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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-34822

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Clare Haughey on 28 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work being carried out to support the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s health and social care workforce at this time.

The Scottish Government is very grateful to all health and care staff for their hard work, commitment and professionalism over the Covid-19 response.

As we outlined on 22 January, the Scottish Government is pleased to be able to make £500,000 available to Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to fund additional practical support this financial year, in recognition of the support that health and social care staff may need at this time.

Today I have written to the Health and Sport Committee outlining the range of measures that the Scottish Government is taking to support the health and social care workforce.

This includes an update on the funding being allocated to Health Boards to enable them to recruit psychologists and other staff dedicated to supporting the mental health of the health and social care workforce. This funding will create up to 16 FTE posts to support the workforce over the next two financial years.

This funding to Boards is one component of a wider programme of work through the Health and Social Care Mental Health Network to support the wellbeing and mental health of the workforce, in line with the commitments made through the Programme for Government.

This includes the development of our National Wellbeing Hub and digital resources, a National Wellbeing Helpline and a new Workforce Specialist Service.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners across health and social care to respond to the emerging needs of the health and social care workforce.

Question reference: S5O-04914

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the design of new and innovative projects that can help to tackle climate change.

Question reference: S5O-04885

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how important it considers grassroots-level sport is to the health and wellbeing of communities.

Question reference: S5O-04863

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it considers the UK Internal Market Bill will have in Scotland on food standards, environmental standards and public health policies such as minimum unit pricing.

Question reference: S5O-04828

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress in meeting its target of achieving net-zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045.

Question reference: S5O-04784

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to small and medium-sized businesses facing difficulty as a result of the pandemic.

Question reference: S5O-04732

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what further funding it will allocate to support the regeneration of high streets and encourage footfall, in light of the rise in online shopping due to COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-32902

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 October 2020
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Clare Haughey on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the next set of Action 15 recruitment figures will be published.

The most recent recruitment figures were published on the Scottish Government website ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/mental-health-workers-quarterly-performance-reports/ ) on 19 October. This sets out the number of Whole Time Equivalent posts recruited to as 1 July 2020.

In normal circumstances, we collect and report these figures on a quarterly basis. In recognition of the impact that the pandemic response has had on services, we have moved to a 6 monthly collection this year.

The next collection is due to take place during January 2021 and will be published shortly after that.

Question reference: S5T-02400

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that no fabrication work for the Seagreen offshore wind farm project has been awarded to BiFab.

Question reference: S5O-04595

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it is having with the UK Government regarding the EU exit trade negotiations.