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-06282

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister’s COVID-19 Update on 1 February 2022, what action it is taking to extend "the protection of vaccination to all countries as quickly as possible".

The Scottish Government recognises that COVID-19 is an unprecedented global crisis, leaving no part of the world unaffected. Although Scotland is not a member of the COVAX scheme, we will continue engaging with the UK Government on that matter. On 8 December, the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister to urge the UK government to end its opposition at the World Trade Organisation and to join over 100 countries who are now supportive of a temporary Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights waiver.

We have also provided international development support to our partner countries to support their COVID-19 responses, including vaccine preparedness.

In December 2020 we provided international development funding to support vaccine preparedness and delivery, including £2M to UNICEF in 2020 to help vaccine distribution, roll-out and online healthcare education in our partner countries.

In September 2021, we provided £250,000 from our international development fund to leverage the provision to our partner countries of £11.2 million worth of PPE – our single biggest ever donation – to aid COVID responses as part of our strategic response.

In February 2022 we provided £1.5m to UNICEF to support equal access to COVID-19 vaccines in our partner countries. The funds will support vaccination programmes in Rwanda, Zambia and Malawi, their provision of safe oxygen supplies, and help the agency deliver equipment, resources and technical support in response to the pandemic.

Question reference: S6O-00738

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that children living in temporary accommodation have access to permanent homes.

Question reference: S6O-00697

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the COVID-19 certification scheme allows people who have received vaccines and boosters in different parts of the UK to demonstrate that they are fully vaccinated, to meet requirements for travel or visiting events where it is a requirement of entry.

Question reference: S6W-05783

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that those with “worker” rather than “employee” status are eligible for financial support as a result of any COVID-19-related closures in the culture sector.

The Scottish Government has provided £240m to the culture sector over the pandemic, including £65m to help alleviate the financial pressures that individuals and organisations face following cultural venue closures and event cancellations in light of the Omicron variant.

Cultural organisations employing workers are eligible for the £25m COVID-19 Cancellation Fund for Cultural Organisations, administered by Creative Scotland. We would expect any organisation who applies to the Creative Scotland Cultural Organisations Cancellation Fund would use any money they receive to pay all their workers.

Question reference: S6O-00640

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether all homes are on track to comply with the new fire safety regulations by February.

Question reference: S6O-00607

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that public transport is accessible to disabled people.

Question reference: S6O-00553

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support and advice it plans to provide to enable the establishment of community heat and power networks to deliver net zero targets.

Question reference: S6W-04577

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the NHS Scotland Covid Status App is available through the Apple Store and Google Play only, and, if so, whether it will consider making it available on alternative platforms, including the NHS website.

Question reference: S6W-04210

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there has reportedly been a delay in the roll-out of the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme.

We remain on track with the autumn/winter vaccination programme, which has been prioritising the most vulnerable by either inviting them to come forward for vaccination or by vaccinating people in settings such as care homes.

We are enabling boards to make use of healthcare students and primary care staff - including GPs, GP practice staff, dentists and pharmacists – to help boards meet demand.

COVID-19 booster vaccines are being offered to the same groups who were prioritised at the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have advised that at least 6 months should have passed since a second dose before a booster is administered, however there is some flexibility to offer a booster vaccination to the most vulnerable groups after five months.

As of 17 November, 1,237,376 individuals, which is 25.9% of the Scottish population aged 12 and over, have received a third dose or booster vaccination. This shows Scotland has vaccinated more of their 12+ population than the other three nations at this stage of the vaccine programme rollout.

Question reference: S6W-04209

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people aged 50 and over have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.

We are making significant progress with 43% of people aged 50 and over having received the COVID-19 booster vaccine as at 11 November 21.

Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which advised that at least 6 months should have passed since a second dose before a booster is administered, however there is some flexibility to offer a booster vaccination to the most vulnerable groups after five months.

The online self-booking portal for COVID-19 booster vaccinations opened on 15 November 2021.

The online self-booking portal is open to adults aged 50-59, unpaid carers who are aged 16 or over, and people aged 16 or over who are household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals. This will allow people in those groups to book online for appointments from early December onwards.