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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-28416

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been given to care homes regarding limiting the transmission of COVID-19 in addition to that published by Health Protection Scotland on personal protective equipment (PPE).

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) has published infection control guidance for care homes which is updated regularly and most recently on 20 May. The HPS guidance is based on the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and includes advice on how to prevent and manage the spread of all respiratory infections including COVID-19.

To supplement HPS guidance, the Scottish Government also issued clinical and practice guidance for care homes. This was first published on 13 March and updated on 26 March and 15 May. This guidance draws on the HPS guidance but provides more detailed information on some of the practical steps that are required to protect staff and residents. Both the HPS and the Scottish Government guidance are continually reviewed to take account of the emerging picture around COVID-19.

Question reference: S5T-02220

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that there have been around 600 more deaths in care homes from COVID-19 than officially recorded.

Question reference: S5W-28399

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the staff absence rate has been in the care home sector since the COVID-19 outbreak began, and what information it has regarding how many have been absent because they (a) are suspected of having and (b) have the virus.

3,121 staff were reported as absent in adult care homes due to COVID-19, based on returns received from 813 (75%) adult care homes as at 12 May. Staff absent due to COVID-19 represents 7.3% of all adult care home staff (42,626) for whom a return was provided. Scottish Government has published this data and will be publishing updated data every week on our website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/

Question reference: S5W-29056

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings Ministers held to discuss the Silver Swan pandemic meeting in 2015.

Question reference: S5T-02214

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will have recruited all 2,000 contact tracers by the end of May.

Question reference: S5W-28936

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £30 million received from the National Lottery Communities Fund has been distributed.

The Scottish Government has not received £30 million from the National Lottery Community Fund, but has been notified by HM Treasury of an estimated £30 million consequentials relating to UK Government grant to the National Lottery Community Fund in respect of England.

The Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government announced additional support for the third sector in Scotland on 18 March 2020 as part of a £350 million package of communities funding, prior to the UK Government announcement of funding for charities.

This funding exceeds the consequentials expected for Scotland from the UK Government.

The Scottish Government funding package includes a £50 million Wellbeing Fund to provide support to third sector organisations, including charities and social enterprises, helping them to work with at-risk people most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It also includes a Third Sector Resilience Fund, now worth £25 million, to provide an emergency fund for charities, community groups, social enterprises and voluntary organisations working in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-28937

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authority care home residents have been tested for COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-28938

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many independent care home residents have been tested for COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-28906

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people received chemotherapy in April (a) 2019 and (b) 2020 for the treatment of (i) breast, (ii) bowel, (iii) lung, (iv) blood and (v) prostate cancer, and what impact it considers the COVID-19 outbreak had on any variation in the figures.

Cancer waiting times data collects information on eligible referrals who started first treatment for the ten main cancer sites that are part of the waiting times standards. This does not include blood cancer. The number of eligible referrals, from any source, who started chemotherapy as their first treatment in April 2019 is shown in Table 1 by cancer site. Information for April 2020 is not available. Therefore, Public Health Scotland has no information on the impact of COVID-19 on these figures.

Table 1 – Number of eligible referrals who started chemotherapy as their first treatment in the month of April 2019:

Cancer site	Number of eligible referrals
Breast	50
Bowel	16
Lung	70
Prostate	0

For Cancer Waiting Times, the definition of first treatment is the treatment or drug that genuinely attempts to begin the patient’s first treatment, including if this is palliative care or supportive care. Cancer waiting times definitions have been formed for performance monitoring and not for clinical outcome purposes. Patients should be included in the standard where a first treatment was attempted, but either not carried out or not completed for clinical reasons.

Question reference: S5W-29055

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many care home (a) staff and (b) residents in the (i) local authority, (ii) charitable and (iii) independent sector have been tested for COVID-19.