water providers that are not able to continue to provide their services and, if so, what liability it has for arrears of payments or bad debt when acting in this capacity for providers that cease trading.
Answer
Business Stream, alongside three other retailers, is a provider of last resort (POLR) in the Scottish retail market. In the event that a retailer were to cease trading, Business Stream would, as any other POLR licensed provider, be liable towards Scottish Water for the wholesale charges and exposed to any potential customer bad debt only from the date of the transfer of customers.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28724 by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 May 2020, whether it will provide an update on when the Scottish Water strategic review of charges will be completed and presented to ministers.
Answer
In accordance with section 29B(4) of the Water Industry Act 2002, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland published its draft determination of charges for consultation on 8 October 2020. Following a period of consultation, WICS will publish the final determination of charges in December 2020.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 29 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation in the Glasgow Disability Alliance report, Supercharged: A Human Catastrophe - Inequalities, Participation and Human Rights before, during and beyond COVID-19, that the Independent Living Fund (ILF) in Scotland should be reopened to new applicants immediately in order to strengthen protections for disabled people’s social care support, particularly in light of COVID-19.
Answer
Following the closure of ILF UK scheme in 2015, Scottish Ministers have protected the independent living fund in Scotland. In contrast this resource was transferred to local authorities in England and Wales whilst the public body ILF Scotland was created to administer and assess payments to Scottish recipients. The Scottish Government has continued to make additional improvements to ILF Scotland’s policies with reductions to the inherited charging policy. Furthermore significant investment has been provided to set up the Transition Fund, which is unique to Scotland and supports young disabled people to live a more fulfilling and independent life.
We have established an independent review of adult social care with a human-rights based approach to consider what changes are required to achieve the highest standards of support for the independence and wellbeing of people who receive adult social care support. The review will take account of all aspects of adult social care and is due to report by January 2021.
ILF Scotland colleagues are meeting with the Chair of the Review on 30 October to share their learning from and experience of working with disabled people and thoughts on how the ILF model could be further improved in the future.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2020
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2020
To ask the Scottish Government when NHS boards will be in a position to provide clinics that will specifically treat the long-term effects of COVID-19.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2020
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 October 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will meet representatives from the housebuilding, construction and renewable energy sectors regarding their reported concerns about the impact that the proposals set out in its technical consultation on amendments to housing planning policy could have on jobs in housebuilding and onshore renewable energy.
Answer
Planning officials have met with a cross-section of representative bodies regarding the consultation on amendments to housing planning policy, including representatives of the housebuilding, construction and renewables sectors.
This is a formal written consultation and so it would not be appropriate to meet with selected stakeholders for them to reiterate and expand on their detailed written response.
We received 244 responses to the consultation and will give careful consideration to all of them. We will take into account the views and evidence provided before deciding the next steps.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether it monitors productivity in its directorates and agencies and, if so, what approach it takes to doing so.
Answer
The Scottish Government continuously assesses the value for money of its operations and programmes of delivery. This is done through the monitoring of the allocation of resources (both human and financial) and the delivery of its core functions and services. This is demonstrated through: its organisational governance arrangements 1 ; publications of its consolidated accounts 2 ; the monitoring of the impact of the work of Government in terms of the core functions it delivers; and monitoring the achievement of the National Outcomes set out in the National Performance Framework 3 . The governance arrangements apply for Executive Agencies as well as Directorates in their requirement to demonstrate the value for money of their operations.
1 Link to organisational governance arrangements - https://www.gov.scot/publications/good-governance-scottish-government/#:~:text=Good%20Governance%20in%20the%20Scottish%20Government%20Governance%20is,goods%20or%20services%2C%20manage%20people%2C%20or%20control%20budgets. )
2 Link to Scottish Government consolidated accounts - https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2019/
3 Link to Measuring Progress Against National Outcomes - https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/measuring-progress
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what the required standard of PPE has been in relation to protecting (a) NHS and (b) local authority staff during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Answer
The latest guidance and advice on PPE designed to protect NHS and local authority staff is published by Health Protection Scotland: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/guidance/
This includes guidance on the use of PPE in various settings https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/covid-19/infection-prevention-and-control-ipc-guidance-in-healthcare-settings/ and technical specifications for different types of PPE, which guides NSS procurement and also the production of PPE by Scottish and UK firms:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads
/attachment_data/file/913041/essential-technical-specifications-ppe-and-medical-devices.pdf
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government what checks it makes of the standard of PPE supplied to (a) the NHS and (b) local authorities, and whether all PPE provided during the COVID-19 outbreak has been to the required standard.
Answer
Products procured by NHS Scotland are checked to ensure compliance to appropriate technical standards:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads
/attachment_data/file/913041/essential-technical-specifications-ppe-and-medical-devices.pdf
In addition to these checks, products are assessed before going into active service by representative groups such as infection control nurses or health and safety staff to ensure the product is fit for purpose and performs to the standard required.
Local authorities are independent public bodies and responsible for running their own tendering exercises. It is therefore their responsibility to ensure that any PPE they acquire is fit for purpose and complies with appropriate standards. As employers they must comply with relevant health and safety legislation, and questions about the standards of PPE acquired or used by local authorities should be addressed to individual local authorities specifically.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether any PPE supplied to (a) the NHS and (b) local authorities during the COVID-19 outbreak has not met the required standard and, if so, what was done with it.
Answer
The responsibility for purchasing PPE and making sure it is fit for purpose and complies with the required standards lies with each public body that procures it.
Within the NHS, any issues with PPE products are reported through a central complaints facility where each issue is investigated for its root cause and corrective action taken if required. When an issue is raised the supplier and the complainant remain involved until a satisfactory resolution is reached.
We do not hold the information centrally about how local authorities have dealt with any PPE that did not meet the required standard, so these should be addressed to the local authority in question.
As PPE technology develops, the Scottish Government is supporting innovation and improvement in this sphere by the formation of a PPE Innovation and Reuse working group. This will be a collaboration, involving Scottish Enterprise, NHS National Services Scotland, National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and the Scottish Government. There will be clinical input to ensure compliance with infection control measures as well as consultation with unions as appropriate.
