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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-32821

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many Community COVID-19 Testing Specialists it has recruited; how many have completed training, and how many are collecting samples in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-32819

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to encourage the public to partake in the Office for National Statistics COVID-19 infection survey; on what date any communication was sent to the public on this topic, and how many people were contacted.

Question reference: S5W-32579

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it took to inform the public about the new fire safety regulations for homeowners that it had initially planned to come into force on 1 February 2021; whether it now plans to launch a wider public awareness campaign, and what funding is available to help people in deprived areas adapt their homes to meet the requirements.

Following the changes to the tolerable standards, announced in March 2018, there was significant media coverage. The changes were further reported as they passed through Parliament, and regularly updated online information has been available since March 2018.

We have worked closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) who have continued to publicise the changes via themed social media campaigns, all linking to what the requirements mean for home owners.

Further information, literature and advice are also provided during SFRS’ Home Fire Safety Visits.

Interest free loan funding has been made available to support social landlords to make the changes. In addition, over 2018-20 we have provided the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) with £1m funding to install these alarms in the homes of people assessed to be at high risk from fire.

We will continue to explore all aspects of ensuring successful implementation of the changes, which we are now seeking to introduce from February 2022. This will include steps to ensure high levels of public awareness and appropriate support for homeowners.

Question reference: S5W-32801

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the COVID-19 R number is in (a) the Borders and (b) each of the five localities of the Borders.

The estimate of R for Scotland on 28 October 2020 was that it was between 1.0 and 1.3. The Scottish Government calculates R at a national level but does not calculate it for the Scottish Borders, because the ranges around the estimates would be very large and would not help understanding of the differences between areas of Scotland. Instead of doing that, we use other ways to monitor the level of COVID-19 in regions; we use data such as positivity, case rate and hospitalisations to track the epidemic. For example, we use modelling based on Covid cases and deaths, conducted by Imperial College London, to give us an indication of whether a local authority is experiencing high levels of Covid. The model projects the epidemic two weeks into the future and computes probabilities of areas being hotspots at certain thresholds, where an area is defined as a hotspot if the cases (positive tests) per 100K population exceed a threshold, e.g. 500 weekly cases. For more information, please see Figure 11 and Table 1 in issue 24 of a series of Scottish Government Covid-19 modelling reports . An extract from Table 1 indicates the following probabilities for the Borders having more than 50, 100, 300 or 500 cases per 100,000 people in the week 8 - 14 Nov 2020:

Area	P(Cases>500)	P(Cases>300)	P(Cases>100)	P(Cases>50)
Scottish Borders	0%	0%	12%	49%

The most recent daily statistics for COVID-19 in Scotland are available and can be found in the daily data for Scotland .”

Question reference: S5W-32804

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what flexibility local authorities have to set localised lockdowns in particular districts, towns or subdivisions.

While we have made a clear commitment to engage with Local Authorities on the setting of the individual levels, it is ultimately for Scottish Ministers to make decisions regarding their allocation, in line with their statutory powers to protect public health.

As indicated in our Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scotland’s Strategic Framework (https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-scotlands-strategic-framework/ ) the measures are most likely to be applied at the level of local authorities, which is the basis of our initial allocation of levels. There is however discretion for Ministers to apply levels in future to whichever geography is most likely to be effective in suppressing the virus.

Question reference: S5W-32566

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by the Associate Director Scotland of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) when giving evidence to the Social Security Committee on 8 October 2020 (Official Report, c.16) regarding Scottish Welfare Fund crisis grants that the JRF advisory group had found that "there were definitely people who felt that they should be eligible, for example, those fleeing domestic violence, having to turn to charity because they were not able to access emergency support for things as basic as beds and white goods".

The Scottish Welfare Fund is a discretionary scheme administered by local authorities. The purposes for which the Fund can be used are set out in legislation: to provide occasional assistance to people to help meet immediate short-term needs, and to support people to establish or maintain a settled home who would otherwise be in prison, hospital, residential care or be homeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life. The process through which decisions on applications are made is set out in Statutory Guidance. This is developed by the Scottish Government in conjunction with local authorities, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and other stakeholders.

There is a comprehensive and robust process in place to enable applicants who are unhappy about the outcome of their application to have the local authority’s decision reviewed, firstly by the local authority itself and secondly, if necessary, the SPSO.

Question reference: S5W-32567

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase (a) awareness and (b) the take-up of the Scottish Welfare Fund's (i) crisis and (ii) community care grant.

Through the Statutory Guidance, the Scottish Government encourages local authorities to adopt a holistic approach to Scottish Welfare Fund applications. By maintaining close working relationships with the support and advice services in their local areas and in their own authority, local decision makers can ensures that applicants are signposted or referred to the Welfare Fund and to other local services which may be of benefit to them.

The Scottish Government also works closely with national agencies and third sector organisations to ensure that people receive advice and information about the support available to them and the benefits to which they may be entitled.

We also highlight the provision of support through the Fund when statistics are published every month.

Individuals who are requested to self-isolate are informed of the availability of financial and other support.

Question reference: S5W-32565

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the readiness of local authorities to deliver the (a) Scottish Welfare Fund and (b) Self-isolation Support Grant.

Since the introduction of the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2013, we have built and maintained strong relationships with local authorities, both individually and through engagement with COSLA. The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People had a teleconference meeting with Councillor Kelly Parry, COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing on 29 September to discuss using the Scottish Welfare Fund to deliver the new Self-Isolation Support Grant. Policy officials also hold regular teleconferences with local authorities’ Welfare Fund practitioners. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with COSLA to ensure local authorities were quickly able to deliver the Self-Isolation Support Grant and continue to be able to do so. This vital intervention is enabling people on low income benefits who have been asked to self-isolate, to stay at home and stop the spread of Covid-19.

Question reference: S5W-32859

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what equivalent scheme exists in Scotland to the Right to Build register in England, and what support is available to help people purchase a plot of land for a self-build home.

The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a new requirement for planning authorities to prepare and maintain a list of people interested in self-build.

The Scottish Government does not currently provide support to help people purchase a plot of land for a self-build home. The Scottish Government's national self build loan fund offers loans of up to £175,000 to eligible applicants for development costs to support build completion. The scheme requires applicants to have full land ownership or a contract to buy land.

Question reference: S5F-04516

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2020

To ask the First Minister what guidance the Scottish Government has issued for marking Remembrance Sunday.