Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-04525

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2020

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to prevent a dental health crisis for people living in poverty in the coming months and years.

Question reference: S5W-32373

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it will give to extending the smoking ban to include doorways and entrances in (a) public and (b) residential areas.

It is already an offence to smoke in enclosed entrances and doorways.

The Scottish Government is progressing planned legislation on introducing a mandatory smoke-free perimeter around hospital buildings to prevent people from smoking around doorways and entrances to hospitals. Our Tobacco-Control Action Plan 2018 includes a commitment to ensure that communal landings become smoke-free. In addition we will also explore with local authorities and housing associations the idea of tobacco-free clauses in tenancy agreements and smoke-free housing alternatives being offered in social housing.

Whilst the smoking legislation introduced in 2006 was designed to reduce the negative impact of the practice in enclosed public spaces we have, in recent months, written to retailers requesting that they ask customers to refrain from smoking whilst queuing to enter premises for the comfort and safety of others.

Question reference: S5W-32348

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on double-testing patients to allow routine dentistry to resume.

Question reference: S5W-32346

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact on child dental health of the delay in restarting non-private routine check-ups and procedures.

The resumption of routine dental care for both adult and child patients, including check-ups and preventive care, forms part of the wider programme for the remobilisation of dental services which is itself a component of the wider Route Map devised by the Scottish Government to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The Route Map aims to manage the four key harms of the pandemic - to health, to the delivery of health and social care, to society, and to the economy - and was the subject of an Equality and Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment (EQFSIA) as a whole.

Analysis by the National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) has indicated the significant improvement to the oral health of Scotland's children since its inception in 2003, which has been shown to be due to the national Childsmile programme especially the supervised daily toothbrushing in nurseries. We are committed to restoring the Childsmile programme in nurseries and schools as well as in dental practices as soon as it is safe to do so, and we are committed to continuing to evaluate the impact of the Childsmile programme on child oral health in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-32347

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when routine dental care appointments will be able to resume.

Question reference: S5W-32479

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether, under the current COVID-19 restrictions, brides and grooms must wear face coverings during wedding ceremonies.

The First Minister announced on 15 October that the Scottish Ministers would change the regulations on face coverings to exempt the couple getting married for the duration of their wedding ceremony. This is provided that the couple maintain physical distancing from others present. A partition can be used as an alternative, if such physical distancing is not possible. The amended regulations came into effect on 16 October.

Question reference: S5W-32163

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the hospitality industry regarding the COVID-19 policy on not allowing music to be played.

Question reference: S5W-32166

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out on the support needed to protect the hospitality industry and the jobs that this supports.

The Scottish Government is regularly monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all sectors of the economy, including the hospitality sector, to understand needs for support to maintain viability and how to protect jobs.

The Scottish Government’s analysis of data from ONS’s Business Impacts of Coronavirus Survey, published on 8th October, indicates that in the period 7 September to 20 September 2020, around 82.7 per cent of businesses in the Accommodation & Food Services sector with more than 10 employees had resumed trading. It also estimated that, in the period 24 August to 20 September, 75.6 per cent of currently trading businesses in the Accommodation & Food Services sector were experiencing lower turnover than expected for the time of year, and 40.9 per cent of the workforce were on furlough leave.

The Scottish Government’s sectoral analysis, such as that presented in the Chief Economist’s Monthly Economic Brief for July 2020, also indicates that the Accommodation and Food Sector is in need of ongoing support.

The hospitality industry continues to be substantially affected by COVID-19 and the measures necessary to reduce opportunities for transmission of the virus. The Scottish Government is providing substantial support to the hospitality sector. This has included grant support through the Small Business Support Grant Fund and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund; the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Hardship Fund; as well as 100% relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in 2020-21.

The Scottish Government will also provide further support to hospitality businesses affected by temporary restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 through the COVID-19 Restrictions Fund, and support for businesses to meet the cost of re-furloughing employees via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. However it is clear much more support for industries affected by restrictions will be required, which is why together with the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, we have repeatedly called on the UK Government to transfer greater financial powers.

Question reference: S5W-32164

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) evidence and (b) professional opinion informed its COVID-19 policy of not allowing music to be played in pubs and restaurants.

Factors such as background sound that may lead to raised voices or cause people to lean-in close to others to be heard are a risk factor in the transmission of coronavirus. This is recognised by a wide body of publicly available scientific evidence in relation to the role of aerosols in the transmission of viruses. The current position of no background sound, including low level music and audio from television, is a measured and cautious approach to reduce risk. It is being kept under review and government has engaged with industry experts to consider how guidance can be developed to allow low level background sound to be managed safely when transmission rates are back to a manageable level.

Question reference: S5W-32168

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the hospitality sector regarding the potential number of (a) job losses and (b) failing businesses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regular engagement with the industry is ongoing on a number of issues affecting the sector, including the risk of job losses and business failures, which the Scottish Government are doing everything possible to avoid through targeted business support, including the recently announced £40 million Covid 19 restrictions fund: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-restrictions-fund/ .

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