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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-02812

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken of the potential economic impact of introducing COVID-19 vaccine passports.

Certification provides a targeted and proportionate means to reduce risk while maximising our ability to keep open certain settings and events where transmission is a higher risk. If the choice is between sectors and settings being closed and a limited certification scheme being used to keep them open, we believe that it is right to make a choice in favour of a limited certification scheme. We are working closely and at pace with sectors to finalise a proportionate, effective and robust scheme for each setting before implementation. There are a number of operational and logistical issues which we are working through together. All software, apps and paper copies of certificates will be free to use. Businesses will be able to use an app free of charge to scan the codes used on all certificates and there will be options for venues to integrate the verifier functionality into their own systems, as the source code is open source. Relevant impact assessments, including a BRIA (Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment), will be published when we lay the regulations.

Question reference: S6W-02809

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns within the hospitality industry that the decision regarding which venues and settings will be subject to COVID-19 vaccine passports is perceived to be arbitrary and unequally applied.

COVID-19 case numbers remain high and the winter period ahead will pose significant challenges of increased transmission and related pressure on the National Health Service. Action is therefore needed across all sectors to ensure compliance with baseline COVID-19 mitigations, and it is vital to consider further targeted and proportionate measures that can reduce risk further. Vaccine certification is one such measure. We are working with the hospitality industry to ensure that only those premises regarded as within scope of the policy for domestic vaccine certification are included and definitions will be confirmed in due course.

Question reference: S6O-00163

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of Afghan refugees that local authorities have offered to settle.

Scotland has always played its part in welcoming refugees, and as people from Afghanistan start to settle in Scotland, we are seeing the same.

Between June and 12 September, around 180 people in 53 families arrived in Scotland across nine local authority areas under the relocation scheme for locally employed staff. A further 16 families of approximately 65 people are expected to arrive over the next two weeks and we expect more to follow.

To date, 23 local authorities have confirmed their commitment to receiving people and others are going through internal processes to confirm their position. The Scottish Government commends all those local authorities welcoming people and other bodies which play their part in supporting people to rebuild their lives.

Question reference: S6O-00189

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ban the use of snares to capture wild animals.

Question reference: S6F-00256

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to analysis by HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland suggesting that the Crown Office is masking the time taken to decide on criminal prosecutions.

Question reference: S6W-02623

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to schools regarding the identification of food on their menu that contains pork.

The Scottish Government published updated guidance on Healthy Eating in Schools on our website in February 2021. This guidance is available on our website through the following link: Healthy eating in schools: guidance 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Our guidance recognises that cultural traditions, religious beliefs and faiths can have a significant impact on the kind of food we eat, how it is prepared and even how or when it is eaten. Therefore the guidance advises that local authorities may wish to work with their school communities to include a statement within their school food policy that reflects the diversity of their particular school population.

Although the guidance makes no specific reference to what action should be taken to identify foods containing pork or other animal products, where a child or young person or their parents/carers request a special diet, whether that be for medical or cultural reasons, we would expect schools and local authorities to accommodate any such requests.

Question reference: S6W-02617

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02153 by Keith Brown on 26 August 2021, for what reason there is a gap of around three years between the acquisition of the site and the commencement of construction work on the new HMP Glasgow.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Whilst a site for HMP Glasgow has been acquired, SPS still need to finalise the future operational requirements for the establishment and undertake a procurement exercise to appoint a suitable contractor who will develop the design of the new prison. There are also obligations to secure further statutory approvals for the site which will include satisfying any planning conditions, before construction work can begin.

Question reference: S6F-00189

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to tackle public displays of anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholic prejudice.

Question reference: S6W-02153

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported longstanding calls for a modern prison to replace HM Prison Barlinnie, for what reason such a replacement will reportedly not be ready until 2026.

Prison infrastructure projects are large and complex. The timing of the HMP Glasgow, which will replace HMP Barlinnie, has been impacted by challenges in identifying and securing a suitable site as well as market conditions. An extensive search was required to identify a suitable site within the Glasgow City boundary and the acquisition of the site near Provanmill was completed in December 2020. Procurement activity is now underway and construction work is currently scheduled to commence in 2023.

Question reference: S6O-00080

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to Glasgow City Council to implement the recommendations in the report by the Connectivity Commission, including funding for the proposed metro system.