- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the SAGE recommendation that innovation funding should be provided to support the development, verification and deployment of high-quality air cleaning devices.
Answer
Work is due to start with the Office of Product Safety and Standards and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ Environmental and Modelling Group to consider air cleaners further as there is no recognised standard for their efficacy. This work is necessary before innovation funding could be provided to support the development, verification and deployment of high-quality air cleaning devices. Manufacturers who have approached NHS National Services Scotland have been directed to the Innovation Portals for NHS Scotland and NHS England.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce legislation that will require calorie-labelling on all foodstuffs, similar to that announced by the UK Government.
Answer
The Out of Home sector has an important role to play in providing access to affordable, healthier food and in helping people make informed choices.
Our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan includes specific actions to help families make healthier choices, including when eating out. As part of this, we are considering consulting on mandatory calorie labelling for food and drink purchased out of home.
The Delivery Plan is at https://www.gov.scot/publications/healthier-future-scotlands-diet-healthy-weight-delivery-plan/ .
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason care home visitors can no longer perform a COVID-19 lateral flow test prior to their visit, and now must take one on site, and for what reason visits to care homes have been restricted to 30 minutes.
Answer
Open with Care: supporting meaningful contact in care homes was published on 24 February and sets out how indoor and outdoor contact should gradually increase while minimising COVID-19 risks to residents, staff and visitors. We have been providing testing kits to care homes to facilitate visitor testing and the guidance sets out how visitors may be supported in being tested and that providers provide testing facilities for indoor visiting. We are currently reviewing whether the roll out of community testing now makes it possible for visitors to test prior to their visit to care homes, subject to care homes discretion.
The guidance recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. The guidance does not stipulate that visits should be restricted to 30 minutes but recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. Care homes can access advice and support from local oversight partners when considering relaxations to visits to ensure everything is safe and suitable for all.
As detailed in my Answer to Question S6W-00352 on 10 June 2021, the Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in due course.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the use of electric scooters on streets is prohibited and, in light of reports suggesting that these vehicles might provide potential environmental benefits, what plans it has to review its position regarding their use.
Answer
Electric scooters (e-scooters) are effectively illegal to ride on streets and in other public places due to a number of pieces of UK-wide and Scottish legislation.
Last summer, the UK Government made some amendments to UK legislation to allow limited trials of rentable e-scooters to take place in local authority areas – aiming to gather evidence on effects of their use in a controlled environment. These amendments were made on a fast-track basis to facilitate rapid progression of trials in English local authorities. The UK Government did not factor-in time in planning the trials for the Scottish Parliament to consider and potentially implement the changes to Scottish law that would be required in order for trials to take place in Scottish local authority areas.
The UK Government has signalled its intention to publish proposals in 2022 for potential further legalisation of e-scooters beyond the current trials. Scottish legislation continues to apply in Scotland which makes use of e-scooters on roads or cycle paths illegal. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor trends as a matter of course in order to inform future policy.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many inpatient beds there are for people with eating disorders, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Children and young people who require inpatient support for an eating disorder will be admitted to either one of the 3 regional Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) inpatient units, as outlined below, or be admitted to a paediatric ward.
- 24 beds - Skye House Regional Adolescent Unit, Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow
- 12 beds - Dudhope House, Dundee
- 12 beds - Young People’s Unit, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
Similarly, adults who require inpatient support will be admitted to general adult mental health wards locally, or to one of the 3 adult specialist inpatient units in Scotland:
- The Regional Eating Disorder Unit at St John’s Hospital, Livingston, which is a 12 bed unit.
- The North of Scotland Eating Disorder Unit (Eden Unit), Royal Cornhill Hospital Aberdeen, which is a 10 bedded specialist eating disorder unit.
- There are also 4 specialist eating disorder beds in general adult psychiatry ward in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential benefits of the (a) procurement and (b) deployment of professional high-efficiency particulate air purifiers in enclosed workspaces.
Answer
The UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (“SAGE”) Environmental and Modelling Group (“EMG”) published a paper on 4 November 2020 on the “ Potential application of air cleaning devices and personal decontamination to manage transmission of COVID-19 ”, to which NHS National Services Scotland contributed on behalf of the Scottish Government. Work is due to start with the Office of Product Safety and Standards and the SAGE EMG to consider air cleaners further as there is no recognised standard for their efficacy.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it will next review the criteria for visiting care home residents, as it eases COVID-19 restrictions.
Answer
The Open with Care guidance, published on 24 February 2021, recommends a minimum of two indoor visits per resident per week (where they so wish), as long as certain conditions are met. This was a starting point to enable care homes to increase the frequency, duration and quality of visits through local assessment and support from local oversight arrangements. The guidance should be adopted to reflect the Protection Level of each care home’s local authority area.
Additional advice on supporting residents to make outings and overnight stays away from the care home was published on 17 May www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/ . The general principle is that when a resident wishes to go on outings away from the care home, that these should take place in line with general population COVID-19 permissions relevant to the local area, unless there is clear evidence justifying a more restrictive approach.
The Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in June .
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to the international minimum.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2021
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that NHS estates can reduce the viral load of COVID-19 in the ambient air of poorly ventilated spaces, and what plans it has to undertake widescale deployment of professional high-efficiency particulate air purifiers to reduce the risk of infection.
Answer
Scottish Healthcare Technical Memorandum (SHTM) 03-01 provides information relating to legal requirements, design implications, maintenance and operation of general and specialised ventilation in all types of healthcare premises. This has been supplemented with specific UK-wide guidance on ventilation and COVID-19, particularly for aerosol generating procedures. Patients should not be treated in poorly ventilated areas. There are currently no plans to implement the use of high-efficiency particulate air purifiers across the NHS estate.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its preparations for Euro 2020, including the fan zone.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2021
