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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.

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Question reference: S5W-35523

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether people living with HIV will be able to access the COVID-19 vaccine through their HIV clinic, as is the case in England and Wales.

On 22 February, I announced that people with underlying health conditions and unpaid carers are beginning to receive coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations.

The first to be invited will be people who have conditions which are included on both the JCVI priority list group 6 and the flu vaccine list. Although there is some overlap, the two lists are not exactly the same.

JCVI priority group 6 includes people aged 16 to 64 with the following conditions:

a blood cancer (such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma)
diabetes
dementia
a heart problem
a chest complaint or breathing difficulties, including bronchitis, emphysema or severe asthma
a kidney disease
a liver disease
lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as HIV infection, steroid medication, chemotherapy or radiotherapy)
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or psoriasis (who may require long term immunosuppressive treatments)
who have had an organ transplant
have had a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
a neurological or muscle wasting condition
a severe or profound learning disability
a problem with the spleen, such as sickle cell disease, or those who have had their spleen removed
have a BMI of above 40
are severely mentally ill

NHS Scotland Boards will use the delivery model which is most suitable for their local circumstances, whilst maintaining a COVID-19 safe environment, such as maintaining good infection prevention & control practices and appropriate physical distancing measures, and maximising efficiency

Question reference: S5F-04923

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-04881

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-35524

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is being provided to English language schools that have had to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We recognise the financial challenges that English Language Schools are experiencing as a result of restrictions introduced to control the spread of COVID-19. The limited funding made available to the Scottish Government by the UK Government prevents us from establishing a specific fund for every sector experiencing disruption as a result of COVID-19. We have, however, allocated‎ £120 million in discretionary business support funding to Local Authorities enabling them to direct funding towards those sectors unable to access other sources of financial support. I would encourage English language schools to seek support through this route.

Question reference: S5W-35574

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what data it is collecting regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the mental health of BAME people.

Data on the mental health of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in Scotland is collected in the Scottish COVID-19 Mental Health Tracker Study. This surveys a representative sample of adults in Scotland about a range of mental health and wellbeing outcomes, at five points over a twelve month period. The first report found that respondents who identified as BAME reported worse mental health indicators than white respondents on a number of measures. However, the sample of BAME respondents is quite small, so the findings need to be treated with caution.

The Scottish Government also commissioned a second 'Lockdown Lowdown' survey of young people in Scotland, aged 11 to 26, to find out how the pandemic was impacting on them. The report analysed findings from BAME respondents, but found limited differences in mental health by ethnicity.

The Scottish Government's Coronavirus Mental Health Research Advisory Group continues to monitor emerging data and evidence on the mental health impacts of the pandemic on different groups

Question reference: S5W-35530

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that the mental health of BAME men has been the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on many people’s mental health. However, we recognise that the pandemic has had a more adverse impact on the mental health of some groups of the population, including BAME communities.

That is why our Transition and Recovery Plan commits to considering and addressing the impacts on the mental health of minority ethnic groups. Actions include establishing an Equality Stakeholder Forum to provide advice on the implementation of the Transition and Recovery Plan and wider equalities work within mental health policy.

The first meeting of the Equality and Human Rights Forum was held on 26 February and we are now engaging with organisations to better understand and respond to the minority ethnic-related mental health inequalities that have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-35521

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it engages with people who have lived experienced of long-term COVID-19 symptoms when devising support for people with long-COVID.

We are working with people living with Long COVID, third sector organisations, NHS Boards and the wider clinical community in Scotland to deepen our understanding of the symptoms and impact of Long COVID to help us continue to tailor the diagnosis and the support, which people need.

In addition, we are providing funding to the University of Stirling to undertake the Share-to-improve: Long Covid experience (COv-VOICES) Study, which aims to amplify the voices of people with lived experience to improve understanding, support, treatment and education.

Question reference: S5O-05092

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on working towards making Scotland the world's first rewilding nation.

Question reference: S5T-02690

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the detection of the so-called Brazilian variant of COVID-19 in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-35226

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to student social workers who are unable to obtain placements and whose qualification might be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students studying a course of Higher Education (HE) who require to repeat a full year of study are able to access an additional year of funding known as a ‘+1’. Care Experienced students studying in HE are able to access two additional years of funding. HE students who have exhausted their funding options and require to repeat a year of studies due to Covid-19 will have their requests considered under compassionate grounds by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). This includes undergraduate social work students.

We are actively considering the issue of part-year repeat or extended study as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic for all Further and Higher education students and the associated financial support to students.

The Scottish Government is also working with the Social Work Education Partnership to ensure that there are sufficient social work student placements for our future workforce. The Social Work Education Partnership comprises HEIs’, employers, COSLA and stakeholder organisations and works to ensure the quality and consistency of practice learning. It has been working closely with all HEIs to find solutions to the placement issues caused by Covid-19 and a number of measures are already in place including the prioritisation of the provision of final placements, the piloting of a simulated placement module for first placements and the roll out of national Link Worker training.

We have also provided £430k at a national level for a resumption of placement fee to HEIs which will help employers with the costs that may be incurred in providing a placements which now involves increased homeworking (to assist with IT costs or additional training for practice educators).