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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-00841

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to help prevent chronic stress among officers, and how much funding it has provided in each year since 2019-20 in mental health support for officers experiencing this condition.

The welfare and wellbeing of Police Officers is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through the “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme provided by Police Scotland. Officers can seek advice and support through ‘Wellbeing Champions’ and the ‘Wellbeing Hub’ and can access services such as, Trauma Risk Management (TRiM); the Employee Assistance Programme; and Occupational Health services.

The Scottish Government has made a commitment to protect Police Scotland’s resource budget in real terms throughout the lifetime of this Parliament and for 2021-22 we have increased the policing budget by £75.5m, to over £1.3bn.

Question reference: S6W-00790

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will rule out the future use of transvaginal mesh implants.

Question reference: S6W-00779

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31987 by Joe Fitzpatrick on 1 October 2020, whether it will provide an update on the progress of plans to ensure that any missed HPV vaccinations are rescheduled.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) continue to work with health boards to support their planning and the safe delivery of immunisation services during the pandemic.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that pupils who were not offered the HPV vaccine (first or second dose), or who missed the immunisation sessions at their school, will be offered the vaccine during planned catch-up sessions arranged by their health board, as soon as is practicable, now that Scottish schools have re-opened fully.

Young people and their parents can therefore be reassured that if they have missed their HPV, Meningitis ACWY or Tetanus/Diphtheria/Polio booster vaccines, these will be rescheduled.

Information on the status of the 2020-21 routine and catch-up HPV programmes, by NHS Boards, will be gathered by Public Health Scotland by end of August.

Question reference: S6W-00741

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the NHS Recovery Plan will support delivery of the commitment to a Right to Rehab.

As part of the wider recovery from the pandemic, the Scottish Government launched the Framework for Rehabilitation & Recovery from COVID-19 in August 2020. The Framework puts in place clear principles, priorities and objectives to support increasing demand and to provide high quality person-centred rehabilitation in different settings.

The Framework will closely align to existing rehabilitation pathways and strategies and a Once for Scotland Approach will be developed and provide a practical, accessible strategy to deliver quality rehabilitation to everyone who needs it.

Our overall vision is for everyone with rehabilitation needs to be able to access the care and support to live well on their own terms.

Remobilising and supporting our NHS remains a priority and we will shortly publish our NHS Recovery Plan that will clearly set out how we will continue to support all patients to receive the highest quality of care.

Question reference: S6W-01193

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support will be made available to NHS Boards in responding to COVID-19 in 2021-22.

Additional funding of £1.08 billion has been confirmed through the Scottish Budget for health and care for 2021-22 to support the response to the pandemic.

From this, the Scottish Government is providing an initial £380 million to NHS Boards in 2021-22 to meet ongoing costs associated with Covid-19. This includes funding for PPE, Test and Protect and delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations.

The Scottish Government will continue to ensure that our health and care services have the funding that they require to respond to this pandemic, and will make available further additional support following our detailed Quarter One financial review.

Details of funding allocations to NHS Boards are set out in the following table:

	Covid Funding (£m)
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	13.7
NHS Borders	3.4
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	4.9
NHS Fife	11.6
NHS Forth Valley	10.1
NHS Grampian	16.2
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	45.8
NHS Highland	9.8
NHS Lanarkshire	25.9
NHS Lothian	27.0
NHS Orkney	0.7
NHS Shetland	0.7
NHS Tayside	13.7
NHS Western Isles	0.9
National Waiting Times Centre	3.9
Scottish Ambulance Service	17.4
The State Hospital	0.3
NHS 24	2.7
NHS Education for Scotland	1.8
NHS National Services Scotland	156.3
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	0.4
Public Health Scotland	12.6
Total	379.6

Question reference: S6W-00648

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has given to health and social care partnerships on the easement of section 13za of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

The chief officers of health and social care partnerships were provided with a link to guidance on the Scottish Government website regarding the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020. This was provided on 7 April, the day all of the provisions in the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 came into force, apart from those relating to the easements to s.13ZA of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Chief officers were advised of the relevant pages that contained guidance on adults with incapacity changes. That guidance made clear that the easements to s.13ZA would only come into force when and if Ministers approved its use by invoking regulations. This would be strictly only when evidenced as being absolutely necessary. These regulations did not come into force.

Question reference: S6W-00689

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area have on-site defibrillators.

This information is not held centrally. However, you may wish to contact Scottish Local Authorities individually for information they may hold. The Scottish local government page of the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has contact information for these: https://www.cosla.gov.uk/councils.

Since 2015, the Save a Life for Scotland Partnership has equipped more than 640,000 people in Scotland with CPR skills. Over the same time period the rate of people surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest has increased from one in 20 to one in 10.

In March this year, the partnership published an updated Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest strategy, which sets out a number of actions across the chain of survival, including actions to improve bystander CPR and defibrillation rates. There is a clear commitment to working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that all school aged children have the opportunity to learn CPR. The strategy can be found at:

Out of hospital cardiac arrest: strategy 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Question reference: S6W-01140

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-00759

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many wind farm applications it has approved through the applicant appeal process in the last 24 months, broken down by local authority area.

The number of wind farm applications approved through the appeal process in the last 24 months, by local authority area, are set out in the following table:

Planning Authority	Appeals Allowed	Appeals Dismissed
Aberdeenshire Council	1	0
Argyll and Bute Council	1	1
Dumfries and Galloway Council	2	2
Highland Council	1	1
Scottish Borders Council	0	3
South Ayrshire Council	1	1
South Lanarkshire Council	0	1
Total	6	9

Decisions are made in line with the development plan for the area and national policies. Each case is considered on its own merits.

Question reference: S6W-00745

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 70,000 devices for learners had been (a) ordered but not received by local authorities (b) received but not distributed, and (c) distributed by the date on which in-person learning resumed, broken down by local authority area.

Grant funding allocations were made to councils based on levels of deprivation and rurality within their areas, allowing them to purchase devices and connectivity for learners to align with local digital strategies. Local authorities have been responsible for securing and distributing devices, and for reporting to Scottish Government on progress. Global pressure on supply chains (primarily as a result of the pandemic and the move to home learning and working) has resulted in delayed delivery times for some devices.

The following table shows the number of devices ordered, received and distributed at end-March 2021 (immediately before the Easter break after which in-person learning resumed), as reported by individual local authorities.

Local Authority	Devices ordered but not yet received by council	Devices received by council but not yet distributed	Devices distributed to learners	Total
Aberdeen City	0	0	1777	1777
Aberdeenshire	907	57	4214	5178
Angus	0	0	1555	1555
Argyll and Bute	39	0	1317	1356
City of Edinburgh	0	0	2550	2550
Clackmannanshire	33	0	828	861
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	2371	2371
Dundee City	0	0	2150	2150
East Ayrshire	439	6	2138	2583
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	1015	1015
East Lothian	399	0	1407	1806
East Renfrewshire	0	0	623	623
Falkirk	0	0	1840	1840
Fife	0	0	5465	5465
Glasgow City	0	0	7240	7240
Highland	100	2	4499	4601
Inverclyde	0	93	1107	1200
Midlothian	0	0	1235	1235
Moray	0	0	1315	1315
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	357	357
North Ayrshire	0	0	1734	1734
North Lanarkshire	1253	250	4537	6040
Orkney Islands	0	150	275	425
Perth and Kinross	600	0	1257	1857
Renfrewshire	0	0	1800	1800
Scottish Borders	0	0	316	316
Shetland Islands	0	0	475	475
South Ayrshire	15	9	1497	1521
South Lanarkshire	0	0	5544	5544
Stirling	0	0	1794	1794
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	2084	2084
West Lothian	0	0	2905	2905
Total	3785	567	69221	73573