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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-12341

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans for Evusheld to be prescribed by the NHS for people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Question reference: S6W-12339

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support it is giving to (a) local authorities and (b) third sector organisations in order to ensure that "The Promise" to care experienced children and young people is kept.

The Scottish Government remains committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030, working in partnership with all partners including Local Authorities, the third sector and importantly the care community.

Through our commitment to lead from the front, the Scottish Government is working closely with Local Authorities and the third sector to create the conditions for change at a national and local level.

To support Whole Family Wellbeing we have committed to provide £32m per annum directly to local areas to build local service capacity and transform delivery of holistic family support services. Children’s Services Planning Partnerships have received their allocation for 2022-23, and are collectively responsible for deciding how to deploy this in a way which best drives change in their areas.

In addition, we are also providing up to £6m to support the work of CSPPs, including collaborative partnerships East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Glasgow City to accelerate plans and provide local learning that can be shared nationally. As well as provision of our Learning into Action Network.

The Scottish Government is committed to funding The Promise Partnership Fund of £4m per annum to support local services and organisations to Keep The Promise. Local Authorities and third sector partners are eligible to bid for this fund through the Corra Foundation.

The Scottish Government continues to support a wide range of projects and initiatives across communities in Scotland that improve outcomes for children, young people, adults and families who are care experienced and those on the edges of care.

Question reference: S6W-11952

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to bring forward legislation to continue the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme beyond 30 June 2023.

Question reference: S6W-11797

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ensure that optical coherence tomography machines are available in all medical practices.

Question reference: S6O-01518

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place for people with Long COVID.

Question reference: S6W-11421

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 2 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for children and young people who are adopted, and their families, in the years following adoption.

The Promise made it clear that adoption has an important role in providing a permanent, loving nurturing home, and that an adoption placement should not be the conclusion of the help available to adoptive families.

The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 gives adoptive families the right to request support from their local authority that best meets the needs of their family at a time that is right for them. A local authority who is approached is required to carry out an assessment and provide assistance to address any needs identified.

The Scottish Government provided £98,000 in 2022-23 for Adoption UK Scotland’s Therapeutic Education Support Services in Adoption (TESSA) programme which provides support to adoptive families.

We have also committed to providing £500 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding, over the course of this Parliament, to help transform services that support families, include those who have adopted children and young people, to ensure that they can access the support they need, where and when they need it.

Question reference: S6W-11293

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 31 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the private nursery sector to (a) deliver 1140 hours and (b) pay staff a rate comparable to those working in local authority early years settings.

Private, third sector and childminding providers are a valued part of the successful delivery of our transformational expansion of funded early learning and childcare.

The Scottish Government recognises that the payment of sustainable rates by local authorities to services in the private, third and childminding sectors is vital to supporting financial sustainability and to enabling the delivery of high quality ELC. Our funding agreement with CoSLA enables local authorities to pay sustainable rates to ELC providers. We have worked with local government and providers to strengthen rate-setting in 2022-23, and we recently committed to a thorough review of the overall process ahead of 2023-24.

The Scottish Government has made more than £35 million of dedicated support available to day care of children services since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have also committed to continuing the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme beyond the current end date of 30 June 2023.

With regard to pay, we have seen real progress since the ELC expansion began, with our 2021 Health Check indicating that 88% of private providers intended to pay the Real Living Wage to all their staff from August 2021, compared to a position in 2016 when around 80% practitioners were paid less than the Real Living Wage at the time. We want the ELC sector to be a Fair Work sector and we are working with partners to encourage further improvements in terms and conditions, including through the development of a new Childcare Workforce Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-11292

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on what support is in place for people with long COVID and whether there are specific provisions for young people affected by the condition.

All NHS Scotland Boards are providing support for people with long COVID, delivered across the full range of services provided by our NHS. This includes assessment from local primary care teams, support from community based rehabilitation services and referrals for secondary care investigation where needed.

For children and young people with symptoms consistent with long COVID, assessment and initial investigation is being provided by local primary care teams, who can give advice and guidance about the management of symptoms and any potential treatment options for these in the first instance.

Primary care clinicians can refer to occupational therapy and/or physiotherapy for further support where appropriate. In cases where referral to secondary care is required, children and young people may be referred to general paediatric services for investigation and management. Where required, local authorities have duties to provide additional support for learning tailored to the individual needs of the child or young person.

We have allocated an initial £3 million for the financial year 2022-23 to support NHS boards and key partners to improve the care available for people, including children and young people, with long COVID across Scotland. This includes funding board recruitment of additional paediatric occupational therapist support for children, young people and their families.

Question reference: S6O-01489

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to businesses in the hospitality sector, in light of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6W-11175

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its latest Scottish Health Survey annual report.