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: S5W-32253

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities have received funding for the Self-Isolation Support Grant and, if not, by what date they will receive this.

Question reference: S5W-32250

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates will claim the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

Question reference: S5W-32254

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received funding from the UK Government for the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

The UK Government recently confirmed an additional £700m guaranteed consequential funding for Scotland, but has not provided a breakdown of how any of the consequentials provided so far relate to particular announcements in England. We will continue to press the UK Government for further support so people will not be forced into hardship because they are doing the right thing by isolating and stopping the transmission of the virus.

Question reference: S5O-04673

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it is providing for frontline policing, in light of the impact of reduced income streams from areas such as football and airports.

Question reference: S5W-31500

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the modelling system that it has used to determine its testing programme; how many tests it estimates need to be undertaken to keep key workers in post; how it expects testing to be accessed; when all testing will be delivered locally; what the anticipated waiting time is (a) for local testing and (b) to receive results, and what advice it has issued on how to access tests.

The Scottish Governments approach to modelling COVID-19 testing draws together a number of data sources, and is reflected in the our current Testing Strategy. We continue to work closely with colleagues across the NHS to further understand testing demand from all eligible groups, including pandemic curve modelling and the testing capacity required to deliver this.

In the initial stage of the pandemic, a key focus of the testing strategy was to test symptomatic key workers and their family members, allowing negative-cases to return to work quickly. Currently testing of asymptomatic key health and social care workers is driven by regular testing of Care Home staff and NHS workers in critical pathways. As the pandemic progresses, the Scottish Government is constantly reviewing the list of key workers that should be tested on a regular basis. As with the general public, symptomatic key workers should isolate and arrange a test as soon as they develop symptoms, this can ensure they can return to work quickly if the test is negative.

Anyone in Scotland who develops symptoms of COVID-19 should isolate immediately and book a test. A COVID-19 test can be booked online using NHS Inform or by calling 0800 028 2816. Anyone who requires support to book a test can call 0300 303 2713. Once a test has been booked it can be taken at a drive-through site (Regional Testing Site or Mobile Testing Unit), at a walk-in site (Local Test Site) or by using a home testing kit. The test kits are then analysed at UK Government run Lighthouse laboratories.

Information is published on the Scottish Government website on both how to arrange a test and how to access the test once it has been arranged. This information can be found here: .

Testing for COVID-19 is available through the NHS in Scotland to all symptomatic Health and Social care staff or symptomatic household members (where a negative test will support their return to work). Further information on how to arrange a test can be found here: or by calling 0300 303 2713.

Routine asymptomatic testing is being offered to some health and social care staff working in high risk settings as part of a wider range of interventions appropriate because of particular concerns about transmission in these contexts including care homes, specialist oncology wards, long term care of the elderly wards, and long term care wards in mental health facilities. Testing for care home staff is mostly arranged through the UK social care testing portal with some testing now being organised and managed by NHS Boards where they have local capacity. Testing for healthcare staff is organised and managed by NHS Boards.

Testing for some key workers, for instance staff in schools and childcare settings is accessed through the Employer Referral Portal.

The Scottish Government is working to ensure that testing is accessible across the country and is currently introducing Local Test Sites to improve local access to testing. The Scottish Government is keeping the accessibility of testing under constant review.

The majority of people who are tested get their test results the day after taking the test. Whilst some results may take longer, we expect all test subjects get their results within 72 hours.

Testing is one important tool in our overall approach to managing the pandemic in Scotland and reducing as far as is possible all of the harms caused by COVID-19. Our testing strategy will be updated as the evidence base continually builds; as innovations provide new, better and faster possibilities; and as we continue to move through and out the pandemic.

Question reference: S5W-31533

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments regarding care staff by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport during the ministerial statement on care homes on 1 September 2020 (Official Report, c. 64), what its position is on the level of pay across the social care sector, and whether it will abolish the registration fee that must be paid by those working in the sector in order to practice.

Since 2016 we have had a joint policy with COSLA to ensure that all adult social care workers are paid at least the real living wage in the context of a system that is currently delivered by private, third sector and public employers. We also have a long-standing commitment to the principles of Fair Work and are currently working with stakeholders to further embed fair work principles and achieve better terms and conditions and more rewarding roles for the social care workforce. The independent review of adult social care, announced in our Programme for Government, will include the consideration of a range of national approaches to adult social care. The review will take a human-rights based approach taking into consideration fair work and pay of the workforce, funding, governance, administration and delivery.

We have no plans to abolish registration fees for registered workers in social care. Workers who are required to register with a professional regulator, such as SSSC, are required to pay an annual registration fee and that remains the legal position. Through emergency legislation, we have taken action to address the payment of registration fees for social care workers during the COVID-19 outbreak by extending the period of time a new or returning worker is required to pay their fees, from 6 months to 12 months. SSSC will not remove workers from the Register who are unable to pay the annual fee on time but will contact them at a later date if the fee remains due.

By offering an extended period of time in which to register we hope to encourage workers to return to the register during this emergency.

The emergency legislation will remain in place during the current pandemic.

Question reference: S5W-31018

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish guidance regarding restarting day care services and support for older people who have been isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S5W-30865

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of the work that it is doing to support research into (a) a vaccine for and (b) the treatment and management of COVID-19.

Details about the research projects funded from the rapid research in COVID-19 call issued by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO), which include a project relating to COVID-19 vaccine development and projects relating to the treatment and management of COVID-19, are available at:

Details about the COVID-19-related clinical research projects that are being supported by the Scottish Government’s investment, through CSO, in NHS Research Scotland (NRS) are available at: . NRS is also supporting the participation of the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow with NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde in the UK trial of the Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine.

CSO and NRS are also working with the National Institute for Health Research and NHS Digital and partners in Wales and Northern Ireland on the UK-wide NHS COVID-19 vaccine research register to support COVID-19 vaccine trials. Details about this are available at:

Question reference: S5O-04535

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to empower local authorities to make decisions that will strengthen their communities as they move on following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S5F-04297

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government is providing for the arts sector, in light of reported concerns regarding the impact of the lockdown on the sector and loss of jobs.