Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-34122

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects primary school buildings to have enough space to allow multiple classes to be able to meet in the same room.

Question reference: S5W-33701

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 14 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has received in Barnett consequentials from the UK Government expenditure on the Local Restrictions Support Grant for (a) open and (b) closed businesses, and how this has been allocated, also broken down by the amount allocated to support self-catering businesses affected by the COVID-19 restrictions.

The breakdown of consequentials to date does not provide the granular detail as to allocations received per the UK Government Local Restrictions Support Grant. Overall, we have been allocated £8.2bn in consequentials this financial year, which we will continue to allocate based on need in Scotland.

Since the start of the crisis, we have invested over £2.3 billion to support businesses of all types across Scotland, including self-catering. In addition to the support offered through the Strategic Framework Business Fund, we recently announced a further £185 million to help impacted businesses through winter. More details will be announced shortly.

Question reference: S5W-33683

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 11 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of reports that dentists are charging NHS patients for additional PPE, and, if so, what (a) its position is on the practice and (b) action it has taken in this regard.

The Scottish Government has worked with NHS Scotland procurement teams to ensure a robust and sustainable supply of PPE is available to dental practices free of charge, providing it is used on NHS patients. To date we have not identified any instance in which an NHS patient has been asked to meet additional PPE costs to proceed with NHS care. Patients that attend for a private procedure may be subject to an additional charge for PPE.

A patient can contact their NHS Board who have responsibility for NHS dental services in their area for further information or advice. Contact details are available on NHS Inform or NHS Board websites.

Question reference: S5O-04865

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to accelerate projects that will support the economy in Dumfriesshire.

Question reference: S5W-33682

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many property transactions, taking place within Scotland, await the formal issue of updated title deeds by the Registers of Scotland, where the updated title deed has not been made available to the property purchaser within six months of the date of completion of the property transaction.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). She advises me that RoS receives and processes over 550,000 applications on average every year, of which 91% are completed in under 20 days. Their service standards differ depending on the type of application received, with the most complex having a service level agreement of nine months. As at the 3 December 2020, RoS had 42,971 applications to register a disposition, that were older than six months. RoS has recently published information on revised Key Performance Targets and new ways of working that will allow it to deal more effectively with a backlog that has worsened during lockdown. This is in addition to the expedite service it offers to citizens and solicitors who require their completed title sheet more urgently. Properties undergoing registration can still be safely transacted on.

Question reference: S5W-33480

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 7 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is making available to ice rinks, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Question reference: S5W-33530

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether self-catering premises in local authority areas subject to Level (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 restrictions, whose businesses are directly affected by the impact of travel restrictions, are eligible to receive a COVID-19 business restrictions grant.

The Strategic Framework Business Fund offers financial support to businesses legally required to close or to modify their operations. Self-catering businesses in Levels 1&2 or 3, affected by travel restrictions are not eligible for this support. Self-catering businesses required to close in level 4 may be eligible for support if they meet the eligibility criteria. Coronavirus Business Support Grants, the Tourism Hardship fund, rates relief and the £1.5 million Coronavirus Support scheme have all supported self-caterers. We have also provided an additional £30m to support businesses through the local authority discretionary fund. Scotland’s lack of borrowing powers prevents us from fully responding to the economic crisis, and limited funds mean that we must target resources.

Question reference: S5O-04811

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what further support will be made available to help services respond to the needs of older people, in light of the COVID-19 restrictions.

Question reference: S5W-33186

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is making available to larger self-catering units that are unable to trade viably as a result of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Self-catering businesses were eligible for either £10,000 and £25,000 grants for businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure. This extended to 75% for subsequent properties. We provided an additional £1.5 m for self-catering businesses who didn’t meet the 140 day eligibility criteria. We recognise that the single-household rule presents difficulties for large property owners, however with limited financial resources, our priority must be to assist those who have not received support. We’re considering further support in line with recommendations from the Tourism Taskforce and continue to request from the UK Government the transfer of financial powers to enable us to respond fully to business needs.

Question reference: S5W-32996

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to routinely test home carers.

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for the Pandemic, published on 23 October, sets out plans to develop the testing element of Test and Protect over the next three months which focusses on building capacity within NHS Scotland and deploying expansions in UK Government testing capacity and capability to its maximum effect in Scotland. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-scotlands-strategic-framework/

As detailed in our Clinical and Scientific review of the Testing Strategy, the consensus clinical view of the prioritisation of capacity, over and above that required to meet symptomatic demand, clinical care requirements and existing commitments, is that the focus in any extension of routine regular asymptomatic testing should be on protecting those most vulnerable to severe harm. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-review-of-testing-strategy-october-2020/

With parliament's agreement I hope to set out our plans for expansion of routine asymptomatic testing before the end of November.

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