- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24799 by Joe FitzPatrick on 11 September 2019, what progress has been made in monitoring the uptake of young carer support under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016.
Answer
The first publication of the results from the Carers Census was released on 15 December 2020. This report presented data on carers being supported by local services during the first year following the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016. However, as this was the first time that this collection had been undertaken and many data providers were still in the midst of designing new systems to collect and record the required data, the figures presented in the publication are incomplete. Therefore, results should be interpreted with caution.
Young carers accounted for 12% of the individual carers identified within the Carers Census (2,680 out of 23,180). Previous estimates of the total carer population suggest that young carers account for less than 5% of all unpaid carers. This may indicate that carer support services are reaching a greater proportion of young carers compared to adult carers.
Based on records where information on support provided was available; 89% of young carers were provided with advice and information, 60% with counselling or emotional support and 45% with short breaks or respite. The data suggested that young carers were much more likely to be provided with counselling or emotional support or short breaks or respite than adult carers, which may reflect the different support needs for young carers.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the forthcoming Respiratory Care Action Plan will highlight the role of third sector initiatives, such as Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Hospital to Home support service, in supporting people with lung conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and working in partnership with the NHS.
Answer
The Respiratory Care Action Plan has been developed in partnership with key stakeholders from across health and social care and the third sector. The Plan will set out priorities and commitments which aim to improve the diagnosis, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions.
We recognise that initiatives that work in partnership with the NHS and the third sector, play an important role in providing support to people living with respiratory conditions. We will work with third sector representatives, including Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland to highlight the role of the third sector in implementing the priorities and commitments set out in the Plan.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on corroboration in relation to criminal offences, and whether it is still considering abolishing the requirement following Lord Bonomy’s Review of post-corroboration safeguards.
Answer
The Scottish Government proposed abolishing the requirement for corroboration in criminal cases during the passage of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. At that time however there was no parliamentary consensus. The Scottish Government therefore asked Lord Bonomy to carry out an independent review to consider what additional safeguards may be required if the corroboration rule was removed.
Since the Bonomy Review reported in April 2015 the Scottish Government has taken forward a wide range of criminal justice reforms, including many to improve how the justice system deals with allegations of sexual offending and to improve support for victims. Lord Bonomy’s recommendation to study jury reasoning and decision-making has also been taken forward and landmark Scottish jury research was published in October 2019. Findings from the research were explored at a series of engagement events held in Spring 2020 and the possibility of abolishing or reforming the corroboration rule was one of the themes discussed. There was opposition to reform amongst a number of stakeholders, including the legal profession. A summary of engagement events was published in December 2020.
I met with Opposition Justice Spokespeople in December 2020 to discuss corroboration and there was collective agreement that the issue requires further exploration. The Scottish Government is committed to building consensus on reforms in this area, and to engaging further with justice partners and opposition parties to develop a shared understanding of the evolving legal position and implications and potential unintended consequences of any legislative reform, while continuing discussions with those with direct experience of the justice system, including survivors.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on administering COVID-19 vaccinations to hospital inpatients to avoid them missing their scheduled vaccination in the community.
Answer
Based on the current guidelines issued by the Chief Medical Officer on 5 February ( CMO(2021)03 - COVID-19 vaccination programme: bringing forward priority cohorts (scot.nhs.uk) , and wherever practical health boards should seek to vaccinate patients in the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority group who are in hospital prior to their discharge.
The recommendation for patients admitted to hospital for non-COVID illness, is not to give a vaccine until the patient recovers from their acute illness. The Chief Medical Officer advises that patients should be only vaccinated once they have recovered, so any side effects are not confused with symptoms of the disease they were admitted to hospital for. This is a standard recommendation in the Green Book for all vaccines and applied across all UK countries.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland plans to increase the number of patrols around schools when pupils return to ensure that social distancing is maintained among adults congregating at drop-off and pick-up times and, if so, whether it will provide additional funding to support this.
Answer
Operational policing decisions are the responsibility of the Chief Constable but Police Scotland have confirmed that they have no plans to increase the number of patrols around schools.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the budget allocation was for the Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland prior to the Scottish Budget 2021-22 being published.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34861 on 25 February 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals have been made to the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion from each NHS board area in each year since 2007.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information at specific site level.
This information is held locally by NHS Lothian.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have requested patient transport services in the NHS Lothian area in each year since 2007.
Answer
The following table lists the number of requests made for the Patient Transport Service (provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service) in the NHS Lothian area from 2011. The Scottish Ambulance Service does not have this data for before 2011.
Calendar Year | Number of people requesting patient transport | Number of journeys requested |
2011 | 17117 | 126445 |
2012 | 16214 | 124312 |
2013 | 16504 | 147666 |
2014 | 16117 | 137784 |
2015 | 15266 | 113880 |
2016 | 14014 | 96929 |
2017 | 14527 | 93780 |
2018 | 15073 | 87937 |
2019 | 15687 | 87029 |
2020 | 15403 | 67683 |
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 February 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether students who are British citizens and who experienced care in a non-UK country will be eligible for its Care Experienced Bursary.
Answer
The Care Experienced Bursary (CEB) is available to eligible full-time further education students and higher education students studying at undergraduate level.
To be eligible to claim the CEB, students must have been looked after by a Local Authority in the UK, before the age of 18.
At this time, students who have experienced care outside of the UK do not meet the eligibility to access this particular bursary.
There are no current plans to change the eligibility criteria for the CEB, however, as with all student support policies I will keep this under close review.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the finance secretary will include funding for a replacement Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in its Budget for 2021-22.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2021
