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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: S5W-29069

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support and guidance it is providing to ensure contact between children in care and their parents and siblings continues throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure relationships are sustained and nurtured.

Relationships between looked after children and their siblings, parents and wider families are essential and should continue to be promoted, wherever it is safe to do so in line with existing social work risk assessments.

Where face to face contact cannot be maintained, alternative options have been introduced, including telephone calls, video contact, or, if appropriate, the use of social media platforms to ensure that children and young people can maintain contact with the people who matter to them most.

As part of our £30m commitment to support digital inclusion for children and young people we are working closely with local authority partners across Scotland to ensure that vulnerable children have access to the devices, connectivity and support they need to maintain contact with learning, their peers and their wider support networks.

The Scottish Government is also working with the Family Rights Group to produce a digital advice leaflet for parents and relatives who have children in care. The leaflet will include advice for maintaining contact with their children, and direct readers to the latest national advice and support available. Wider advice is also available for parents and carers from Parent Club Scotland, Parentzone as well as through organisations such as the Fostering Network and CELCIS.

Question reference: S5W-29068

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support and guidance it is providing to ensure that contact between children and any parent they are not resident with is being maintained throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure relationships are sustained and nurtured.

The Scottish Government appreciates that it can be difficult during the current situation for a child to maintain contact with both parents if they do not live in the same household.

SSI 2020/103 (The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020) lists continuing existing arrangements for contact between parents and children as one of the reasonable excuses for people being outside their home.

The Scottish Government maintains the view that both parents should be fully involved in their child’s upbringing as long as it is in the best interests of the child. If face to face contact cannot be maintained then the Scottish Government would expect parents to encourage contact through technology such as Skype, face time, Whatsapp or by phone.

The Lord President has issued guidance on compliance with contact orders during the Coronavirus crisis. The Scottish Government has also published information on the parent club website on shared parenting at this time.

Question reference: S5W-28671

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 7 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of the economic recovery phase from the COVID-19 outbreak, it will consider an approach similar to that being planned by Bavaria regarding the temporary re-purposing of some public sector jobs, in consultation with the trade unions, and the creation of new job opportunities arising from contact tracing or other similar initiatives.

The Scottish Government and other public bodies, in consultation with the trade unions, have already temporarily repurposed many public sector jobs to address the issues arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Health Boards are currently looking at where they can use existing staff to undertake contact tracing, which will provide an indication of how many additional staff require to be recruited to undertake that role. As set out in our Test, Trace, Isolate, Support Strategy, published on 4 May 2020, we anticipate that up to an additional 2,000 staff will be required to support contact tracing across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-28673

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 5 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in Clackmannanshire are in receipt of the Small Business Bonus.

Question reference: S5W-28672

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, what flexibility will be given to local authorities regarding the submission of their annual accounts.

Question reference: S5O-04136

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with interested parties, such as Families Need Fathers, during stage 1 of the Children (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S5O-04110

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how its proposed Scottish visa could impact on the rural economy.

Question reference: S5O-03976

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal.

Question reference: S5O-03895

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting veterans, including those who are homeless, to find accommodation.

Question reference: S5O-03855

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that schemes to help improve the environment are given long-term certainty over their future.