- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2024
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on NHS Lanarkshire's recovery plans.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2024
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported use of mobile apps in schools to monitor children's behaviour and movements.
Answer
Local authorities take their own decisions about which digital tools, services and apps to deploy in their schools to support delivery of education. We expect that any digital service would be implemented in recognition of statutory duties arising from GDPR and Data Protection Act. As Data Controllers in their own right, it is for local authorities to ensure all digital services in schools comply with the relevant legislation.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to reserving a portion of future Barnett consequential funding as an additional top-up for local authorities, in light of the reported funding pressures experienced by several local authorities.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the challenging financial circumstances that local authorities, and indeed the entire public sector are currently facing.
These challenges were considered and reflected in the Scottish Budget which will provide local authorities with record funding of over £14 billion in 2024-25, including £600.6 million of additional revenue funding.
Barnett consequentials accrued to the Scottish Government are added to the total available funding available to Scottish Ministers. It is then for Scottish Ministers to decide how all the resources available to them should be allocated. However, subject to the outcome of the UK Government Spring Budget, the Scottish Government has committed to pass on up to £62.7 million of additional funding directly to local government alongside any consequentials received for increased teacher pension employer contributions.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it will prioritise woodland grant funding in the future, in light of the reported 41% cut to the woodland grants budget administered by Scottish Forestry.
Answer
The Scottish Government supports a range of activities through the Forestry Grant Scheme and is seeking to maximise delivery of woodland creation whilst maintaining support for management of existing woodland. Scottish Forestry publishes regular Briefing Notes to inform customers of the funding available and how the funding is split across the range of grant budget categories and priority activities supported through the Forestry Grant Scheme. These Briefing Notes can be viewed at: Scottish Forestry - Forestry Grant Scheme .
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what specific measures are being taken to address any high levels of pneumonia (mycoplasma pneumoniae) infections recorded in recent Public Health Scotland data.
Answer
Since November 2021, sentinel surveillance data have been available for mycoplasma pneumoniae in Scotland through the CARI sentinel surveillance programme. In this programme, sentinel GP practices across Scotland recruit and swab patients with symptoms of acute respiratory infection. These samples are all tested for ten respiratory pathogens, including mycoplasma pneumoniae. Enhanced surveillance data, primarily relating to symptoms, are collected by an online questionnaire from patients tested in the programme. Analyses from these data suggest that most infections display as a mild respiratory illness. To date, there have been no deaths in 1280 CARI patients positive for mycoplasma pneumoniae (up to week 7) within 28 days of their test. With the information from CARI, GP providers have been advised that they should consider mycoplasma pneumoniae as part of the differential diagnosis for community-acquired pneumonia cases.
PHS separately analyses data on all microbiology laboratory specimen results across Scotland to identify positive mycoplasma pneumoniae test in hospitals or care homes, or as requested in the community (by GPs). These data are reviewed by PHS and NHS Health Boards to identify any clusters or trends resulting in severe disease that warrant further intervention. To date, no unusual outbreaks or evidence of increased severity of disease has been noted and public health guidance on management of cases/clinical treatment remains unchanged.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to strengthen surveillance and monitoring systems for pneumonia (mycoplasma pneumoniae) infections, in order to promptly identify any emerging trends or clusters and take proactive measures to prevent further spread.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises that surveillance is a critical part of our approach to monitoring and managing the spread and prevalence of mycoplasma pneumoniae, Covid-19 and other respiratory infections. Public Health Scotland (PHS) are responsible for delivering Scotland’s National Respiratory Surveillance Plan with the support of the Scottish Government.
As part of PHS’s work, respiratory infection levels, including those of mycoplasma pneumoniae, and their impact are closely monitored throughout the year using various sources of data, including microbiological sampling and laboratory test results from community and hospital settings, NHS 24 calls, primary care consultations, hospital admissions, and mortality by cause. Intelligence generated from the different Scottish surveillance systems, including for mycoplasma pneumoniae, are used to inform proactive measures to prevent spread and ensure timely clinical response.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any reasons for the reportedly high level of pneumonia (mycoplasma pneumoniae) infections in the five- to 14-year-old age group recorded in recent Public Health Scotland data.
Answer
PHS has advised the Scottish Government that mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of respiratory infections, particularly in school-aged children. Most infections display as a mild respiratory illness, however, some persons experience severe pneumonia and require hospitalization. Significant cyclical increases in mycoplasma pneumoniae infections are observed every 3–5 years, likely because of changes in the circulating strain.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of many respiratory conditions to re-emerge following cessation of nonpharmaceutical interventions, including lockdowns and physical distancing, implemented as part of the pandemic response. After implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions in response to COVID-19, the frequency of identified mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in Scotland substantially declined beginning in 2020, as was the case for other respiratory infections. Beginning in the autumn of 2023, the United States, China and other countries identified a re-emergence of the infection, a pattern similar to that observed in Scotland.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to enhance public awareness and education regarding pneumonia (mycoplasma pneumoniae) infections, particularly among any parents, caregivers and educators of children aged five to 14 who may have concerns, in light of any sustained levels of infections recorded in recent Public Health Scotland data.
Answer
Mycoplasma pneumonia infection typically is not severe but it can cause a pneumonia that is usually mild in nature. PHS has reviewed routine surveillance data available to them and are reassured that most presentations of mycoplasma pneumoniae infections are of a mild respiratory illness, with children most commonly presenting at GPs with common respiratory symptoms. To date, there have been no deaths in 1280 CARI patients positive for mycoplasma pneumoniae (up to week 7) within 28 days of their test.
The Scottish Government notes that PHS continues to encourage good hand and respiratory hygiene to help stop the spread of winter bugs, including mycoplasma pneumoniae. By keeping hands clean and helping to ensure children practice good respiratory hygiene, the spread of this infection can be reduced. The Scottish Government notes that information on managing the symptoms of common winter illnesses including self-help guides and advice on preventing onward transmission, can be found on NHS Inform. ( https://www.nhsinform.scot/winter-illness/ )
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider reviewing the definition of the statutory walking distance to school, which is currently defined by section 42(4) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 as being two miles for children aged under eight, and three miles for children aged eight or over, with a view to creating a two-mile limit for all age groups.
Answer
The statutory minimum walking distances set out in legislation are a long-standing feature of our education system and there are no plans to change them. The Scottish Government published guidance for local authorities regarding home to school transport in 2021. The provision of home to school transport is responsibility of local authorities and decisions about changes to eligibility for free school transport are for local authorities to make, subject to the applicable statutory requirements.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many combined sewer overflows (CSOs) were defined as unsatisfactory by Scottish Water in January 2024, and how this compares with January 2023.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
Scottish Water has published its Improving Urban Waters Routemap ( https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Urban-Waters-Improvements ) which outlines the process to identify and plan future investment for the highest priority Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UIDs). This planned approached is agreed in conjunction with the environmental regulator SEPA.
Each financial year (Apr-Mar) it reports UID figures within an Annual return to the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) and as at March 2023 the figure was 776. This number is revised each year as improvement projects address UIDs and on-going studies identify new UIDs. The figure for 2023-24 will be published later this year.
