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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: S6W-06391

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the prevalence of financial scams linked to the NHS Scotland Covid Status app.

The Scottish Government works closely with CyberScotland Partners including Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to help protect the public from cyber threats.

The Scottish Government supports the publication of a regular technical and non-technical CyberScotland Bulletin which references content from Police Scotland, NCSC, the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland and other partners. CyberScotland provides a single online portal for organisations, businesses and individuals seeking information, guidance and support on cyber resilience issues which can be found here .

Question reference: S6F-00832

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6O-00773

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the teaching unions.

Question reference: S6W-06004

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what exact date the previous stroke care guidelines expired.

The stroke care guidelines in question were developed by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN). Information and archived guidelines are available at: https://sign.ac.uk/our-guidelines/ . The dates for withdrawal of these stroke guidelines are in the following table:

SIGN 119	Management of patients with stroke: Identification and management of dysphagia	Published 2010	Withdrawn June 2020
SIGN 118	Management of patients with stroke: Rehabilitation, prevention and management of complications, and discharge planning	Published 2010	Withdrawn June 2020
SIGN 108	Management of patients with stroke or TIA: Assessment, investigation, immediate management	Published 2008	Withdrawn July 2018

In the absence of a SIGN guideline, clinicians are expected to use good-quality evidence-based guidelines such as the fifth edition of the National Clinical Guideline for Stroke ( https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/guidelines-policy/stroke-guidelines ) or guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The ultimate judgement must be made by the appropriate health and social care professional(s) responsible for clinical decisions regarding a particular clinical procedure or treatment plan.

Question reference: S6W-05960

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what regulations govern domestic CCTV and Ring doorbell cameras in Scotland; whether any powers to change such regulations are devolved, and, if so, what plans it has to review the regulations that apply in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-06005

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether and (b) when new stroke care guidelines will be published.

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines on stroke have been withdrawn due to being over 10 years old. SIGN therefore recommend that healthcare professionals look to other up-to-date evidence-based guidelines to inform practice. A good source is the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evidence search that includes trusted sources from a wide range of organisations: https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/

A four nations approach will be taken to update the Royal College of Physicians Guidelines for Stroke (2016). SIGN is involved in the development process so that the revised guideline will be a collaborative national guideline which will be applicable for use in Scotland.

The updated guideline is expected to be published in February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-05930

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons no requests have been granted for victims to attend parole board hearings since this was permitted in March 2021.

The measures that the Parole Board had to take in response to COVID, to ensure the safe working of staff and others, meant that it has not been feasible to facilitate arrangements for a victim to observe a Tribunal. The Parole Board rules require proceedings to be kept confidential which means that a member of staff needs to be present, with the victim observing by video link.

The Parole Board has however, used this time to put in place the mechanisms needed to allow this to happen when it is safe to do so. In light of the relaxation of the working from home guidelines from 1 February 2022, the Parole Board has indicated that it will now begin to consider requests to observe hearings, with a view to testing first before moving to full implementation in the Spring. Granting of requests to view a Tribunal is a matter for the independent Parole Board following consideration of representations from the prisoner.

Question reference: S6W-05986

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current sentencing guidelines are for those convicted of fly-tipping.

Flytipping is a criminal offence. People who flytip can be issued with a fixed penalty notice up to £200. If prosecuted, a person who is caught flytipping can face a fine up to £40,000. SEPA are engaging with the Scottish Sentencing Council on behalf of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to help develop sentencing guidelines on environmental offences.

In December 2021, Scottish Government launched a consultation on potential additional measures to tackle flytipping in Scotland, including actions to further strengthen enforcement. Proposals include raising fines, extending local authorities' enforcement powers and exploring the use of civil penalties to enforce flytipping offences.

Responses to the consultation, which is open until 31 March 2022, will inform the development of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-05806

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the amount of any packaging that is uplifted for recycling, but which is (a) incinerated and (b) sent to landfill.

Segregated waste collected for recycling is sent to either a recycling facility or a materials recovery facility to be sorted before recycling. In some cases, where waste is too contaminated to be recycled or sorted, it may be diverted to incineration or landfill.

Data on the amount packaging within waste that is too contaminated to be recycled or sorted and which is incinerated or landfilled is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-05807

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce legislation to prohibit the use of packaging that cannot be recycled or which contaminates other items for recycling.

The Scottish Government is working with the other UK administrations to introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging. How much producers pay for a particular type of packaging will depend on its environmental impact. This will create a powerful incentive to adopt more recyclable packaging.

The Scottish Government has laid regulations before Parliament that ban some types of packaging products such as expanded polystyrene cups and food containers that, if incorrectly disposed of, contaminate kerbside recycling bins.

I recently announced the first £20 million of landmark investments from the Recycling Improvement Fund, to increase the quantity and quality of recycling. We are funding a range of improvements to improve the quality of recyclate, including local service redesigns to align with Scotland’s Household Recycling Charter, and new ‘in cab’ updates to help councils tackle contamination. New funding will also enable Fife Council to become the first local authority in Scotland to locally sort and separate the plastic films it collects for recycling, and boost Scotland’s capacity to recycle this problematic material. This will allow the council to accept flexible plastics and films for recycling within the existing kerbside schemes.

We are working with industry, local government and environmental groups to develop a route map to deliver our waste, recycling and climate change targets. This work will include consideration of recyclate capture and quality. We will also introduce a Circular Economy Bill this parliamentary session which will include measures to encourage reuse of products and the reduction of waste.