- Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2022
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2022
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the extent to which there is a risk of transmitting Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease through a blood donation from an individual who received a blood transfusion after 1980.
Answer
In 2004, the UK Advisory Committee on Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues for Transplantation (MSBT) advised that people who have received a blood transfusion since 1980 should no longer be allowed to donate blood in order to reduce the risks of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) via a blood transfusion. The then Scottish Executive accepted those recommendations.
The Scottish Government now takes its advice on blood safety from the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO), which has replaced MSBT as the expert Committee advising Ministers on these matters. This matter is therefore for SaBTO to advise on and they have not suggested that this policy should change. In 2019, SaBTO advised (in its Paediatric Components Working Group report) that certain measures originally implemented to reduce risks of transmission of vCJD were no longer required; however, it advised that all other vCJD risk reduction measures should remain in place.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals in Scotland are currently prohibited from donating blood, because they received a blood transfusion after 1980.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this data. Whilst there is data available on numbers of patients who receive blood transfusions each year, the majority of these patients would be unlikely to be able to donate blood due to underlying health conditions, even if they had not received a transfusion.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the policy that prohibits blood donations from those who received a blood transfusion after 1980.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10269 on 5 September 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: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend on marketing campaigns to encourage people to use public transport in the financial year 2022-23.
Answer
The Scottish Government will launch a national marketing campaign to promote the new Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme in the coming weeks. The Scottish Government has allocated £400,000 to promote this campaign during this financial year.
On promoting public transport more broadly, Transport Scotland continues to work with operating partners and stakeholders to encourage people to use public transport, as a sustainable way to access work, education and services.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on marketing and advertising to promote social distancing and COVID-19 protection measures on public transport in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.
Answer
The focus of the Scottish Government`s communication activities and guidance during the pandemic was to ensure that, when people needed to travel, and the prevailing Covid-19 restrictions allowed them to do so, they knew to plan ahead and were informed of the guidance to follow to use public transport safely.
Typically messaging on protection levels, ventilation, physical distancing and wearing a face covering when in crowded locations or when on public transport was included within the broader Government’s public health campaign messaging or was part of an operators own communications materials. No specific SG funding was allocated for this activity therefore, it is not possible to say how much was spent specifically on public transport marketing or advertising relating to social distancing and COVID-19 protection measures.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a ban on the sale of vaping products that mimic the smell and taste of confectionery, in light of a reported surge in children and young people using such products.
Answer
The Scottish Government has a precautionary approach to vaping products. Vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of cessation tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They should not be used by non-smokers, in particular by children and young people. They should not been used or promoted as a lifestyle accessory.
Our recent vaping consultation, which closed at the end of April, sought views on tightening rules on advertising and promoting these products. The results of this consultation will be published soon and will inform our Tobacco Action Plan refresh.
We will continue to work with the UKG and other devolved administrations over issues such as the taste and smell of vaping product to help reduce their appeal to children and young people.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to discourage and reduce the use of vaping products among children and young people.
Answer
The Scottish Government has a precautionary approach to vaping products. Vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of cessation tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They should not be used by non-smokers, in particular by children and young people. They should not been used or promoted as a lifestyle accessory.
Our recent vaping consultation, which closed at the end of April, sought views on tightening rules on advertising and promoting vaping products. The results of this consultation will be published soon and will inform our Tobacco Action Plan refresh.
We are working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that our Tobacco Action Plan discourages and reduces the use and visibility of vaping products by all non-smokers, including children and young people.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many rooms on board the cruise ship being used to house Ukrainian refugees in Leith have (a) portholes and (b) no portholes.
Answer
The Scottish Government's priority is to provide safe, comfortable accommodation and a wraparound support offer to the displaced people from Ukraine who have arrived in Scotland, and to those who may still arrive.
The MS Victoria I has a total of 305 Sea View Cabins and 434 inside cabins. Whilst on cruise ships some cabins have no windows we are working with our partners to address any additional wellbeing risks when living in this type of accommodation.
The MS Victoria I has been well received by people on board, and is ensuring we are providing accommodation that is safe and sustainable whilst we match people with suitable longer term accommodation.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of staff who are currently employed by Home Energy Scotland.
Answer
The total full time equivalent staff employed on Home Energy Scotland at the end of July is 208. This figure includes:
- All staff within each Home Energy Scotland advice centre working on Home Energy Scotland activity, and teams and specialists managed directly by the Energy Savings Trust including the Extended Hours team, renewables specialists and private sector landlord advisors.
- All staff within Energy Saving Trust who are covered by Home Energy Scotland funding.
- Management time within the centres and Energy Saving Trust allocated to management of Home Energy Scotland.
