Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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.

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Question reference: S6W-03000

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its position stated in the procurement notice issued to local government in 2014 that it "strongly discourages trade with illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories", whether this remains its position.

Question reference: S6O-00203

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to raise awareness among the public and healthcare professionals of the symptoms of leukaemia.

Question reference: S6W-03203

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-02320

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) prisoners and young offenders and (ii) prison staff have received (A) their first dose and (B) both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, also broken down by (1) prison and young offender institution, (2) NHS board area and (3) whether the prisoners and young offenders are (aa) under the age of 18 and (bb) 18 or over.

The Scottish Government has been working in collaboration with Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service to improve data on COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Scottish prisons.

New prison vaccination data was been published by Public Health Scotland on 15 September and the link is attached for convenience for the Member.

Prison vaccination data will now be reported on a regular basis and will assist in considering possible courses of action to improve the vaccination uptake amongst the prison population, including for individuals who have not received their second dose prior to being released from prison.

Question reference: S6W-02321

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what COVID-19 vaccination (a) targets and (b) timescales it has set for (i) prisoners and young offenders and (ii) prison staff, and how these are being monitored.

I would refer the Member to the fact as previously answered in S6W–02319 on 21 September 2021, prison staff are under no obligation to tell their employer of their Vaccination status, as it is not mandatory to be vaccinated. Although staff are paid away from work to attend a vaccination appointment and are offered paid leave if symptoms deliver, as part of employee support arrangements.

We are guided on the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme by the Covid Vaccine Deployment Plan which was last updated in July 2021.

We are actively monitoring and evaluating the vaccination status for prisoners and young offenders. NHS bodies and public health agencies, are working collectively with The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to ensure we are constantly striving to make progress, on these matters, to ensure best practice is maintained. Each prison establishment has a Local Coronavirus Response Group to assist with planning locally.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-02319

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government within what timeframe it anticipates all prisoners, young offenders and staff within the prison estate will have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, broken down by prison and young offender institution.

The Scottish Government works closely with all stakeholders including Trade Unions, to deliver the vital communication messages across the Prison Estate and the Member will appreciate that staff as part of the wider community, can be vaccinated and it is not mandatory for staff to report their vaccination status, to their employer. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) throughout the Prison Estate is effectively ensuring that we are progressing vaccinations against COVID-19 in conjunction with health professionals from Public Health Scotland (PHS), as well as other health agencies .

We realise that through our work with public health agencies in conjunction with SPS, that we have a job to engage with the prison population. In many ways it mirrors the issues found in wider society and we are dealing with the hardest to reach. Tailored communications are delivered to those in a prison setting. The National Clinical Director attended HMP Barlinnie for a Q&A session with prisoners which was made available via prison radio and TV. Posters with the same national ‘roll up your sleeves’ messaging and appropriate photography were distributed to prisons to be displayed.

Question reference: S6W-02839

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to measure progress on the implementation of the action plan set out in the response to the Nuisance Calls Commission in 2017.

Question reference: S6W-02714

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the UK Government to discuss the devolution of health and safety legislation.

There has been no discussion on the devolution of health and safety legislation to the Scottish Government since the subject was addressed by the Smith Commission which suggested the parties involved : “…review the functions and operations of the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland and consider how the future requirements to best serve the people of Scotland could be delivered operationally whilst remaining within a reserved health and safety legislative framework”

This by the UK Government, Scottish Government, and Local Authorities was published in August 2015 by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Scottish Government continues to represent and advocate for Scottish interests in this area, and uses its devolved healthcare powers to provide support to individuals and to inform organisations of their responsibilities towards their employees through its existing .

There is ongoing liaison work with the Health and Safety Executive, Department for Work and Pensions, and relevant groups within Scotland such as the Scottish Trades Union Congress in order for the Scottish Government to positively impact the delivery of reserved legislation and best represent the needs of its people.

Question reference: S6W-02838

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle nuisance calls.

The regulation of nuisance calls and texts is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government is committed to doing all it can to tackle this issue – and the scams that can underpin them – using our devolved powers.

Many of the proposed actions from the Nuisance Call Commission 2017 have been progressed and delivered. However, we recognise that further work needs to be done. That is why on 19 March 2021 we published Scotland’s Scams Prevention, Awareness & Enforcement Strategy 2021-24.

The strategy introduces a new framework for tackling scams, with an emphasis on: disrupting scams at source; building capacity, skills and resilience amongst individuals to avoid the risk that scams pose; streamlining the reporting and advice landscape so that people can access the right support at the right time to meet their needs; and improving coordination and intelligence sharing between frontline advice providers, enforcement bodies and wider advocacy organisations.

A key part of this work is supporting technological innovation. Since 2017, we have been providing funding to Trading Standards Scotland for the purchase and roll out of domestic call blocker devices to the homes of individuals in some of the most vulnerable circumstances in Scotland. A recent report on the effectiveness of these call blockers by Trading Standards Scotland indicated that the devices have blocked 779,633 calls and an estimated 1,265 scams have been prevented.

A new Strategic Partnership was established on 12 August to oversee delivery of the strategy, including development of a robust monitoring framework to assess impacts over time. A progress update report will be produced by the end of 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-02712

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been carried out of legislative competence regarding corporate homicide and how this interacts with the Health and Safety etc. Act 1974.

The existing law in this area operates within reserved legislation such as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and the Health and Safety etc. Act 1974.

A Members’ Bill was introduced by Claire Baker MSP (entitled the Culpable Homicide (Scotland) Bill) in June 2020 and the Presiding Officer indicated the provisions of the Bill as introduced were not within the competence of the Scottish Parliament.

Our view is that any consideration of reform of culpable homicide as it applies to organisations should only be considered once the Scottish Law Commission’s wider review of Homicide Law is completed in 2023.