Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-34459

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what liaison it has had with (a) St John Scotland and (b) the British Red Cross regarding mobilising volunteers to take part in the COVID-19 vaccination programme, also broken down by how many volunteers are participating.

The British Red Cross (BRC) are playing a leading role co-ordinating Voluntary and Community Sector support for the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Scotland. Scottish Government officials have been meeting weekly with the BRC Scotland Director, through the Voluntary and Community Sector Advisory Group (VCSAG), also chaired by the BRC Scotland Director. Official level discussions continue, to engage with health boards to process offers of support, and to explore how volunteers can contribute to the vaccination programme, as it rolls out across Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not engaged with St John’s Scotland about mobilising volunteers to take part in the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Question reference: S5W-34450

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccinators will be required to meet the timetable for the programme, and what contingency plans are in place to respond to sickness, leave and other absences.

On 14 January we published our Coronavirus (COVID-19): vaccine deployment plan 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The plan describes the steps we will take to deliver 400,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine per week by the end of February subject to the necessary vaccine supply being made available. Workforce modelling estimates indicate that this will require a workforce of c. 1700 whole time equivalent (WTE) vaccinators and c. 950 WTE support staff.

We recognise that not every member of staff will work on a full-time basis and local headcount will be adjusted to reflect less-than-full-time working, predictable absence and clinic operating hours; health board work with these variables when undertaking local recruitment and setting rostering patterns. The total number of vaccinators and support staff by headcount is therefore likely to be significantly higher than the above WTE estimates. We regularly reassess board capacity through the programme and are monitoring the total pool of trained vaccinators that boards can access.

Data extracted on 19 January 2020 from the Covid Vaccinations Management Tool, shows that nationally boards have collectively registered approximately 7,500 vaccinators.

Question reference: S5W-34402

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £185 million COVID-19 support funding announced on 9 December 2020 by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance is being provided to bed and breakfast establishments.

Question reference: S5W-34667

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed at Marine Scotland to deal with export certificates for Scottish seafood.

Export Health Certificates (EHCs) are not dealt with by Marine Scotland, so no staff are employed for that purpose.

EHCs for seafood exports are normally issued by Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) working for local authorities. However, given the anticipated massive increase in demand for EHCs arising from the UK leaving the EU single market, the Scottish Government, Food Standards Scotland (FSS), seafood businesses and logistics providers have worked to put in place a FSS-staffed certifying service at three existing logistics hubs in central Scotland, thereby reducing what would be an unmanageable burden on local authorities. FSS have 11 staff employed to work at those hubs, with additional contingencies in place to increase resources should that be necessary. Local Authority EHOs will continue to provide EHCs for exporters who choose not to, or who are unable to, use the logistics providers operating the three hubs.

Question reference: S5W-34549

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent its (a) current and (b) proposed policies and budgets are rural-proofed.

Scottish Government recognises that to address the challenges rural Scotland faces, a cross-portfolio approach is crucial. In September 2018, the National Council of Rural Advisers (NCRA) published over 50 recommendations of which we accepted over 90%. Their leading recommendation was to effectively mainstream rural needs within all policy and decision-making processes. Our officials work day-to-day to ensure the needs of rural Scotland are fully considered as part of its existing and future policies.

In addition to this as required under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIAs) are required. These enable relevant authorities to assess and take into account the impacts of their policies, strategies or services on island communities.

Regarding budgets, Scottish Government are committed to using the most up to date information for the full range of indicators, including population dispersion and rurality, at the time the local government finance settlement is calculated. This ensures funds are fairly dispersed. We also provide a Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) for local authorities with populated island communities, to help meet the additional costs of providing services to those communities which are not fully accounted for in the local government funding distribution formula.

Question reference: S5W-34404

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what COVID-19 financial support will be made available to owners of bed and breakfast establishments who do not pay non-domestic rates and who do not possess a business banking account.

We confirmed on 20 January that support equivalent to the Strategic Framework Business Fund will also be made available to B&Bs who do not pay Non Domestic Rates but pay council tax. This support, which is £2,000 every four weeks, will be paid by local authorities and details of how businesses can access the support will be published shortly.

This is also available to B&B business who do not have a business bank account.

Question reference: S5W-34384

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many families with children in receipt of free school meals had received a cash grant of £100 by 24 December 2020, and how many were still due to be paid on that date.

In delivering the £100 COVID Winter Hardship Payment, the Scottish Government agreed with local authorities that children and young people in receipt of Free School Meals on 30 November, based on low income eligibility criteria, should receive the payment prior to Christmas wherever possible.

It was also agreed that those newly registered, up to and inclusive of the end of the school term prior to the winter break, should receive their payment no later than the second week in January. We are aware that a small number were still being processed as of 22 January, however these will be made to eligible families as soon as possible.

We estimate that around 156,000 children and young people were eligible to receive this support. We will make information on the number of payments issued available in due course, once local authority returns are received.

Question reference: S5O-04952

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent comments about Scottish independence by Spain’s former Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy.

Question reference: S5W-34556

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether there will be any exemptions to the recently-announced increase in the minimum charge for a single-use plastic bag to 10p.

I refer you to the answer for S5W-34557 on 20 January 2021, which covers the temporary COVID-related exemption. Aside from that, there is no change in the existing exemptions set out in Part 1 of the Schedule to The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 ( The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 (legislation.gov.uk) ).

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-34557

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it has made to ensure that "click and collect" and online food shopping deliveries are exempt from the charge on single-use plastic bags.

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