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: S5T-02550

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any relaxation of restrictions over the Christmas period.

Question reference: S5W-33229

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £23 million in reserve for the Scottish Welfare Fund has been used, and whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority of where it has been allocated.

We announced on 20 October that Local authorities are to be given flexibility to use £20 million of the £23 million previously held in reserve to meet the needs of people in their communities. This may include supplementing local budgets for the Scottish Welfare Fund to meet demand, providing financial support to tackle food insecurity or to meet fuel costs, or boosting local funding for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The remaining £3 million of the £23 million has been allocated to support the provision of Discretionary Housing Payments and will be distributed to local authorities shortly.

Once allocations are made, the amounts provided to each local authority for both purposes will be visible on the Communities Funding Mapping Tool:

Question reference: S5O-04768

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to Police Scotland to tackle crime in the Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency.

This year the Scottish Government has increased funding for policing in Scotland by £60 million to more than £1.2 billion. This 5.1% rise, compared to 2019-20, is ensuring that Police Scotland can maintain officer numbers, enhance its community policing capability and maintain and modernise its estate.

At 30 September 2020, there were 17,249 officers, which is significantly above the level inherited in 2007, with a higher number of officers than at any time during the previous administration.

It is encouraging to note where progress has been made within the Scottish Borders, including a 27% fall in dishonest crime and a 58% fall in vandalism since 2006-07. We also know that people living in Scotland’s rural areas are less likely to be a victim of crime now than a decade ago.

However we must not be complacent, we will continue to bear down on crime in Scotland, through protecting police budgets and substantial investment in preventative programs.

Question reference: S5W-33033

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide funding to Scottish Water for the period 2021-27 in order for rural communities to be connected to the public water network, in light of concerns regarding inadequate sewage systems in some areas.

In the coming investment period 2021-27 Scottish Water must address many investment priorities across the water and sewerage networks within a finite set of resources, and the focus will be on meeting legally binding standards. Scottish Water is working with stakeholders and customers to develop a new investment prioritisation framework which will identify and assess development needs across the networks on a rolling basis throughout the period. This may include rural provision schemes where the need is identified as urgent or appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-33214

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 17 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £1 million committed to the Connected Scotland strategy for tackling loneliness announced in 2018 has been spent, and which organisations have been funded.

Whilst the Scottish Government pivoted our work in respond to the pandemic, some work was forced to pause. This affected the setting up of a funding arrangement for the 2 year, £1 million fund that was committed to the Connected Scotland Strategy.

We have been in frequent and regular contact with the National Implementation Group that is overseeing the Strategy so that we can hear firsthand, issues that are arising and are working with the group to reassess our next steps in an altered landscape.

During our response to the pandemic, we set up a £350 million Supporting Communities Fund to ensure communities were directly supported with emergency funding, delivered at both national and local levels. Much of this supported wellbeing, access to food and helplines, all of which tackle isolation and loneliness. From that single fund, 442 organisations received funding including eight organisations in the Scottish Borders which received over £460,000.

Additionally, £43 million is being invested into communities through the Connecting Scotland digital scheme to provide people with access to digital devices and get them online. This will allow more people greater access to vital digital services as well as allow them opportunities to connect with friends and family.

We recognise the importance of tackling loneliness and we will continue to respond to the demands of the pandemic and the needs of communities across Scotland and those responses include making funding interventions where it is appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-32806

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether additional resources will be provided to Police Scotland to enforce any lockdown measures.

Police Scotland has been at the front and centre of the response to COVID-19 in Scotland, and continues to work closely with partners including local authorities and the NHS to support the response. We continue to be grateful to both police officers and staff who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.

This year the Scottish Government has increased funding for policing by £60 million to more than £1.2 billion. This 5.1% rise, compared to 2019-20, is ensuring that Police Scotland can maintain officer numbers, enhance its community policing capability and maintain and modernise its estate. Police Scotland has a higher number of police officers than at any time during the previous administration. At 30 September 2020, there were 17,249 officers, which is significantly above the level inherited in 2007.

Police Scotland has played an integral role in helping people do the right thing throughout the pandemic and have taken a sensible and proportionate response to enforcement whereby they Engage, Explain, Encourage and, only where necessary, Enforce, with this constituting a very small part of policing activity in relation to the COVID-19 response. The Chief Constable has provided assurance that the vast majority of interactions are focused on engaging, explaining, and encouraging, which supports our tradition of policing by consent.

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to monitor and manage the financial impacts of COVID-19 on the policing budget.

Question reference: S5W-32803

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for moving up or down between each of the COVID-19 restriction tiers.

Question reference: S5W-32800

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for each of the five COVID-19 restriction tiers, and how each tier is linked to the (a) R number and (b) case rate per 100,000 people.

Question reference: S5W-32821

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many Community COVID-19 Testing Specialists it has recruited; how many have completed training, and how many are collecting samples in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-32805

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what business support is in place for the Scottish Borders tourism and hospitality industry, which is partially closed but still trading.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates the impact the pandemic has had on the tourism and hospitality sector and we continue to support business survival as much as we can. We have been continually seeking to find a balance between action to suppress the virus and the protection of people’s jobs and livelihoods.

In addition to the £2.3 billion business support package we have already provided which now far exceeds the consequentials afforded to us by the UK Government, we have created an additional support package worth over £40m. Of this, £20m has been earmarked for the hospitality sector.

The COVID-19 Restrictions Fund will now provide one-off grants of up to £4,310 to businesses required to close by regulations. For businesses that may remain open but are directly impacted by the restrictions, the maximum hardship fund grant will increase to £2,155. Additionally, grants of £1,650 will help those firms that are required to close to help meet the 20% employer’s contribution that they required to pay under the current UK Government furlough scheme.

Our new five-level Strategic Approach to managing Covid sets out our planned levels of support for business in the event of any future restrictions.

The Scottish Government is committed to the long term recovery of the tourism and hospitality industry both in the Scottish Borders and across Scotland. The report by the Tourism Recovery Taskforce, published on 23 October, makes a number of recommendations that will be considered carefully, to allow us to continue to mitigate against the impacts of the virus, and to protect jobs.