Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-06600

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccines it has shared with its partner international development countries, including Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia.

COVID-19 vaccines are procured on a four nations basis via the UK Vaccines Taskforce. As Scotland is not a member of the COVAX scheme, we are not in a position to share vaccines with our international development partner countries. We will continue to engage with the UK government on this matter.

On 8 December, the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister to urge the UK government to end its opposition at the World Trade Organisation and to join over 100 countries who are now supportive of a temporary Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights waiver.

We have also provided international development support to our partner countries to support their COVID-19 responses, including vaccine preparedness. This includes the following examples of relevant recent funding.

In December 2020, we provided £2 million to UNICEF to help vaccine distribution, roll-out and online healthcare education in our partner countries of Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia.

In September 2021, we provided £250,000 from our International Development Fund to leverage the provision to our partner countries of £11.2 million worth of PPE - our single biggest ever donation - to aid COVID-19 responses as part of our strategic response.

In February 2022, we provided £1.5 million to UNICEF to support equal access to COVID-19 vaccines in our partner countries. The funds will support vaccination programmes in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia, their provision of safe oxygen supplies, and help the agency deliver equipment, resources and technical support in response to the pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-06279

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maggie Chapman (On behalf of the SPCB) on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (a) how many and (b) what proportion of written questions were processed within (i) 0 to 1 (ii) 2 to 3 (iii) 4 to 5 and (iv) 6 or more days after being lodged, in each week since May 2021.

Tables A and B set out information about the number and percentage of written questions up to the week commencing 7 February 2022 that have been processed within the timeframe set out in the question.

In providing this information, “processed” has been taken to mean the number of calendar days between a question being submitted by a Member and the question either being published or not lodged. As the information is based on calendar days, it does not take into account factors such as days on which the office of the clerk is closed, i.e. a question which was submitted on a Friday and published on a Monday will be included in the tables as having taken 2 to 3 calendar days rather than reflecting the processing having taken 0 to 1 working days. The data is not held in a format that would enable this further disaggregation to be provided.

There are also a number of elements that may be involved in processing questions. Factors such as seeking clarification of the purpose of a question, editing a question so that it meets the requirements of Standing Orders and Guidance on Parliamentary Questions, or seeking input on issues such as sub judice or compliance with data protection obligations may impact on the time that it takes for questions to be processed. These factors can also impact on the processing time where batches of interrelated questions are submitted among which only one or two may raise more complex considerations. The necessary prioritisation of other items, such as Urgent Questions or motions and amendments for debate, may also impact on the time between a question being submitted and published or not lodged. As noted in the response to S6W-06278, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Once training and familiarisation have been completed, it is anticipated that there will be a positive impact on the time taken to process questions.

Table A

w/c	Total	0-1 day	2-3 days	4-5 days	6+ days
10-May	54	49	5
17-May	136	115	21
24-May	137	103		31	3
31-May	183	156	20	7
07-Jun	163	117	39	6	1
14-Jun	259	213	31	2	13
21-Jun	170	151	13	2	4
28-Jun	112	41	55	6	10
05-Jul	179	126	16	29	8
12-Jul	222	122	48	50	2
19-Jul	245	188	38	7	12
26-Jul	182	159	8	5	10
02-Aug	94	41	16	26	11
09-Aug	141	60	47	28	6
16-Aug	186	55	86	33	12
23-Aug	183	41	57	23	62
30-Aug	116	11	18	54	33
06-Sep	247	45	78	91	33
13-Sep	179	5	34	96	44
20-Sep	185	94	38	43	10
27-Sep	119	14	37	47	21
04-Oct	197	111	29	50	7
11-Oct	137	73	61	1	2
18-Oct	132	80	29	9	14
25-Oct	162	38	48	28	48
01-Nov	159	5	77	44	33
08-Nov	242	12	70	101	59
15-Nov	112	26	71	7	8
22-Nov	161	57	39	54	11
29-Nov	196	11	79	52	54
06-Dec	190	7	95	42	46
13-Dec	216	31	32	84	69
20-Dec	162	6	76	12	68
27-Dec	4				4
03-Jan	97	40	51		6
10-Jan	168	58	46	14	50
17-Jan	180	46	45	29	60
24-Jan	238	4	66	18	150
31-Jan	187	7	54	90	36
07-Feb	228	13	154	56	5

Table B

w/c	Total	0-1 day	2-3 days	4-5 days	6+ days
10-May	54	90.74	9.26	0.00	0.00
17-May	136	84.56	15.44	0.00	0.00
24-May	137	75.18	0.00	22.63	2.19
31-May	183	85.25	10.93	3.83	0.00
07-Jun	163	71.78	23.93	3.68	0.61
14-Jun	259	82.24	11.97	0.77	5.02
21-Jun	170	88.82	7.65	1.18	2.35
28-Jun	112	36.61	49.11	5.36	8.93
05-Jul	179	70.39	8.94	16.20	4.47
12-Jul	222	54.95	21.62	22.52	0.90
19-Jul	245	76.73	15.51	2.86	4.90
26-Jul	182	87.36	4.40	2.75	5.49
02-Aug	94	43.62	17.02	27.66	11.70
09-Aug	141	42.55	33.33	19.86	4.26
16-Aug	186	29.57	46.24	17.74	6.45
23-Aug	183	22.40	31.15	12.57	33.88
30-Aug	116	9.48	15.52	46.55	28.45
06-Sep	247	18.22	31.58	36.84	13.36
13-Sep	179	2.79	18.99	53.63	24.58
20-Sep	185	50.81	20.54	23.24	5.41
27-Sep	119	11.76	31.09	39.50	17.65
04-Oct	197	56.35	14.72	25.38	3.55
11-Oct	137	53.28	44.53	0.73	1.46
18-Oct	132	60.61	21.97	6.82	10.61
25-Oct	162	23.46	29.63	17.28	29.63
01-Nov	159	3.14	48.43	27.67	20.75
08-Nov	242	4.96	28.93	41.74	24.38
15-Nov	112	23.21	63.39	6.25	7.14
22-Nov	161	35.40	24.22	33.54	6.83
29-Nov	196	5.61	40.31	26.53	27.55
06-Dec	190	3.68	50.00	22.11	24.21
13-Dec	216	14.35	14.81	38.89	31.94
20-Dec	162	3.70	46.91	7.41	41.98
27-Dec	4	0.00	0.00	0.00	100.00
03-Jan	97	41.24	52.58	0.00	6.19
10-Jan	168	34.52	27.38	8.33	29.76
17-Jan	180	25.56	25.00	16.11	33.33
24-Jan	238	1.68	27.73	7.56	63.03
31-Jan	187	3.74	28.88	48.13	19.25
07-Feb	228	5.70	67.54	24.56	2.19

Question reference: S6W-06278

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maggie Chapman (On behalf of the SPCB) on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the reasons are for the delays in processing written questions.

Session 6 has seen a change in the nature of the items that the Chamber Desk processes. In particular, the number of Urgent Questions being lodged has increased significantly. This had had an impact on the previous pattern of work undertaken by the Chamber Desk. When Urgent Questions are submitted, they are given priority due to the timeframe for such questions to be taken if selected and only selected questions are published. This, combined with the necessary prioritisation of oral questions and motions and amendments for debate, has resulted in a longer turnaround time for written questions than Members will previously have been used to.

To respond to these changes in demand and pattern of work, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Due to the specialist nature of the services provided by the Chamber Desk, the impact of these additional resources will not be immediately realised as staff require to undertake training and familiarisation with the role. However, the position is being actively assessed on an ongoing basis to ensure that questions and motions are processed in the timeliest manner possible. We are grateful for Members’ forbearance while the necessary training is undertaken.

Question reference: S6O-00843

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken with its partners, and funding it has identified, to accommodate refugees from Ukraine.

Question reference: S6W-06465

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the current National Infection Prevention and Control Manual guidance on the PPE that should be worn, when providing direct care for patients on the respiratory pathway, should be interpreted to include COVID-19 as a known or suspected pathogen transmitted by the airborne route that requires an FFP3 respirator to be worn when treating a patient with the virus.

PPE guidance is developed by infection prevention and control (IPC) experts on a four-nation basis and they maintain that current evidence does not support a change to the current IPC guidance on respiratory protective equipment (RPE). WHO has not changed its position on the route of transmission of COVID-19. It is still transmitted predominantly via droplets and contact with contaminated hands or environment.

Question reference: S6W-06464

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will update the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual to advise that respiratory protective equipment should be required by healthcare workers treating patients with COVID-19 based on a risk assessment, rather than only being reserved for those performing aerosol generating procedures, in light of the reported findings of a core study on COVID-19 that there was proof beyond reasonable doubt that COVID-19 was an airborne pathogen.

Question reference: S6W-06897

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-06406

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which Minister is responsible for chairing and delivering the work programme of the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group.

Question reference: S6W-06405

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions since May 2021 the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group has (a) met and (b) cancelled or rearranged a meeting, and of these, for what reason was the meeting cancelled, and whether the implementation of the next phase of the Ending Homelessness Together action plan is on schedule.

Since May 2021, the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG) has met on one occasion, 5 November 2021. Meetings take place once every quarter, subject to parliamentary and local government business, with the next meeting scheduled for March.

A meeting scheduled for June 2021 was cancelled following the Scottish Parliament election to allow time to determine portfolio responsibilities. The meeting scheduled for September 2021 was postponed until November 2021 to accommodate parliamentary business and ensure the co-chair from COSLA was available. The next meeting, which was scheduled to take place in February 2022, has been postponed until March 2022 to accommodate parliamentary business and ensure the co-chair from COSLA was available.

The delivery of the Ending Homelessness Together action plan is on track as demonstrated in our annual progress report, which was laid in Parliament in October 2021. The plan has been welcomed by stakeholders, including HPSG members, who are responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of the plan.

Question reference: S6W-06378

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-00316 by Shona Robison on 3 November 2021, what the (a) name and (b) purpose is of the short life working group; where its minutes are published; how many times it has met, and what the findings of the group are.

The name of the short-life group was the Materials Shortages Working Group.

The purpose of the group was to examine where the immediate shortages were most acute and to identify opportunities to remove barriers and build capacity within Scotland. The minutes for this group were not published.

The group was set up in June 2021 and met a total of 12 times with the final meeting taking place on Tuesday 28 September 2021.

A letter summarising the key findings from the Materials Shortage Working Group’s work was sent to the Economy and Fair Work committee on 25 January 2022 and has been published on the Scottish Parliament website. Details of this letter can be found in the following link.

Construction Materials Shortages Working Group | Scottish Parliament Website

Seòmar agus comataidhean