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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-33018

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided to care home workers through Test and Protect in relation to returning to work after testing positive for COVID-19, and whether this is the same as care home guidance.

The National Clinical and Practice Guidance for Adult Care Homes states that “staff should not work while even mildly symptomatic and should follow guidance on self-isolation”.

Additionally, Health Protection Scotland guidance states that staff can return to work:

• after at least 10 days from symptom onset, provided clinical improvement has occurred and they have been apyrexial, without the use of antipyretics for 48 hours

• if the only persistent symptoms after 10 days is a cough and/or a loss of or a change in sense of smell (anosmia) or taste.

Asymptomatic staff who have been excluded from work on the basis of a positive PCR test during weekly screening, and remain asymptomatic after 10 days can return to work. PCR re-testing or clearance testing is not required.

Question reference: S5W-32747

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 18 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked each NHS board to provide details of their 2020-21 flu vaccinations plans and, if (a) so, whether it will publish the responses received and (b) not, whether it will consider doing so.

The Scottish Government has received Seasonal Flu Vaccination delivery plans from all Health Boards. Although we do not have plans to publish the responses that have been received, Ministers have written to all MSPs and MPs providing a summary of how each board are delivering their flu vaccination programme. All boards have received a high number of their allocated vaccinations this year and we are working closely with boards to confirm they are on track to meet their anticipated uptake on flu vaccinations.

Question reference: S5W-32757

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 13 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have contracted COVID-19 in each month since March 2020, and how many of those have subsequently died.

The number of cases of Covid-19 per month as reported by PHS on the PHS open data platform are in the following table:

Number of positive cases with at least one COVID-19 test result reported, by specimen date, 2020.
March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
2,639	10,083	4,956	593	402	2,092	9,871	35,224

Source: Public Health Scotland open data platform: https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/covid-19-in-scotland

There are two measures being used to report Covid-19 deaths.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) report on the deaths within 28 days of first positive test. The selection of 28 days was following discussion with the other Devolved Administrations and considers a confirmed COVID-19 death to be in individuals who died within 28 of being laboratory confirmed with COVID-19 (from their first laboratory positive). The latest number of deaths reported under this measure (at 8 th November) is 3,039 and is available on the Scottish Government website here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/

National Records of Scotland (NRS) also report weekly (and produce a more detailed monthly report) using their wider definition which includes any death where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate. This NRS measure will identify deaths where, in the opinion of the medical examiner certifying the death, Covid-19 was a suspected or contributory factor in the death. The latest number of deaths reported under this measure (relating to the period up to 1 st November) is 4,649 and is available on the Scottish Government website link above.

The next detailed COVID-19 deaths in Scotland monthly publication from NRS will be released on Wednesday 11 th November and will be available here: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats

Question reference: S5W-32335

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 12 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what ferry repair and maintenance contracts have been awarded by CalMac for the forthcoming winter period.

As a longer-term yard strategy, CalMac is conducting a procurement exercise for vessel maintenance and upgrades. This will consist of two multi-year contracts covering the 33 vessels within the CalMac fleet. These contracts aim to deliver cost savings and improve the resilience of the fleet.

The outcome of the recent procurement exercise identified Cammell Laird as the preferred bidder, securing a contract covering 5 of the major vessels in the CalMac fleet.

There is a further procurement exercise currently ongoing for the other vessels in the CalMac fleet which Scottish yards have an opportunity to bid for.

Question reference: S5W-32352

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, whether it will be offered to everyone in Scotland and, if not, what percentage of the population will be offered it, and what criteria will be used to determine who is offered it.

Access to a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccination is dependent on success in at least one of over 200 vaccine trials underway worldwide. When a vaccine might become available in Scotland, and how it might be prioritised and delivered, will depend in part on which vaccine candidates are successful.

While there is no guarantee of success in any of the trials, we are planning on the basis of vaccines becoming available. In Scotland we already routinely deliver nearly 2 million doses of vaccine each year and we have a comprehensive vaccine delivery infrastructure in place. We are working on a plan to upscale this to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine, in the event that a safe and effective vaccine does become available, and we have established the Flu Vaccines and COVID-19 Vaccinations Programme Board to oversee this work.

Eligibility and prioritisation decisions will be based on clinical evidence and advice. We will be guided by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) which provides independent advice on immunisation, including on the efficacy and safety of vaccines and on the priority groups to be vaccinated.

On 23rd October, the First Minister published " COVID-19: Our strategic approach" , which provides an update on the work which has been done and is ongoing to prepare for a COVID-19 vaccination programme, should a safe and effective vaccine become available.

Question reference: S5W-32702

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 cases associated with (a) primary and (b) secondary schools there have been in each week since 11 August 2020.

Weekly surveillance data on cases among children of school age are published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) with the weekly statistical report: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/ . This includes data by week for primary and secondary age group children.

Not all of these children will be school pupils (particularly at the lower and upper age extremes), and not all will have been present in school during their illness or infectious period.

A more detailed report of testing data from Term 1 of the 2020/21 academic year, including the distribution of cases by school type and area, will be published by PHS in late-November 2020.

Question reference: S5O-04726

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that public services meet the needs of older people and that their rights are respected.

Question reference: S5W-32181

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 12 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a target for the level of flu vaccine uptake among over 65s, and what it is doing to promote uptake of the flu vaccine among this group.

The Scottish Government aims to vaccinate more people within groups with existing eligibility than ever before. Scotland has a reputation for high seasonal flu vaccine uptake and our working assumptions for the 65 years and over is 75% for this year’s flu season, which is in line with the World Health Organisation guidance. Those over the age of 65 are at high clinical risk from seasonal flu, therefore Scottish Government will seek to utilise vaccine supply in a way which allows as many of this group as possible to be vaccinated.

The Scottish Government have developed our public health marketing campaign for this flu season, which is firmly based on research and insight on effective messaging in light of Covid-19. This extensive campaign will also involve close partnership work with public, private and third sector organisations to amplify our message.

Question reference: S5W-31659

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement the accessible home testing kit trial recommendations suggested by the Department for Health and Social Care, including introducing steps that will make these more accessible for blind and partially-sighted people, such as assisted home testing and pre-registered kits.

Home testing kits are provided by the UK Government and we continue to work with them to make accessibility improvements. DHSC has been working in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to better understand the end-to-end experiences of blind and visually impaired users of home testing services and identify potential accessibility improvements. DHSC has used recommendations arising from this research to inform service improvements and these will be trialled shortly.

Question reference: S5W-31660

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to include (a) blind and partially-sighted and (b) other disabled people in testing the accessibility of the proximity tracing that app that it plans to launch.

An assessment and accessibility testing was completed for the Protect Scotland app. This assessment informed the development of the app and considered the needs of people with a visual impairment and or a disability. These needs will be considered in an ongoing basis and if individuals wish to share their experience they can do so by contacting: testandprotect@nhs.scot

A new Equalities & Digital Inclusion group has been established to work in partnership with organisations including the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), deafscotland and Scottish Commission for Learning Disability (SCLD) to ensure that the app can provide the best possible user experience.