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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: S5W-32384

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the most recent COVID-19 restrictions are based on NHS board area, rather than local authority area, in light of this approach resulting in Inverclyde being included in the strictest restrictions despite it having a lower infection rate than other areas that are not included.

The geographical extent of the current measures for the Central Belt of Scotland, which include Inverclyde, is based on clinical judgement, not only of incidence and prevalence, but also of the resilience and workload of public health teams. The Scottish Government considers that Health Boards are the appropriate administrative unit to form the basis of the geographic extent for this reason.

In terms of infection rates within Inverclyde, as well as looking at the levels of confirmed cases per 100,000 people at any given day, it is also important to look at the pace of change in confirmed cases. Two days before the announcement from the First Minister on 7 October, the rate of cases in the last week per 100,000 in Inverclyde was 44. This rate had doubled since the previous week. What was also clear is that there was evidence of the movement of cases between neighbouring areas. As such, the neighbouring areas to Inverclyde had cases significantly higher at the start of October.

Question reference: S5F-04438

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2020

To ask the First Minister what extra support the Scottish Government can provide to Police Scotland to assist with the additional pressures being placed on officers dealing with COVID-19 measures.

Question reference: S5W-31822

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on pregnant teachers working in schools after 28 weeks.

The SG has published detailed guidance on the safe return to school. This is designed to safeguard the wellbeing of children, young people and staff. Whilst it sets out general guidance for all those involved in schools settings, it also recognises the importance in some circumstances of risk assessments and conversations between individuals and their healthcare professionals.

There is no suggestion that pregnant women are more susceptible to the virus than the general population as a result of their pregnancy, or are more likely to be ill. It is expected the large majority of pregnant women will experience only mild or moderate cold/flu like symptoms. Guidance for pregnant women and their employers advises that women should discuss their return to work with their employers and a risk assessment should be undertaken to ensure appropriate measures are in place to ensure safety. The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG) and The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) have provided more information for both employers and pregnant women including specific advice for women who are
‎ 28 weeks pregnant and beyond. https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/2020-09-10-occupational-health-statement-rcog-rcm-fom.pdf

Question reference: S5F-04388

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that the highest proportion of positive COVID-19 tests is among young adults.

Question reference: S5W-31441

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its COVID-19 guidance states regarding whether hand driers in public places can be used.

The Scottish Government published the Coronavirus (COVID-19): opening public and customer toilets guidance on 27 June 2020. https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19
-public-and-customer-toilets-guidance/pages/hygiene-measures/

The guidance was developed in consultation with the Health Protection Scotland National COVID response team. It states that as part of hygiene measures hand-drying facilities should be provided – either paper towels with appropriate and frequent waste disposal or electric hand dryers.

We are committed to keeping the guidance under constant review and it will be updated based on the latest advice from the Health Protection Scotland National COVID response team.

Question reference: S5O-04557

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Inverclyde Council, Transport Scotland and Scottish Water regarding their plans to eliminate flooding in Inverclyde.

Question reference: S5W-31185

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given consideration to introducing an official form of ID for people who are exempt from wearing face coverings due to a medical condition.

Question reference: S5F-04295

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the SFA and SPFL to allow football clubs to utilise their local COVID-19 testing facilities.

Question reference: S5W-30124

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2020
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress to deliver Scotland’s Census in 2021.

Scotland’s Census provides people, businesses and organisations with high quality data and analysis which is used to inform key decisions in relation to policy making, investment and the planning of services. The census also helps paint an important picture of the of the population, helping us to understand the similarities and differences in the population’s characteristics locally and nationally, now and over time. Therefore, it is vital that National Records of Scotland (NRS) delivers a census which ensures a high response rate and results in high quality outputs to meet the needs of its users.

Delivery of the census is a substantial logistical operation for NRS, with preparations in the year up to census day critical to the successful delivery of the census. Whilst NRS had been on track to take a census on 21 March 2021, the significant impact of COVID-19 on a range of public engagement, testing, procurement and operational priorities resulted in NRS asking the Scottish Government to consider additional options for Scotland’s Census.

NRS conducted a comprehensive options assessment on the risks of COVID-19 to the delivery of the census in March 2021. This work highlighted that a response rate of at least 90% needs to be achieved to produce the high quality census outputs required by users; the response rate for Census 2011, for example, was 94%. NRS has advised the Scottish Government that the disruption caused by COVID-19 placed delivery of next year’s census at considerable risk, with particular concern about the impact on achieving the comprehensive response necessary for the production of high quality outputs.

NRS considered a range of alternative options to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and these were assessed against 10 criteria. These options included reducing the scope of the census. The conclusion from NRS was that the only option around which there is confidence of securing the high level of response rate required was moving the date of the census to March 2022. Other options had an estimated response rate that fell between 60% - 80%.

Therefore, NRS recommended to the Scottish Government that the census be taken in March 2022, as that would best secure a census that allows everyone to participate, and delivers its full benefit to the people of Scotland. We have decided to follow that recommendation. This will be only the second time that the census in Scotland has not been held every 10 years since 1801 (the other exception being 1941, when no census was taken), and is a further sign of the unprecedented times that we are in.

Scotland’s Census will now run to a different timescale to the censuses in the rest of the UK. NRS will work with the Office of National Statistics and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency to minimise the impact on UK data coherence to ensure that high quality data is available to inform policy, investment decisions and the planning of services that affect Scotland. NRS will also continue to work closely with our stakeholders and partners to support the needs of data users until the results from Scotland’s Census become available.

Later this year, the Scottish Government will lay amendments to both the Census (Scotland) Order 2020 and Census (Scotland) Regulations 2020 that will allow NRS to take a census in March 2022. No other aspects of Scotland’s Census will be affected.

Question reference: S5W-29953

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support will be made available to community groups, particularly those that maintain and operate community halls, if these are to remain closed beyond phase 4 of the COVID-19 route map.

The Scottish Government committed £350 million of funding to support local communities and households in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding was developed using a range of approaches to ensure that resource was quickly mobilised to the people and places where it was needed. those approaches include funding delivered through Local Authorities; open bid funds such as the Community Wellbeing Fund and Third Sector Resilience Fund and targeted funding through Community Anchor Organisations by the Supporting Communities Fund.

We recognise that there will be a need for further support for community groups, including those operating community halls. As such, our approach to Recovery, will include the consideration of the impact of different phases of lockdown. Details will be announced in due course.

Further information on sources of funding for third sector and communities can be found on the SCVO website at: https://scvo.org.uk/support/running-your-organisation/funding .