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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: S6W-02811

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact that COVID-19 vaccine status checks and vaccine passports will have on (a) vaccine uptake and (b) COVID-19 case numbers.

Evidence from overseas suggests there may be an uptake in vaccination after an announcement to introduce certification.

In Scotland, in the two weeks since the announcement on 1 September, there has been a 10% increase in uptake for 18-29s first doses in comparison to the two week’s prior to the announcement (18 – 31 August).

In addition to the individual level of protection against severe disease or hospitalisation afforded by vaccination, a further benefit of the vaccination programme is to assist in developing widespread community immunity, reducing the force of transmission and viral reproduction rate, in order to help control the prevalence of COVID-19.

Studies have demonstrated that being vaccinated against COVID-19 significantly reduces your risk of being infected. Research by Public Health England (PHE), which monitors vaccine effectiveness within the UK, shows that those who become infected 3 weeks after receiving one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech (Cominarty) or AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria) vaccine were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass COVID-19 on to their household contacts than those who were unvaccinated.

Further research into the COVID-19 vaccines’ impacts on transmission is underway. Weekly COVID-19 vaccine surveillance reports monitoring vaccine effectiveness, including evidence on effectiveness against transmission, are published here: COVID-19 vaccine surveillance reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

Question reference: S6O-00266

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates there will be a return to face-to-face GP appointments as the default.

I have agreed a joint statement with the BMA on face to face appointments that will be published later today.

As they have for many years, face-to-face appointments form part of a hybrid model also including video and telephone consultations. While we all aspire to return to greater availability of face-to-face, many patients will also wish to continue with telephone or video consultations. In joint communication with the BMA I have set out my expectation that recent changes to guidance should result in an increase in GP face-to-face appointments.

Rather than setting an arbitrary return date, what is most important is that appointments are agreed through shared decision making, balancing patient choice and clinical judgement.

Question reference: S6W-02810

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it used when deciding which venues and settings would require visitors to be subject to a COVID-19 vaccine status check before entry.

We have gathered a range of evidence and in considering the venues and settings we must also consider the behaviour, activities, and interactions that occur within those settings.

Research evidence indicates that being vaccinated reduces the risk that a person will become infected with the virus, and likely further reduces their risk of transmitting coronavirus. Ensuring only those who are vaccinated attend higher risk venues and events therefore directly reduces the risk of transmission.

We will publish a full assessment of the evidence for certification, based on the four harms model that we have used throughout the pandemic, in advance of the scheme coming into force.

Question reference: S6W-02812

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken of the potential economic impact of introducing COVID-19 vaccine passports.

Certification provides a targeted and proportionate means to reduce risk while maximising our ability to keep open certain settings and events where transmission is a higher risk. If the choice is between sectors and settings being closed and a limited certification scheme being used to keep them open, we believe that it is right to make a choice in favour of a limited certification scheme. We are working closely and at pace with sectors to finalise a proportionate, effective and robust scheme for each setting before implementation. There are a number of operational and logistical issues which we are working through together. All software, apps and paper copies of certificates will be free to use. Businesses will be able to use an app free of charge to scan the codes used on all certificates and there will be options for venues to integrate the verifier functionality into their own systems, as the source code is open source. Relevant impact assessments, including a BRIA (Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment), will be published when we lay the regulations.

Question reference: S6W-02809

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns within the hospitality industry that the decision regarding which venues and settings will be subject to COVID-19 vaccine passports is perceived to be arbitrary and unequally applied.

COVID-19 case numbers remain high and the winter period ahead will pose significant challenges of increased transmission and related pressure on the National Health Service. Action is therefore needed across all sectors to ensure compliance with baseline COVID-19 mitigations, and it is vital to consider further targeted and proportionate measures that can reduce risk further. Vaccine certification is one such measure. We are working with the hospitality industry to ensure that only those premises regarded as within scope of the policy for domestic vaccine certification are included and definitions will be confirmed in due course.

Question reference: S6O-00163

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of Afghan refugees that local authorities have offered to settle.

Scotland has always played its part in welcoming refugees, and as people from Afghanistan start to settle in Scotland, we are seeing the same.

Between June and 12 September, around 180 people in 53 families arrived in Scotland across nine local authority areas under the relocation scheme for locally employed staff. A further 16 families of approximately 65 people are expected to arrive over the next two weeks and we expect more to follow.

To date, 23 local authorities have confirmed their commitment to receiving people and others are going through internal processes to confirm their position. The Scottish Government commends all those local authorities welcoming people and other bodies which play their part in supporting people to rebuild their lives.

Question reference: S6O-00189

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ban the use of snares to capture wild animals.

Question reference: S6F-00256

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to analysis by HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland suggesting that the Crown Office is masking the time taken to decide on criminal prosecutions.

Question reference: S6W-02623

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to schools regarding the identification of food on their menu that contains pork.

The Scottish Government published updated guidance on Healthy Eating in Schools on our website in February 2021. This guidance is available on our website through the following link: Healthy eating in schools: guidance 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Our guidance recognises that cultural traditions, religious beliefs and faiths can have a significant impact on the kind of food we eat, how it is prepared and even how or when it is eaten. Therefore the guidance advises that local authorities may wish to work with their school communities to include a statement within their school food policy that reflects the diversity of their particular school population.

Although the guidance makes no specific reference to what action should be taken to identify foods containing pork or other animal products, where a child or young person or their parents/carers request a special diet, whether that be for medical or cultural reasons, we would expect schools and local authorities to accommodate any such requests.

Question reference: S6W-02617

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02153 by Keith Brown on 26 August 2021, for what reason there is a gap of around three years between the acquisition of the site and the commencement of construction work on the new HMP Glasgow.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Whilst a site for HMP Glasgow has been acquired, SPS still need to finalise the future operational requirements for the establishment and undertake a procurement exercise to appoint a suitable contractor who will develop the design of the new prison. There are also obligations to secure further statutory approvals for the site which will include satisfying any planning conditions, before construction work can begin.