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-28757

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with (a) chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, (b) myeloproliferative neoplasms and (c) other blood cancers have received a letter from (i) the Chief Medical Officer and (ii) their local clinical care team asking them to shield at home for 12 weeks from the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Scottish Government does not hold the specific breakdown of information requested. In total, there were 20,883 individuals on the shielding list that were requested to shield as part of the bloods cancers category the question refers to. This figure excludes non-Scottish residents. A specialist group of Haematologists in Scotland convened to further inform which patients should be considered at high risk. This work concluded on 14th April.

Question reference: S5W-28759

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many extremely vulnerable people who have been asked to shield at home from the COVID-19 outbreak have (a) requested and (b) received support from (i) local authorities (ii) supermarkets and (iii) the wholesaler, Brakes and Bidfood, and how many subsequently received this support.

We do not hold consistent data regarding the number of people requesting and receiving shielding support from local authorities.

As at 4 May, the details for all 38,108 people who have requested access to the priority delivery service have been passed to supermarkets. Details of new requests are passed on daily.

As at 4 May 49,575 people have requested weekly food packages. Under the Scottish Government’s agreement with Brakes and Bidfood, the two companies making deliveries, people who are shielding receive their first grocery box within 7 days of their request reaching Brakes and Bidfood. Thereafter they receive their box(es) once a week, until they cancel the deliveries. The exact day on which a person’s box will be delivered depends on which day of the week Brakes and Bidfood deliver to their postcode.

Question reference: S5O-04276

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the recent inquiry by the Cross Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia, which reported that only one in five victims of anti-Muslim hate crime report it to the police.

There’s no place in Scotland for hate crime or prejudice, including Islamophobia. I welcome the findings of the inquiry and remain committed to continue to engage with the CPG as they take forward this important work. We recognise that the under reporting of hate crime remains a significant issue and more needs to be done to tackle Islamophobia in Scotland. Our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Group has prioritised raising awareness of hate crime and encouraging reporting. We also recently consulted on the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group’s definition of Islamophobia to support our work in this area.

Question reference: S5O-04196

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle inequalities among low-income families.

Question reference: S5O-04177

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what was discussed.

Question reference: S5O-03978

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the independent review of the issues at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Question reference: S5O-03942

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide additional welfare support for people in need over the Christmas and New Year period.

Question reference: S5W-26430

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out the advice it received from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for the girls’ HPV vaccination programme prior to its introduction in 2008, and specifically whether it indicated that the programme should be implemented with a single school year of girls only, or via a catch-up programme.

Question reference: S5W-26428

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to publicise and promote the uptake of HPV vaccinations among S1 boys.

Question reference: S5W-26431

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of oropharyngeal cancer rates in Scotland reportedly being the highest in the UK, are increasing, and are projected to increase further, whether it will introduce an HPV catch-up vaccination programme for boys.

Vaccination policy in Scotland, as with the rest of the UK, is based on recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI has not recommended a catch-up approach for the HPV Boys programme at this time.

As with all vaccination programmes, the JCVI keeps its recommendations under review. If at any time the JCVI updates its recommendation around HPV vaccination the Scottish Government will give this due consideration.