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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-05374

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm if personal data, including ethnicity, which is taken when a COVID-19 vaccine is administered, is retained securely and is only used by NHS Scotland for the purpose for which it was obtained.

Full information on what personal information we process , including ethnicity, and how we use your data as part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme can be found on NHS Inform under Data, Privacy and Ethics.

Personal information we process - Personal information we process to support the coronavirus vaccination | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot)

How we use your data How we use your data to support the coronavirus vaccination programme | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-00611

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to farming charities.

Question reference: S6W-04996

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on Universal Credit (UC) Scottish choices split payments, where UC payments can be split between members of a couple in a household, in order to ensure that everyone has access to an independent income based on their individual circumstances, and what its position is on whether this will promote equality in the welfare system.

Following a pause, due to capacity challenges related to the pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021, officials from the Scottish Government and the UK Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have resumed work to finalise a proposal for introducing split payments of Universal Credit in Scotland. This work has been progressing steadily and Scottish Government officials expect to have a policy proposal ready for the DWP to undertake impact assessments in 2022.

Offering the choice of split payments of Universal Credit has the potential to help address the inequality inherent in household payments that reduce access to independent incomes and can place power in the hands of abusers. Whilst offering split payments of Universal Credit in Scotland will not be sufficient to solve these complex problems, improving the accessibility of an independent income may help people in difficult situations and result in fairer and more empowering outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-04995

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit is of the proposed review of the Scottish Welfare Fund, and what the timescale is for (a) the review to be completed and (b) its findings to be published.

We have committed, both in the Programme for Government and in our initial response to the Social Renewal Advisory Board’s report, to a full, independent review of the Scottish Welfare Fund. The review will examine many areas of the Fund including accessibility, funding levels, local authority administration and statutory guidance. In order to do this we are commissioning independent research, findings from which will be reported before the end of 2022.

Question reference: S6T-00356

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what flexibility will be afforded for the installation of interlinked fire alarms in light of recent reports about the available funding for low-income households.

Question reference: S6W-04639

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its Single Building Assessment programme, and when it anticipates the programme will be concluded.

My officials are working closely with the homeowners of the 25 buildings within the pilot phase of the Single Building Assessment. Our approach is to understand the fire safety of those buildings and particularly the external cladding. The programme will be concluded once buildings with unsafe cladding are remediated. We have committed to spending £97.1 million on cladding assessment and remediation and I have recently written to the UK Government to seek clarification on further funding for this work.

Question reference: S6W-04221

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will confirm the date for the removal of the requirement for EWS1 forms, and their replacement with Scottish Government-funded Single Building Assessments.

Question reference: S6W-04054

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to ensure that NHS patients in Scotland can access Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultra-Sound (MRgFUS) to treat the condition, essential tremor.

Patients in Scotland with medication-refractory essential tremor can be referred for MRgFUS treatment to the current centre in London which offers this service. These arrangements are managed through robust commissioning arrangements between NHS England and NHS National Services Scotland’s National Services Division (NSD). Referral to the service is dependent upon the patient’s local neurologist considering their eligibility and whether they would benefit from MRgFUS treatment.

In Scotland a partnership between NHS Tayside and University of Dundee is also enabling a small number of eligible patients to receive MRgFUS treatment at a newly developed facility in Dundee. So far 80 patients have been referred for assessment this year, and around 25% of those have been considered as being appropriate for treatment. The National Deep Brain Stimulation Service in Glasgow has been working closely with the facility to ensure that patient selection is appropriate with a view to the best clinical outcomes as well as patient safety.

While evidence continues to be gathered on the effectiveness of the technology, NSD continues to engage with the clinical team in Tayside with a view to the development of an application for national designation in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00402

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it recognises long COVID as a disability.

Question reference: S6W-03468

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS boards are reportedly not being provided with clear face masks to aid people who are hearing impaired, in light of these reportedly being provided to NHS trusts in England.

Transparent masks have the potential to bring significant benefits in aiding communication and the Scottish Government is supportive of their introduction where appropriate. We are aware that NHS England have previously trialled transparent masks in non-clinical settings.

Earlier this year, a new technical specification for the design and performance requirements of transparent masks was established. The UK Four Nations PPE Review Group has a role to review any products submitted for approval and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) is actively engaging in this process and working to ensure masks can be made available as soon as possible.