- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many buildings in Scotland have undergone survey work to identify and remediate unsafe cladding since 12 May 2022.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold data on remediation activity outwith the Cladding Remediation Programme. The Single Building Assessment pilot is currently assessing 27 buildings and this will be increased in number in 2023.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that winter vaccination appointments are allocated to patients according to the centre's proximity to their home address.
Answer
This year’s winter vaccination programme seeks to protect those at the highest risk of severe illness and hospitalisation from COVID-19 and flu, and reduce pressure on the NHS and social care services.
Ensuring accessibility for the most vulnerable has, therefore, been central to our approach throughout the vaccination programme.
In line with this, instead of the large-scale vaccination centres used in previous programmes, this winter we are offering smaller, more local clinics to facilitate access and minimise travel times to appointments.
Housebound patients have been vaccinated in their homes, with some health boards utilising the Scottish Ambulance Service to support this. Health boards may also offer support to patients with limited mobility in travelling to their vaccination appointment. Details of this can be found on the NHS Inform website.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of GP practice patients are currently being seen by (a) GPs, (b) advanced nurse practitioners, (c) physiotherapists, (d) pharmacists, (e) occupational therapists, (f) link workers, (g) mental health nurses and (h) phlebotomists.
Answer
The data requested is not centrally held by the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government have commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) and National Services for Scotland (NSS) to undertake a programme of work to extract regular GP in hours activity data from GP systems. This data will be published for the first time by PHS on 6 December 2022 and will include a breakdown between activity by (1) GPs and (2) other clinicians.
Discussions are ongoing with PHS and NSS on the next phases of the programme of work.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many housing developers it has met with regarding the identification and remediation of unsafe cladding since 12 May 2022.
Answer
We meet with developers every week, particularly in relation to the pilot Single Building Assessment programme and the development of The Accord.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the total number of beds in accommodation for nursing staff across the NHS Scotland estate is.
Answer
The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07663 by Jenny Gilruth on 27 April 2022, when it will engage with (a) trade unions and (b) the public regarding the National Rail Conversation.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12057 on 24 November 2022. 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: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the independent report analysing the responses to the public consultation on the draft fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) will be published, in light of the participation statement, published on 26 October 2021, which stated that the independent report would be published as soon as possible after the consultation closed.
Answer
The report of analysis of responses to the consultation draft National Planning Framework 4 was published on 8 November 2022 and is available from the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-fourth-national-planning-framework-analysis-responses-consultation-exercise-analysis-report/ .
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) ministers, (b) civil servants, (c) ministerial staff and (d) other Scottish Government representatives attended COP27, and what (i) travel, (ii) accommodation and (iii) other expenses were incurred for this delegation.
Answer
The information asked for is not fully available at this time. The Scottish Government intends to issue a proactive release on its attendance and expenses incurred.
- Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Scotland’s universities regarding the efficacy and any limitations of the UK Government’s graduate visa in relation to addressing skills shortages.
Answer
The Scottish Government regularly engages with universities on matters impacting the sector.
Whilst the reinstatement of the Graduate Route in 2021 was welcomed, it remains clear that the UK Government’s immigration policy does not address Scotland’s economic, demographic and social needs.
In absence of a UK Government equivalent, the Scottish Government is developing, and seeks to pilot, a student retention programme, aiming to reduce the flow of students outside Scotland once they have completed further/higher education.
- Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding removing the application fee and annual healthcare surcharge for graduate visa applicants in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government strongly opposes the immigration health surcharge (IHS) and believes it should be removed, despite receiving £20.8 million in Barnett consequentials from it in 2018. Increasing the surcharge to £624 in 2018, more than three times the cost, was morally wrong.
The Scottish Government remains deeply concerned that multiple unnecessary immigration charges could make Scotland a less attractive destination for skilled workers and international students and impact student retention rates on the Graduate visa. Scottish Ministers have, and will continue to push the UK Government for an immigration system that meets Scotland’s needs