Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-00978

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the findings of the HM Inspectors of Education review of foundation apprenticeship provision.

Question reference: S6O-00963

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what measures it is taking in response to the reported growing threat of cyber crime.

Question reference: S6W-07503

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has reported to it any long-term plan for remedial works to Kisimul Castle, and what its position is on whether any agreements undertaken on this subject are being honoured by HES.

Question reference: S6W-07537

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (On behalf of the SPCB) on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether there are any Hikvision cameras in or around the Scottish Parliament building, and whether any such cameras have been installed since the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report was published in July 2021 recommending that they not be used in the UK.

A project to deliver an essential upgrade of the Parliament’s security system was completed in 2019. Part of that project involved the upgrade of the Parliament’s CCTV system.

The specification required that all components, including CCTV cameras, successfully passed a security evaluation prior to installation. Careful consideration was also given to information handling and storage of CCTV images.

The SPCB can confirm that the Hikvision brand of CCTV camera has never been used at Holyrood. They were not used prior to 2019 and are not a component part of the current system.

Question reference: S6W-07546

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to monitor perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemical levels in drinking water, and whether it will provide details of the circumstances under which people are offered blood tests for these.

Question reference: S6W-07516

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06463 by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022, what steps it is taking to ensure that people are still able to access community defibrillators, that require an access code sent to a phone, during times when mobile and landline networks are down, and when there is no public telephone at easy access, as is often the case in rural areas.

We recognise that locked defibrillator cabinets, such as those that require an access code sent to a phone, can sometimes present logistical problems for access. We would therefore reiterate the advice in the answer to S6W-06463 that defibrillator guardians follow the advice of the Resuscitation Council of the UK (RCUK) and consider placing their defibrillators in an unlocked cabinet in order to make them as accessible as possible at all times.

The RCUK highlights that despite widespread use of unlocked cabinets, instances of theft and vandalism are relatively uncommon. Further information is available at: https://www.resus.org.uk/about-us/news-and-events/consensus-statement-aed-cabinets

It is important to note that resilience of the Communications Sector, which includes telecommunications and internet, is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Major outages are extremely rare, but most telecoms equipment is dependent on a power supply in order to function which can be disrupted by extreme weather. The ‘Ready Scotland’ website, at ready.scot , provides advice to the public on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies; including utilities loss and severe weather.

We will continue to press the UK Government and the regulator (Ofcom) for assurance that increasing resilience of the telecoms network in Scotland is a priority.

Question reference: S6W-07418

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will take to ensure the safeguarding of Ukranians living in Scotland who experienced domestic abuse in Ukraine and are concerned that their former partner or family member may be given leave to remain in the UK as a result of the Russian invasion.

Asylum and immigration are reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes decisions relating to leave to enter and remain in the UK. The Scottish Government has no control of these processes.

However, the Scottish Government is clear that all forms of gender based violence are completely unacceptable. We are committed to eradicating it within Scotland. We work to protect all women who flee abusive partners within Scotland and those who come here seeking refuge can expect the same level of protection that we provide to all women.

Police Scotland is committed to working with local authorities and partners to support the individuals and families who are fleeing the atrocities caused by the conflict in Ukraine. Where a report of domestic abuse is made, it will be taken seriously, victims will be listened to and it will be thoroughly investigated. This is a developing situation that requires a flexible approach, with examples of ongoing engagement including the:

Creation and circulation of a Scots Law booklet translated to the Ukrainian language to advise on how, why and when to call the Police;
Review of translation provisions to ensure we have Ukrainian language coverage;
Participation in key strategic groups to ensure delivery of a coordinated response;
Engagement with the Scottish Refugee Council to understand specific needs of displaced Ukrainians.

Within the first 100 days of this government we provided £5 million to rape crisis centres and domestic abuse services to help them cut waiting times, on top of £5.75 million we allocated in 2020-21 to help redesign frontline services. In addition, our Delivering Equally Safe (DES) Fund is providing £38 million over the next two years to organisations helping to prevent abuse and to aid recovery where it does happen. This includes funding to front line services across Scotland who provide a range of counselling, outreach and peer support to women and children experiencing domestic abuse.

Question reference: S6W-07761

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07058 by Neil Gray on 14 March 2022, whether it will provide further details of the steps that it has taken to ensure that Hong Kong residents coming to the UK through the British National (Overseas) visa scheme are encouraged to resettle in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07547

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals exceeding (a) 2.2, (b) 10 and (c) 100 nanograms per litre (ng/l) have been found in drinking water in the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-07561

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07058 by Neil Gray on 14 March 2022, whether it will provide further details of the steps that it has taken to ensure that Hong Kong residents coming to the UK through the British National (Overseas) visa scheme are encouraged to resettle in Scotland.

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