- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address reported concerns about dog welfare in relation to ear cropping.
Answer
The Scottish Government considers the practice of cropping a dog's ears purely for cosmetic reasons in order to achieve a desired look a despicable and cruel practice. Should the Scottish Parliament agree that the measures set out in the Kept Animals Bill should apply to Scotland then that Bill, if delivered, will provide Scottish Ministers with regulation making powers to prohibit the importation of certain types or classes of animals, including dogs that have been mutilated for cosmetic reasons.
If and when these new powers are available to us, we will seek to bring forward new legislation to prohibit the importation into Scotland of dogs with cropped ears or other unacceptable mutilations. Meantime, we continue to work with the other GB administrations, APHA and animal welfare stakeholders to highlight the illegality and cruelty of such procedures.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2021
To ask the First Minister how many missing person investigations have been carried out in 2021.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2021
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet (a) COSLA and (b) teaching unions in relation to pay restoration for teachers.
Answer
Teachers’ pay negotiations are a matter for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), comprising membership from local authority employers, teacher unions and Scottish Government.
The last SNCT pay negotiation meeting was held on 17 November. The next meeting will be arranged at the appropriate time.
The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a fair pay offer for teachers and remains committed to working with our partners in the SNCT to bring these discussions to a successful conclusion.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has launched an Incident Management Team in response to the identification of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Scotland, and, if so, (a) when it first met, (b) who the chairperson is and (c) whether it involves international public health agencies, in addition to national ones.
Answer
An Incident Management Team was stood up on 27 November specifically for Omicron. The team has met daily since and continues to do so. The group is chaired by Public Health Scotland’s Incident Directors. The team meets with other UK nations and wider partners to share intelligence on a four nations basis. The team’s composition does not extend to international public health agencies but they do receive information on the latest international situation with Omicron.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide more information about the location of the single event linked to the identification of nine cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Scotland.
Answer
As the First Minister set out in her statement of 30 November. The nine cases of Omicron identified at that time continue to be supported by Health Protection Teams and, as enhanced contact tracing is still taking place, it would not be appropriate to disclose further information with regards to the event in question.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccine doses have not been used within their expiry date, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) type of vaccine.
Answer
This data is not currently available in the format requested. Public Health Scotland (PHS) collect and report vaccine wastage data for Scotland. The latest publication of vaccine wastage data is publicly available in the Public Health Scotland COVID-19 Statistical Report.
A further update will be included in the edition to be published on 15 December 2021.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce pop-up COVID-19 vaccination centres in supermarkets and shopping centres.
Answer
Local teams look at available space within their area when considering appropriate locations for COVID-19 vaccination centres to meet local requirements, that have the right reach and size of venue for their population. Pop-up clinics can be located in a variety of venues with local health boards considering, amongst other things, the flow of queues; the time of year; and the health and safety of staff and the public when scoping out new locations.
Since the vaccine rollout began, we have made the vaccine as accessible as possible and drop in clinics are available throughout Scotland’s mainland health boards. The most up to date list of which can be found at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccinedropinclinics.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the terms of reference for the public inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 will make provision for people who are seeking asylum and living under immigration control to be included within the scope of the inquiry.
Answer
The terms of reference for the Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry are designed in such a way that they do not constrain the chair in seeking views and evidence from any group or individual affected by the matters the inquiry is asked to investigate.
Scottish inquiries set up under the Inquiries Act 2005 cannot investigate reserved matters. However we recognise that learning lessons from the pandemic will involve analysis of devolved and reserved issues across a spectrum of topics. To that end, we are engaged with the UK Government to understand the approach to the UK-wide COVID-19 inquiry. We will use our position as a statutory consultee on the terms of reference for the UK inquiry to make clear the importance of examining the impact of policies during the pandemic on those seeking asylum and living under immigration control in Scotland.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is in place for local authorities regarding restrictions on school nativity plays.
Answer
Our reducing risks in schools guidance sets out the current COVID-19 mitigations in schools.
Current guidance reflects the best scientific and clinical advice, as well as the current state of the pandemic and the anticipated trajectory of infections. The restrictions, which limit non-essential visitors in schools and early learning and childcare settings, include attendance by parents for nativity plays and similar events. However, we know that many schools and settings plan to use other creative means to present these activities, such as streaming them online or holding them outdoors.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people in each local authority area have received a free (a) laptop, (b) tablet and (c) Chromebook, in light of its commitment to deliver devices with free internet connection to 700,000 P1 to S6 pupils within 100 days of the May 2021 election.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland have access to a digital device by the end of this parliament. Given the scale and complexity of this programme of work, the 100 days commitment was to commence planning not to deliver the devices.
In 2020/21, we provided £25 million of funding to councils across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion, resulting in over 72,000 pupils receiving a device to support their learning.
The following table shows the number of devices distributed via that funding, as reported by individual local authorities.
Local Authority | Devices Distributed |
Aberdeen City | 1777 |
Aberdeenshire | 5008 |
Angus | 2420 |
Argyll and Bute | 1317 |
City of Edinburgh | 2605 |
Clackmannanshire | 828 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 2371 |
Dundee City | 2050 |
East Ayrshire | 1837 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1015 |
East Lothian | 1806 |
East Renfrewshire | 623 |
Falkirk | 1840 |
Fife | 5465 |
Glasgow City | 7240 |
Highland | 4499 |
Inverclyde | 1107 |
Midlothian | 1235 |
Moray | 1315 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 357 |
North Ayrshire | 1734 |
North Lanarkshire | 6026 |
Orkney Islands | 275 |
Perth and Kinross | 1507 |
Renfrewshire | 1800 |
Scottish Borders | 316 |
Shetland Islands | 475 |
South Ayrshire | 1512 |
South Lanarkshire | 5544 |
Stirling | 1794 |
West Dunbartonshire | 2084 |
West Lothian | 2905 |
Total | 72687 |
