Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-05841

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 2 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that women feel safe in their local areas.

The Scottish Government is taking robust action to ensure that women feel safe by improving our laws, encouraging more victims of recent and historical cases to come forward and improving support. That is why our Equally Safe strategy continues to have a decisive focus on preventing violence and tackling the underlying attitudes that perpetuate it. Our new two-year Delivering Equally Safe fund will award £38 million to projects which focus on early intervention and prevention.

We have established an independent Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland Working Group, chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC. The Working Group’s report will be published in February 2022 and will inform the further policy decisions we take to further address the many forms of violence, transgression, and abuse experienced by women.

Police Scotland's new verification procedure, following the murder of Sarah Everard, has a clear message that the onus is on the service to provide reassurance to women. However, effectively tackling and challenging gender based violence is not just the responsibility of women or frontline organisations. It is incumbent on men to take action to prevent such behaviour and make communities safer places.

Question reference: S6W-05737

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 31 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) boarding kennels and (b) other businesses that rely on the travel industry will be eligible for business funding support, made available in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022.

The Scottish Government has announced £375m of business support to support businesses in the sectors most affected by the restrictions and guidance to control the spread of Omicron. This includes £6m for the most directly affected businesses in the tourism sector including inbound tour operators, day tour operators, coach operators, hostels, visitor attractions and marine/outdoor. Guidance on this funding and other funds is available on Financial support for businesses - News | VisitScotland.org and findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

We have had to make tough decisions to target funding to sectors immediately impacted by the updated public health guidance. Decisions on the allocation of the remaining funds will be confirmed following further consultation with affected sectors on how it can best be targeted.

Question reference: S6W-05738

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 31 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that businesses that did not qualify for business funding support, made available in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021 will be eligible for such support in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-05441

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, when it takes over administration of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), whether it plans to stop payments to people receiving PIP once they reach state pension age.

Question reference: S6W-05808

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether people who participated in the Novavax trial will be recognised as fully vaccinated on the NHS Scotland COVID Status app.

We are grateful to everyone who has volunteered for vaccine trials in Scotland. They have all made a tremendous contribution to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

At present, Novavax is not approved by the MHRA in the UK. For this reason, people who participated in the Novavax Trial in Scotland have a paper certificate to identify them as a ‘clinical trial participant’ which allows them to be treated as if they were fully vaccinated for domestic and inbound travel purposes.

There are plans to enable all clinical trial participants to access the COVID status app for domestic certification which is scheduled for release in February.

If and when the MHRA approves the use of Novavax in the UK, the Novavax clinical trial participants will be able to access the COVID status app for international travel in the same way as an individual who has been vaccinated as part of the national vaccination programme. We do not have a definite timeline for MHRA approval to be in place.

Question reference: S6W-05842

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of violent crimes were recorded in each of the last 10 years.

Table 1 shows the number of non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police in Scotland from 2011-12 to 2020-21. From 2019-20 onwards this includes new crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, following its enactment on 1 April 2019. In addition to this, Table 2 shows the number of common assaults recorded by the police over the same time period. Both of these tables are available from the Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics ( Recorded Crime in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Table 1. Recorded crimes of non-sexual violence in Scotland, 2011-12 to 2020-21

Crime category	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Homicide etc. 1	121	91	106	105	81	105	98	102	121	100
Attempted murder & serious assault 2	4,693	3,643	3,268	3,166	4,007	4,186	4,189	4,359	4,097	3,511
Robbery	2,244	1,832	1,499	1,497	1,327	1,435	1,556	1,807	1,738	1,673
Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,681	1,641
Other violencea	2,426	1,902	1,813	1,504	1,322	1,438	1,408	1,740	1,679	2,047

Total non-sexual violence	9,484	7,468	6,686	6,272	6,737	7,164	7,251	8,008	9,316	8,972

Table 2. Recorded offences of common assault 2 in Scotland, 2011-12 to 2020-21

Offence category	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Common assault 2	69,253	60,955	60,357	58,178	58,596	57,861	58,335	57,915	57,833	52,052

Notes:

1. Includes Murder, and Culpable homicide (common law), which includes Causing death by dangerous driving, Causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, Causing death by careless driving, Illegal driver involved in fatal accident and Corporate homicide.

2. For the definition of Serious assault and the distinction between Serious assault and Common assault please see Paragraph 7.13 within Annex 1 of Recorded Crime in Scotland 2020-21 .

3. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force 1 April 2019. The Act created a new offence of abusive behaviour as a course of conduct towards a partner or ex-partner. Prior to 1 April 2019, any criminal act which formed part of a domestic abuse incident (such as a Common assault or Threatening or abusive behaviour) was included within the statistics under the relevant crime or offence. Where there is evidence of a course of conduct, new crime codes of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (against a male or female victim) have been created. In general, existing common law and statutory offences continue to be recorded where appropriate, in addition to the new crimes.

Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics, annual statistics, Scottish Government

Question reference: S6O-00702

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve the safety and resilience of roads and bridges in the north east.

Question reference: S6W-05688

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review birth delivery methods, processes and practices, in light of reports that emergency caesarean section has become the main method of delivery in recent months.

Following the publication of The Best Start – caesarean section rates: review report on 2 September 2021, the Scottish Government has asked the Maternity and Children’s Quality Improvement Collaborative (MCQIC), part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme, to lead on work to improve our understanding of the variation in caesarean section rates in Scotland.

The Scottish Government continues to work with senior leaders and clinicians across Scotland to prioritise improvements to care through the implementation of The Best Start programme. The programme is driving a transformation in maternity care in Scotland, with women receiving continuity of carer throughout their pregnancy, resulting in improved relationships and outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-05687

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds statistics on birth delivery methods in each NHS maternity ward for the last two years.

Data on birth delivery methods are not collected or held centrally. Public Health Scotland collects and publishes data on method of delivery at NHS Board level in its annual Birth in Scottish Hospitals report. The most recent report, for the year ending 31 March 2021, is available online and provides data on method of delivery by NHS Board of residence for live singleton births. The report is available via the following link: Births in Scottish hospitals - Year ending 31 March 2021 - Births in Scottish hospitals - Publications - Public Health Scotland .

Question reference: S6W-05686

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the criteria of qualifying recipients of the Scottish Child Payment and Bridging Payments so that children who are home-schooled are entitled to the equivalent level of welfare support benefit as children who attend school and receive free school meals.

The Scottish Child Payment commenced for children under the age of 6 in February 2021 and eligibility is based on receipt of qualifying benefits, with 106,000 children receiving the payment as of September 2021 based on the latest data available.

Children who are home-schooled are not excluded from this support which will be increased to £20 per week as of April 2022. The Scottish Government remain committed to delivering the Scottish Child Payment in full by the end of 2022, subject to receipt of the necessary data from the Department for Work and Pensions, at which point around 430,000 children under the age of 16 will be eligible.

Until such times as the necessary data is made available by the Department for Work and Pensions it is not possible to expand the reach of the Scottish Child Payment to older children, including those who are home-schooled.

Ahead of the full roll out of Scottish Child Payment, the Scottish Government is working in partnership with local councils to deliver Bridging Payments. This innovative solution, which makes use of data available to local authorities, is enabling immediate support worth £520 in both 2021 and 2022 to be provided to as many children as possible. The Bridging Payments are made automatically for children of school age who receive Free School Meals on the basis of low income, reaching in the region of 150,000 children backed by investment of around £78 million a year.

In addition the Scottish Government has made £25 million of funding available to local authorities, as part of the £41 million Winter Support Fund, in order to tackle financial insecurity in their local areas. Scottish Government guidance , published in December 2021, encourages local authorities to utilise this funding to provide proactive financial assistance to those who may face hardship, including those not eligible for other support.

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