Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-34128

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £185 million recently announced for struggling businesses is being allocated to the travel agent industry.

We recognise that travel agents have been severely hit by the Covid pandemic and it is vital that we support them through the crisis. £5.1 million of the £185 million fund will be made available to travel agents. This covers agencies, limited companies and sole traders that sell outbound travel services to customers for business and/or leisure purposes. Local authorities will contact those businesses which are eligible for the support.

In addition, the Job Retention Scheme and Self Employed Income Support Scheme are essential to protect jobs and livelihoods across all sectors in Scotland. We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to ensure this support will continue to be available to businesses and workers for as long as is required.

Question reference: S5W-34199

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting (a) ASN and (b) other pupils with learning difficulties whose mental health has been impacted through disrupted routines resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In preparation for the return to school, the Scottish Government developed and published guidance which highlighted the need to consider the wellbeing of all pupils including those with additional support needs, this would include those with learning difficulties. The Coronavirus (COVID-19): support for continuity in learning - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) guidance set out the particular considerations required to meet a wide range of children and young people's needs, including the mental health and wellbeing of pupils.

The Scottish Government has also developed and published guidance on Positive mental wellbeing - resources to support children and young people which

is designed to provide a comprehensive package of information, resources and organisations which are freely available to support primary and secondary school staff to support the mental wellbeing of children and young people. This guidance was published prior to the return of pupils to school earlier in the year. In addition, we have continued to progress the implementation of the commitment to provision of counselling through schools.

Guidance was also issued on 21 December regarding the detailed arrangements for schools after the festive break. That guidance provides clarity for learning arrangements through to 15 January, including for those who may be vulnerable, including as a result of additional support needs and where they and/or their parents are experiencing poor physical or mental health. From 18 January onwards, our current planning assumption is that schools will be open to all pupils for in-person teaching and learning as normal. However, this will be subject to an assessment of the state of the pandemic in Scotland and any further developments with regard to the new variant in the new year.

Question reference: S5O-04905

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the finance secretary's announcement on 9 December, how many businesses have received support from the £185 million funding package.

Question reference: S5W-33744

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 17 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding allowing charities and third sector shops that are currently classified as non-essential to open in areas subject to restrictions to allow them to provide support to the communities that they serve.

We continue to do everything we can to support businesses in these unprecedented and challenging circumstances. This includes through the provision of grant funding through the Strategic Framework Business Support scheme, access to non-domestic rates relief and through UK Government supportive measures such as the Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Support. Non-essential retail business in Level 4 areas can continue to sell goods using on-line, click and collect and telephone ordering services.

While there has not been direct discussions on allowing non-essential charity shops to re-open the Scottish Government regularly engages with third sector partners in order to ensure the support we have in place is right and effective.

Much of that engagement and work is delivered through the Third Sector Unit, who have for instance clarified the applicability of business support measures to third sector organisations, and ensured that charities are explicitly included in the Strategic Framework grants which can be accessed if charity shops were forced to close through level four restrictions.

Question reference: S5F-04667

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2020

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the conditions regarding blood donations.

Question reference: S5W-33235

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of how many people who have died in their own home from COVID-19-related conditions in each week since 23 March 2020 had been moved from a (a) hospital and (b) care home setting, and, if this information is not held centrally, whether, in the interests of transparency, it will consider gathering and publishing such data.

Question reference: S5W-33231

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of how many care home residents who have died from COVID-19-related conditions in each week since 23 March 2020 had been moved from a hospital setting, and, if this information is not held centrally, whether, in the interests of transparency, it will consider gathering and publishing such data.

Question reference: S5W-33195

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people work in care home settings of any nature or provide in-home social care to older or vulnerable people; (a) how many and (b) what percentage of these staff have had asymptotic testing for COVID-19; how often this testing has taken place, and what percentage of tests have been positive.

The latest data published by Scottish Social Services Council shows that 53,080 staff worked in adult care homes and a further 71,350 in adult care at home/housing support. A total of 124,430 staff.

There is currently a weekly offer of testing available to all care home staff however they will not all be at work each week for various reasons, including annual leave etc. On that basis the assumption is that 70% is a more accurate benchmark and therefore we expect that circa 37,000 staff tests should be carried out on a weekly basis.

In the latest reporting week (9th - 15th November 2020) 42,022 care home staff (79%) were tested, comprising 9,175 staff in homes with confirmed covid, and 32,847 staff in homes with no cases of confirmed covid. This data is published weekly.

The Clinical Review of our testing strategy was published in October which set out clear clinical advice on the priorities to be followed and an update was provided to Parliament in November on the plans which included testing of social care frontline staff.

Details of positive tests are not currently published but trend information is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-trends-in-daily-data/ .

Question reference: S5O-04825

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Climate Emergency Response Group’s interim assessment of progress report, which was published in November 2020.

Question reference: S5W-33230

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the COVID-19-related mortality rate for care home residents for each week since 23 March 2020, and what proportion of all deaths related to the pandemic this represents, also broken down by the number of these deaths (a) that were directly attributed to the virus at the time of death and (b) were the presence of the virus recorded on the death certificate, and, if this information is not held centrally, whether, in the interests of transparency, it will consider gathering and publishing such data.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish weekly statistics on the number of deaths where COVID-19 was written on the death certificate, either as a suspected or probable involvement in the death. National Records of Scotland do not publish weekly mortality rates. The publication also includes a breakdown of the underlying cause of these deaths and the location of the deaths. The latest publication was released on 25th November and a link is provided here:

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/covid19stats

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