- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the 11,000 hectares that have reportedly been planted with trees in the last year.
Answer
Scottish Forestry has published a breakdown, by local authority area, of new woodland creation planted in the last full financial year.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how the £40,000 that it committed to delivering a targeted marketing campaign relating to long COVID, in conjunction with community pharmacies, has been allocated.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to providing clear information and support for people with long COVID. To help raise awareness of symptoms and signpost people to appropriate support, a marketing campaign ran in October and November 2021. The campaign budget was invested in: print and production of campaign posters for display in community pharmacies and GP surgeries across Scotland, language translations, social media posts and a campaign toolkit sent to 250 direct partner contacts with additional distribution of approximately 3,000 contacts.
The campaign directed people to the long COVID microsite hosted by NHS Inform, accessible at www.nhsinform.scot/long-covid . The microsite had nearly 86,000 users during the campaign period.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when NHS dental care will resume operating at the same capacity as prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04082 on 9 November 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it has raised awareness of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s long COVID support service since its creation in February 2021.
Answer
We have invested more than £460,000 to enable Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland to deliver its long COVID Support Service. We have raised awareness of the service through:
- The Implementation Support Note which we have developed for clinicians supporting people with long-term effects of COVID-19 and has been disseminated to all NHS Boards. This resource includes information on the support available through Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s long COVID Support Service and how it can be accessed.
- The Decision Support Toolkit which was developed with the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre to incorporate key information from the Implementation Support Note, including details of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s long COVID Support Service, https://www.signdecisionsupport.uk/ . Available via both a web-based platform and a mobile app, the toolkit presents clinicians with current evidence and helpful recommendations on assessment, investigations and referral, planning care, management and follow up for people experiencing long-term effects of COVID-19.
- The NHS Inform website which provides information, guidance and signposting for patients experiencing long-term effects of COVID-19.
- Our marketing campaign in October and November 2021 which included a marketing toolkit sent to more than 3,000 contacts across the NHS and third sector. This marketing toolkit contained information on Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s long COVID Support Service.
We are committed to ensuring that this service can be easily accessed by those who wish to do so, and we will continue to work with Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland to support this as appropriate.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines that relate to cerebral palsy in adults to be released.
Answer
SIGN guidelines are produced by Health Improvement Scotland’s (HIS) evidence directory. The Scottish Government does not commission the production of SIGN guidelines and are not aware of plans from HIS to publish a SIGN guideline for adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP).
The member may find it helpful to view the documents contained on this evidence page of HIS’s website, which provides information and guidance on how requests are assessed, and how and evidence-based decisions are made.
The Clinical Priorities Team met with representatives from the third sector organisation, Cerebral Palsy Scotland on 8 December 2021 to discuss the ongoing development of care services for people with CP.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with (a) Mears and (b) local authorities to expedite the backlog of repairs in asylum seeker accommodation.
Answer
Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. Asylum accommodation is delivered under Home Office contracts, with Mears Group holding the contract for Scotland. Responsibility under that contract includes meeting standards for undertaking any necessary repairs in accommodation.
The Scottish Government regularly engages with Mears Group, COSLA and Glasgow City Council across a range of asylum matters.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will carry out an assessment of the scale of tree damage caused by Storm Arwen.
Answer
Provisional results of the storm damage to forests caused by Storm Arwen were published on the 14 December 2021. Initial estimates are that around 4,000 hectares of woodland has been affected.
An online mapping tool has been developed to support forest owners assess the impacts and can be viewed here; Storm Arwen Windblow Mapping (arcgis.com) . The map will be updated by Forest Research on an on-going basis as more data becomes available. A version 2 update was made available on 17 December.
The satellite-based assessment will allow woodland owners, Forestry & Land Scotland and forestry agents managing large areas of forestry across the country to target their own local assessment using drones and site visits. The national data will also inform the strategic response of the forestry and timber sector facilitated by Scottish Forestry.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on NHS dental care services.
Answer
Many dental procedures involve the use of an aerosol which, for the safety of both patients and staff, needs to be done under strict Infection Prevention and Control guidelines. This means that NHS dental teams are unable to see the same numbers of patients as before the start of the pandemic.
From February 2022, we will bring in new and increased fees for dentists for a range of treatments, supporting them in their efforts to clear the backlog which has built up during the pandemic. We have already provided £50 million of additional financial support (on top of the budget for General Dental Services), plus supplied £30-£35 million of free PPE, to ensure NHS dental services emerge well-placed to care for the oral health of everyone in Scotland.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its consultation report on short-term let licensing, how it has addressed the specific concerns raised by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, as identified in Annex E of the report.
Answer
In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets, the Scottish Government has conducted three public consultations. Our most recent consultation closed on 13 August 2021, and we received 1,026 responses.
We carefully considered suggestions for changes to the legislation from working group members, and stakeholders responding to our third consultation, including the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers. The changes set out in the consultation report align with the policy objectives of ensuring all short-term lets comply with basic safety requirements, without undermining protections for guests, neighbours and local communities. These include significant and pragmatic changes in response to concerns from the tourism sector, such as the removal of overprovision and stronger guidance on fees.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on short-term let licensing, on what evidence it has based its assumption that “there is no reason why lenders and insurers should be unwilling to extend financial products to such a business, provided that they are satisfied that the business is being run in a safe way”, in light of the view that lenders base their support on the basis of turnover and profitability, as opposed to the safety of an activity.
Answer
At the heart of our licensing scheme is a set of mandatory standards which will help to protect the safety of guests and neighbours in short-term lets across Scotland. Provided an operator continues to comply with their licence conditions, which will often just be the mandatory safety conditions, their licence would normally be renewed. As the licensing scheme requires licence holders to comply with mandatory safety conditions, and they cannot continue to operate if they do not, it is reasonable to assume that lenders will have regard to this as part of their due diligence, alongside other considerations such as turnover and profitability.