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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-35557

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund will be directly invested into specialist CAMHS.

Question reference: S5W-35360

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the COVID-19 quarantine requirements are for minors who are travelling home to Scotland, and whether they can self-isolate at home with their families.

We understand how difficult this is for families with children, but to manage the risk of importing new variants and to give vaccine deployment the best chance of bringing us closer to normality these limits on international travel are necessary.

The clinical advice is clear that a comprehensive system of managed quarantine is essential to minimise the impact of new COVID-19 variants. This means children must enter managed isolation regardless of whether they are accompanied or unaccompanied. A parent or guardian will be required to enter managed isolation to ensure the child is not left alone.

We must restrict how many exemptions are in place otherwise the policy will not be effective.

Question reference: S5W-35460

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources have been made available (a) nationally and (b) by each NHS board to meet any additional demand for adolescent eating disorder services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have provided Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, with funding to ensure that their online and telephone services were able to support and help as many people as possible during this difficult time. In addition to these services, Beat launched a new moderated online group, The Sanctuary, which focuses on supporting sufferers with concerns relating to their eating disorder and Covid-19.

Furthermore, we provided funding to deliver additional capacity to NHS Lothian and Beat’s National Peer Support Services for both young people with an eating disorder, and their parents and carers.

In addition, we have invested £1.1 billion for NHS Boards and Integration Authorities to meet the costs of responding to the pandemic. Funding for additional mental health costs is included with the £1.1 billion allocation, and we expect that to be used to meet those pressures. Funding for frontline NHS boards will increase to £11.6 billion in 2021-22 and NHS boards will work with their partners to make local spending decisions on mental health that reflect local needs and national priorities, including taking into consideration the demand for adolescent eating disorder services.

Question reference: S5W-35459

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the demand for adolescent eating disorder services since March 2020.

We continue to monitor research, referral rates and engage regularly with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Lead Clinicians, Service Managers and Heads of Child Psychology Group to provide us with an understanding of how those with an eating disorder, and their families, are feeling during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the right help and support is available.

Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published in October 2020, has a specific action to ensure that the National Review of Eating Disorder Services takes into account the effects of the pandemic and lockdown on access to help and support. The Review will be publishing their final report and recommendations at the end of this month.

Question reference: S5W-35286

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33980 by Jeanne Freeman on 14 January 2021, whether it will confirm by what date all people entitled to the £500 bonus for health and social care staff will have received their payment.

The majority of NHS Scotland staff will receive the thank you payment in February. For those staff who had previously left and have since returned to NHS Scotland, the payment will be made in March. For ex-NHS Scotland staff, the payment will be made from March onwards with timing being dependent on those people returning the necessary forms.

Independent contractors will be paid a lump sum on March which will be their responsibility to disburse to staff. Payments to sessional staff may be later in the new Financial Year.

The Scottish Government are working with Social Care stakeholders to make the payment to staff from March onwards.

Question reference: S5W-35120

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance and support is in place for teachers of physical education who, due to COVID-19 restrictions, are having to run outdoor activities in poor or challenging weather conditions.

Guidelines on physical education and dance have been prepared by Education Scotland to assist with decision-making and the safe implementation of timetabled physical education. The guidelines are continually updated to reflect any changes in the scientific advice. Currently, two metre physical distancing must be maintained in secondary, minimal sharing of equipment, and being outside all contribute to further lowering of any risk of transmission.

On 9 February 2021, Education Scotland ran a webinar attended by 227 teachers to share online pedagogy and how to create a supportive learning environment. Through online learning, teachers have set physical activity challenges, both indoors and outdoors, so that learners can choose depending on their home setting. These practices were shared at the webinar and welcomed by the attendees. The webinar Teams space is now ‘live’ for teachers to continue to collaborate, share practice, and seek solutions in these challenging times. A recorded version of the webinar will be shared on DigiLearn in due course and similar events will be considered for the future.

Question reference: S5W-33913

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether funeral directors and crematorium staff will be part of the second phase of key workers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list has been updated to include funeral workers who are considered frontline funeral operatives and mortuary technicians/embalmers, as they are both at risk of exposure and likely to spend a considerable amount of time in care homes and hospital settings where they may also expose multiple patients. They are eligible for vaccination under category 2 of the JCVI list.

Question reference: S5O-05088

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase funding to local authorities.

Question reference: S5W-33566

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 24 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the outline business case for its proposed publicly-owned energy company.

The Scottish Government made a commitment to discuss the outcomes of the outline business case and agree next steps with local authorities before publishing the report. We have not been able to do this as we and local authorities have had to prioritise efforts to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are now reviewing the report in light of significant changes such as the declaration of a climate emergency and our ambitious net zero targets, and we are working with local authorities to determine our next steps. We will publish the outline business case once we have done this.

Question reference: S5W-35236

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the (a) laying of regulations for minimum energy efficiency standards and (b) compliance dates which will be set out in the regulations.

The draft Heat in Buildings Strategy (HBS) published on 5 February 2021, brings together the Scottish Government’s ambitions on energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation into a single framework, and provides an update to the 2018 Energy Efficient Scotland Routemap and the 2015 Heat Policy statement.

The draft HBS provides a framework to introduce regulations in a way that is proportionate and which considers the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s people, including continuing to target the eradication of poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty and ensuring our actions have no detrimental impact on fuel poverty, unless additional mitigating measures can also be put in place.

In summary the framework for energy efficiency standards, including proposed compliance dates is as follows:

	The Proposed Standard	Dates to lay regulations	Dates to meet the standards	Backstop dates for compliance
Private Rented Sector	To reach a level equivalent to EPC C for new tenancies	By 2025	2025-2027	2028 for all tenancies
Owner Occupier Sector	To reach a level equivalent to EPC C	By 2025	Triggers proposed between 2025-2034	2035
Social Housing	To reach EPC B	Standards reviewed in 2023	2024-2031	2032
Multi tenure/Mixed use	To reach a level equivalent to EPC C	By 2025	2025-2044	2045
Non-Domestic Buildings	More challenging energy improvement targets to reduce ‎ demand for heat and ensure zero emissions heat supply to apply ‎ at trigger points	By 2025	Triggers proposed between 2025-2044	2045

The HBS sets out our intention to consult on the detail of these proposed standards over the next few years, including on reforms to the assessment process and EPC metrics which will underpin the regulations.

Progress on initial standards within the PRS to reach a standard of EPC D have been paused as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and will be revisited as we emerge from the pandemic.