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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-35689

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 12 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the enhanced cleaning of communal areas of privately-owned residential blocks is essential during the current COVID-19 lockdown, and whether commercial cleaning firms can continue to carry out this work.

Regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces (such as door handles, bannisters, keypads, buttons) that can be found in communal areas of residential blocks can help reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

It is recommended that anything that is frequently touched, or touched by many people will need more cleaning than normal. That is why the cleaning of communal areas is an important aspect in trying to supress the spread of COVID-19.

Keeping common areas clean is part of the owners’ maintenance obligations, and for those in private owned residential blocks it would be for the owners, occupiers and landlords to determine any cleaning regime. Cleaning practices should be reviewed regularly. If a property factor or commercial cleaning firm is providing this service to homeowners, they must ensure that the safety of their workforce, occupants and the public in general is considered as a priority.

To support this endeavour, we have published guidance on cleaning and hygiene advice for multi-storey and high density flats. This can be found at Coronavirus (COVID-19):
cleaning and hygiene advice for multi-storeys and high-density flats - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S5W-35690

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the virus transmission mitigation measures for public library staff, given that book transfers continue to operate inside these premises.

The Safer Workplaces for Public Libraries guidance was developed with the input of Public Health Scotland, as well as the public libraries sector and trade unions. The guidance is reviewed on a regular basis with the most up-to-date advice and with input from the public libraries’ sector. It emphasises the importance of undertaking robust and regular risk assessments with full input from trade unions or workforce representatives, keeping all risk mitigation measures under regular review so that workplaces continue to feel, and be, as safe as possible, as our priority remains containing the spread of the virus, saving lives and safeguarding the NHS.

It also includes specific guidance on the importance of good hand hygiene and also around book quarantining for 72 hours as per Public Health Scotland’s advice ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-public-libraries-guidance/pages/operational-guide-and-checklist/#hygiene ). The amount of infectious virus on any contaminated surface is likely to have decreased significantly after this time. Evidence on coronavirus transmission due to environmental contamination is reviewed as we learn to live with this still relatively new virus.

The guidance further states that under level 4, staff who are able to work from home, must do so wherever possible, unless they are essential to support permitted services e.g. click and collect and bookable IT services.

The guidance also includes a compliance self-assessment tool which workplaces are encouraged to use: Coronavirus (COVID-19): compliance self-assessment tool - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Finally, to accompany the revised Strategic Framework announced by the First Minister, officials are undertaking an additional full review of this guidance.

Question reference: S5W-35187

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the prioritisation of taxi drivers for the COVID-19 vaccine, following the vaccination of all over-50s and people with underlying health conditions.

The Scottish Government follows the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in the planning of vaccine delivery. This evidence based guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age, and that the risk increases exponentially with age. Additionally the committee considers frontline health and social care workers who provide direct care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination.

The JCVI priority lists represents 99% of the preventable mortality in the United Kingdom from COVID-19 and throughout the delivery of the vaccination programme we will be guided by the clinical expertise of the JCVI, the MHRA, and our own senior clinical advisers.

At this stage in the vaccination programme every vaccine given to one of these groups would be one less vaccine given to an at-risk individual.

Question reference: S5O-05099

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to support the tourism sector in response to reports that TUI will reduce its flights to Aberdeen airport.

Question reference: S5W-35380

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 3 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in the 2018 Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland paper, Thematic Report on the Victims Right to Review, whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service notifies all victims of a decision not to prosecute their case.

The recommendation made by the Inspectorate of Prosecution was that COPFS should work towards a system of notifying all victims of decisions not to prosecute, whether through the use of IT solutions or otherwise. The Inspectorate recognised that that the rights and expectations of victims would require to be balanced with a proportionate response, that notifying all the victims of decisions not to prosecute has resource implications and that IT solutions may assist.

COPFS proactively notifies victims of decisions not to prosecute in all solemn cases and all summary cases within the specified case remit of the COPFS Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service, including Domestic Abuse and Hate Crime. COPFS advises all victims of all decisions not to prosecute on request. COPFS are exploring possible approaches to extending the current notification scheme, including possible IT solutions.

Question reference: S5W-35377

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the next Victim Taskforce papers will include a paper, "catalogue on initiatives", which had been included in previous papers but not the most recent set.

Question reference: S5W-35378

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reduce further the number of outstanding unpaid work hours given as part of community payback orders.

There are currently no plans to further reduce unpaid work hours given as part of community payback orders (CPOs).

The Community Orders (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 will, subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament, reduce unpaid work hours imposed in CPOs by 35% for all existing orders, except those imposed for domestic abuse, sexual offences, or stalking.

We expect this will alleviate pressure on justice social work services, increasing available capacity to help ensure that existing orders can be completed within timescales expected by courts, and that any new orders can commence promptly.

However, considerable uncertainty still remains in relation to the pandemic and it is expected that the number of unpaid work hours will rise over the coming months if justice social work capacity remains significantly constrained by necessary public health restrictions while court business resumes.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely in the coming months, particularly with regard to capacity issues, and to work with partner organisations to address any further difficulties arising as a result of backlogs within the criminal justice system. Further action cannot be ruled out while the pandemic continues, but would be only considered if clearly necessary and proportionate in the context of the emergency powers in the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020, and would be subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S5W-35374

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it allocated the £2 million of capital funding given to victim and witness support organisations in 2020-21, and what information it has regarding how this money was spent.

The victim support budget has provided substantial investment, via health boards, to support forensic medical services, with £2 million per year over 3 years since 2018-19. In 2020-21, funding was provided to further improve health boards’ forensic medical services, including to enhance existing, or to create new, healthcare facilities and to build workforce capacity. More specifically, this funding has contributed to a new forensic medical examination suite in the Borders General Hospital and has supported the recruitment and retention of Gender-Based Violence leads, forensically trained nurses and other essential workforce positions across all 14 territorial boards.

Question reference: S5W-35381

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish follow-up modelling of the number of trials in backlog, in light of the announcement that court business will be restricted until the end of March 2021.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) publishes, on a monthly basis, a workbook that details the throughput of criminal cases and the forecast of outstanding scheduled trials in the High Court, Sheriff Court and Justice of Peace Court. This shows the impact of court restrictions and can be accessed at the following link https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-the-scottish-court-service/scs-news/2021/02/16/monthly-information-on-criminal-case-throughput-for-january-2021

Question reference: S5W-35382

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation made by the Justice Committee in the paper, Report on post-legislative scrutiny of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland)Act 2012 - The Police Service of Scotland, whether it has introduced a resolution plan system for when a local authority does not agree with a local police plan.

It is for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to develop their engagement with local partners. However, there are now significantly more local elected members involved in scrutiny of policing, with each local authority having its own scrutiny committee and elected members play a central role in the development and agreement of local police plans. Annual Police Plans sit alongside Local Police Plans and are developed in consultation with local partners and communities. The SPA and Police Scotland are also developing a new Police Performance Framework, which will reflect an outcomes-focused approach and provide performance information at a local and national level.