Scottish Government

Thursday 10 September 2020

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Constitution and External Affairs

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that COVID-19 events sector funding has been rural-proofed. (S5W-31535) Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government considered a range of factors when developing the criteria for the Events Industry Support Fund. This included online forums that EventScotland hosted with geographical and sub-sectoral representation from across the events sector; an events supply chain survey; and with input from the Event Industry Advisory Group, which includes representation from rural events.

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether traders and crafters have been excluded from the criteria that would allow them to access COVID-19 events sector funding. (S5W-31536) Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has put in place over £2.3 billion of support for Scottish businesses across a wide range of sectors to support them during the pandemic.

The Events Industry Support Fund is in place to provide support to businesses or individuals who organise, stage and deliver events. Eligibility was developed with input from the events sector. Where a trader or crafter can demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria then would be able to apply for support on the same basis as other businesses or individuals in the events sector.

If a trader or crafter is not eligible for this particular fund then they may wish to consult https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ to see whether they are eligible for any other sources of support.

Economy

Maureen Watt (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the discussions it is having to explore an extension to the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme in Aberdeen, in light of the city’s inability to take advantage of the scheme due to the recent lockdown restrictions. (S5W-31489) Fergus Ewing: I wrote to the Chancellor on 14 August requesting an extension of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in Aberdeen to allow businesses there to benefit from it to the same extent as the rest of the country following the local lockdown restrictions. I still await a reply to that letter. My office was advised by HM Treasury on 3 September that they would respond as soon as they are able. I will continue to pursue the request and will provide an update once I have received a response.

Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether Forestry and Land Scotland is planning to introduce an annual scheme to allow motorhomes and campervans to park overnight in forest car parks. (S5W-31490) Fergus Ewing: Forestry and Land Scotland’s trial of single night motorhome and campervan stop-overs at selected car parks will conclude later this year. The agency will then review the findings of the trial before considering what might be an appropriate way ahead for 2021 and beyond.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to pay claims under the 2020 Less Favoured Area Support Scheme in 2021. (S5W-31491) Fergus Ewing: Financial support to those farming and crofting in our most fragile and remote areas is a priority for the Scottish Government. It is the intention that LFASS payments will be paid in Spring 2021 to those who submitted an eligible claim earlier this year. I am clear that maintaining business cash flow and providing support into rural areas is vital to help farmers and crofters through the unprecedented and difficult times caused by Covid 19 and the continued uncertainties of Brexit.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government whether the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme will be retained in its current form until 2024. (S5W-31492) Fergus Ewing: This Government set out its approach in the Stability and Simplicity consultation to provide Scottish farmers, crofters, foresters, rural businesses and rural communities a period of stability, by retaining the majority of CAP schemes until 2024. I was clear after the passing of stage 3 of the Scottish Agriculture bill that LFASS would be one of the schemes continuing in 2021. It is therefore crucial that the UK Government provides a clear statement on future funding and honour the promises made during the 2016 EU referendum so that plans can be progressed for those CAP schemes in 2021.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering the reinstating of Less Favoured Area Support Scheme payments to 100% of the 2018 rate for the 2020 scheme year. (S5W-31493) Fergus Ewing: For the 2020 scheme year LFASS has been retained with payments set to be at 40% (or 25/ha) of the 2018 payment rates and will be paid in spring 2021. Unfortunately we are unable to circumvent EU rules and reinstate payments to 2018 levels for the 2020 scheme year. Around 1,400 farmers and crofters who receive the minimum LFASS payment of £385, are not impacted. In addition, the Upland Uplift part of convergence payments supports farming and crofting in our marginal uplands, hill farms and island areas. Options are being considered for year 2 payments.

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31256 by Ivan McKee on 28 August 2020, how many business pillar meetings (a) it and (b) its agencies' officials had in 2019-20 with stakeholders in each of the 15 priority markets outlined in A Trading National. (S5W-31496) Ivan McKee: Scottish Government business pillar engagements are led by Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation. The Minister’s T&I Overseas Visits focus on the 15 priority markets, as outlined in A Trading Nation ; Scottish Government’s plan for improving Scotland’s export performance . The visits he undertook in 2019 – 2020, along with the number of meetings are summarised below:

Market Date Number of meetings Poland 23 – 24 January 2019 11 Italy 10 – 12 February 2019 11 Norway 17 – 19 March 2019 7 Sweden/Denmark 9 - 11 April 2019 11 Netherlands 19 - 20 May 2019 5 China 1 – 5 July 2019 26 Belgium 7 – 9 September 2019 10 USA 20 – 25 October 2019 27 Ireland 27 – 29 November 2019 10 Switzerland 29 – 30 January 2020 9 Spain 10 – 12 November 2020 16 TOTAL 143

In line with commitments under the Scottish Ministerial Code all Ministerial engagements, including those overseas, are proactively published here - https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/

Whilst a record is not held centrally for Scottish Government officials and trade and investment agency, Scottish Development International; representatives regularly meet with stakeholders across our top 15 markets to promote Scotland as a place to invest in and trade with internationally.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what involvement it has with Project Birch, which is a unit that has been established by the UK Government to assess requests by companies for support during the COVID-19 pandemic; whether it will place details of any discussions it has had with the unit in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), and what information it has regarding how many companies with a presence in Scotland have requested support through this route. (S5W-31506) Fiona Hyslop: I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 8 June 2020 on economic matters. The letter was copied to the Chancellor. In relation to Project Birch, it specifically asked for engagement “on the businesses you are working with that have a footprint in Scotland, so that we can bring our collective energy to addressing issues that these businesses might face.” Despite this, there has been no engagement or discussion on Project Birch and Scottish Government holds no information on how many companies with a presence in Scotland have requested support through this route.

James Kelly (Glasgow) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it will review the current ban on music in the hospitality industry. (S5W-31512) Fergus Ewing: As announced by the First Minister on 14 August the current position of no background sound, including music, in hospitality is being kept under review. This work is currently being taken forward by an expert group comprising government, industry experts and environmental health representatives. The outcome of the review will be announced soon.

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government where it proposes to locate its national network of tech scalers, in light of the commitment in its Programme for Government to multi-year, multi-million pound investment, as suggested in the Logan Review. (S5W-31539) Kate Forbes: We have not yet taken decisions on the location of the tech scalers. Virtual access to Tech Scaler services will be provided to enable remote participation regardless of location.

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated by the Digital Growth Fund; how many businesses have received support, and whether it is still operational. (S5W-31548) Kate Forbes: The programme is still operational and continues to support SMEs. Up to the end of August £4,846,021 of funds have been allocated with 100 businesses having accessed this funding to increase their digital capability.

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will confirm to farmers the level of support that it will provide to less favoured areas. (S5W-31555) Fergus Ewing: Financial support to those farming and crofting in our most fragile and remote areas is a priority for the Scottish Government. It is not possible to circumvent EU rules and reinstate payments to 2018 levels for the 2020 scheme year, which will instead be at 40%. We are currently considering options for the year 2 Upland Uplift part of convergence payments which will provide additional support to those farming and crofting in our less favoured areas.

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement by the NFU Scotland Less Favoured Area Committee Chair that "we currently don’t have clarity on what the Scottish Government’s intentions are for paying LFASS (Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme) 2020 claims". (S5W-31558) Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government have engaged with NFUS and we support their point of view in keeping the LFASS running. The passing of stage 3 of the Scottish Agriculture Bill is the first step in ensuring we have the legal powers to continue all CAP schemes. It is now essential that the UK Government give us clarity of future funding so that plans can be progressed for the delivery of CAP schemes in 2021. Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will allocate in each year to the Ecosystem Fund, as set out in its Programme for Government. (S5W-31577) Kate Forbes: The new Tech Ecosystem Fund will enable us to make strategic investments in activities that support our tech start-ups to succeed. The value of the fund will be determined as part of the Scottish Government's budget process, and by the investment of private partners.

Education, Communities and Justice

Angela Constance (Almond Valley) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03147 by Claire Haughey on 25 April 2019 (Official Report, c. 5), what progress it has made on the development of educational resources for menstrual health, including endometriosis. (S5W-31449) John Swinney: The endometriosis resources were being considered, however due to the current circumstances Education Scotland re-focused its activities to work directly with practitioners as they support learners to build on learning during lockdown, identifying and addressing gaps in learning and adapting to new delivery and improvement approaches. Education Scotland therefore paused progress of new resources but have now restarted the development of the education resources for menstrual health, including endometriosis.

Education Scotland will reengage with Endo Warriors regarding the new resources.

Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31291 by John Swinney on 26 August 2020, how much funding was allocated to each local authority, and how this was calculated. (S5W-31451) John Swinney: As agreed with COSLA, funding allocations to each local authority were based on a distribution formula calculated on the basis of deprivation (70%) and rurality (30%). Agreed amounts allocated are detailed in the following table:

LA Allocation Aberdeen City £503,633 Aberdeenshire £1,320,234 Angus £511,133 Argyll and Bute £447,007 City of Edinburgh £943,823 Clackmannanshire £225,168 Dumfries and Galloway £733,257 Dundee City £761,110 East Ayrshire £742,413 East Dunbartonshire £314,648 East Lothian £469,946 East Renfrewshire £211,436 Falkirk £651,885 Fife £1,847,197 Glasgow City £3,123,122 Highland £1,393,009 Inverclyde £433,829 Midlothian £396,645 Moray £488,001 Na h-Eileanan Siar £152,880 North Ayrshire £551,172 North Lanarkshire £1,612,911 Orkney Islands £142,900 Perth and Kinross £721,467 Renfrewshire £706,764 Scottish Borders £631,807 Shetland Islands £180,151 South Ayrshire £524,128 South Lanarkshire £1,468,744 Stirling £454,473 West Dunbartonshire £448,170 West Lothian £844,736

We are now considering how best to invest the remaining £1m to deliver further benefits for disadvantaged children and young people.

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that some people are ignoring the mandatory requirement to wear a face covering in shops, and how it is monitoring and enforcing this requirement. (S5W-31465) Humza Yousaf: Wearing a face covering continues to be a legal requirement in certain environments open to members of the public. The enforcement of the Coronavirus Regulations is, of course, a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Scotland. Police Scotland have indicated that, to date, the vast majority of people are, as we would expect, complying with the regulations. It is, however, important to note that some people are exempt from wearing a face covering, and their reasons for this might not be immediately apparent.

In Police Scotland’s approach, enforcement has always been a last resort, where engagement, explanation and encouragement to comply have all failed. The Chief Constable made it clear at the outset that it is important that Police Scotland’s policing tone and style reflects the need for positive engagement and that common sense needs to be applied by everyone.

The Scottish Government will continue to keep the Coronavirus Regulations under review.

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing monitoring it will undertake of school pupils’ general wellbeing and the impact of (a) the use of face coverings, as recommended by WHO, and (b) other COVID-19 mitigation measures. (S5W-31509) John Swinney: We are working with partners to monitor implementation of the agreed guidance carefully. The Health and Safety Executive have carried out 500 initial telephone sample checks and schools have achieved over 80% compliance rate. The HSE will be undertaking follow up visits where there are any areas of concern.

We seek regular feedback from partners via the Education Recovery Group about the experiences of pupils and staff in schools, and the way in which our guidance is being implemented in schools. Where there is a need to take action, either by updating our guidance or ensuring it is being given practical effect, we will work with partners to do so.

Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it achieved its commitment in the 2019-20 Programme for Government to have 350 school counsellors in post by September 2020 and, if not, how many are currently in post. (S5W-31513) John Swinney: We have engaged with education authorities throughout the COVID-19 period and there has been significant progress in the delivery of the counselling through schools commitment. It is expected that all schools will have access to counselling services by the end of October 2020.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what support and guidance it is giving to education authorities to provide to pupils regarding the safe use of face coverings in schools. (S5W-31518) John Swinney: The World Health Organisation issued new advice on face coverings on 21 August. After consideration by the Advisory Sub-Group, and following consultation with teachers and local authorities, our advice was updated on 25 August. Paragraphs 79 to 92 of the updated guidance offer advice on the safe use of face coverings in schools.

The guidance has been updated to note that face coverings should (unless exemptions apply) be worn by adults and young people in secondary schools when moving about the school in corridors and communal areas, where physical distancing is particularly difficult to maintain. They should be worn on school transport by everyone over the age of 5. Anyone (whether child, young person or adult) wishing to wear a face covering in school should be permitted to do so.

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many incinerators have combined heat and power solutions included in their planning approval; where these are located, and how much energy they have produced each year. (S5W-31531) Kevin Stewart: The information requested is not held centrally.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what online teaching provision it is implementing for children who have to self-isolate at home due to COVID-19 symptoms. (S5W-31543) John Swinney: Responsibility for arranging learning for children who have to self- isolate sits with the child’s school. Local authorities have a range of arrangements in place to support an online teaching option as part of this provision.

In recognition of the need to further strengthen the options available to schools, Scottish Government and Education Scotland are working with local government partners to support the development of these options and to ensure that schools can access an enhanced range of options for online learning during 2020/21.

One aspect of this work is the e-learning national partnership project involving Scottish Government, ADES and Education Scotland. For example, e-Sgoil - the online teaching provision based in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) - is widening access to online lessons across a range of subjects, augmenting the work of classroom teachers across the country. In August, e-Sgoil announced a package of free, live, interactive online study webinars for senior phase pupils starting 7th September. Twenty courses are on offer at National 5 and Higher level, in a range of subjects including Art, Business Management, Chemistry, Computing Science, English, French, Gaelic, History, Mandarin, Maths, Music, Physics, Religious education and Spanish. Education Scotland are working with e-Sgoil to develop a further offer across primary P5-P7 and S1-S3 age groups. Further detail on this e-Sgoil Broad General Education offer will follow, with additional information on the new national partnership offer available at: https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/news-and-events/new-partnership- offer-to-improve-availability-of-online-learning-across-scotland/

In addition, schools can access additional support from within their local authority or from their Regional Improvement Collaborative (RICs were set up by Scottish Government to support improvement and collaboration across local authority areas). One example is the West Partnership region which is launching its Online School in September, providing a further offer of teacher led lessons. In the initial development phase, the West Partnership aims to collate short, quality assured video lessons covering the entire 3-18 curriculum. These will also be available nationally for those who wish to access the lessons from other local authority areas. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/STEMcentralinmotion/2020/09/01/west- partnership-online-school/

Live or recorded online lessons should be one part of a mix of learning activities; a mix which can include "offline" learning tasks as well as other forms of digital and online learning via the Glow national online learning platform. Since the end of March 2020, Education Scotland have increased the volume of online learning and teaching materials, and have enhanced the overall provision available to schools. As a further aspect to its national offer, Education Scotland's new Scotland Learns resource provides additional learning at home activities and ideas to complement any online learning and offline learning provided by the school. Further information on Scotland Learns is available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/scotland-learns/

Schools can also access additional digital learning resources from a variety of third sector and community learning organisations.

It is important too that teachers have the skills and confidence required to support pupils with online learning. In order to address this need, Education Scotland provides a range of professional development opportunities for teachers’ digital learning and teaching. Further advice and support is available to schools via their local authority and their RIC. Scottish Government is committed to tackling digital exclusion amongst disadvantaged children and young people through its £25m investment in devices and connectivity. Funding allocations for devices and connectivity have been made to all 32 local authorities who are now in the process of ordering equipment to address local needs. We expect that around 70,000 devices and 18,000 connectivity solutions will be provided to disadvantaged children and young people across the country in the coming weeks and months.

Finally, advice and support to parents on how to support their children’s learning at home is available via the Parent Club website at: https://www.parentclub.scot/articles/helping-your-child-home-and-blended-learning

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020 that all newly qualified teachers would be employed in teaching posts in 2020, and in light of reports that some education authorities have stated that they do not have enough money to employ more teachers, how it plans to resource this commitment. (S5W-31560) John Swinney: We have provided an additional £75 million for the recruitment of additional teachers for this school year to bring much needed resilience to the education system, and to support children and young people who have suffered loss of learning during lockdown.

All councils will receive their share of this funding and we would expect teachers to be recruited. The funding is enough for the recruitment of around 1,400 additional teachers.

The funding may be used by local authorities to recruit additional post probation teachers, recently qualified teachers and other qualified teachers.

Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plan to (a) establish 350 school counsellor posts and (b) ensure that every secondary school has a counselling service. (S5W-31586) John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31513 on 10 September 2020. 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 . Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects to achieve the target set out in the Programme for Government of recruiting an additional (a) 1,400 teachers and (b) 200 teaching support staff. (S5W-31590) John Swinney: Local authority recruitment of additional teachers and support staff is underway, informed by ongoing assessment by schools and local authorities of the needs of children and young people during the first few weeks of their return to school. Once this process has concluded, we will be in a position to provide the number of additional teachers that have been recruited.

Current estimates from local authorities suggest that an additional 740 teachers have already been recruited, with plans in place to recruit another 250. We would expect this number to increase as schools continue to assess the needs of children and young people over the coming weeks.

Health and Social Care

Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what the current costs are for the NHS Louisa Jordan, also broken down by (a) set up, (b) estimated running and (c) decommissioning costs. (S5W-31712) Jeane Freeman: The NHS Louisa Jordan was established to help ensure NHS Scotland had extra capacity to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and stood ready to do so since 20 April 2020. The set up costs are £31 million. The breakdown of the costings is available on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-louisa-jordan- costs/ .

The total infrastructure costs including set up and decommissioning are within the overall estimated costs of £38m. The lease for the NHS Louisa Jordan at the SEC has been extended until the end of April 2021 and expected running costs to then are £29 million. It should be noted that negotiations with the SEC are ongoing in relation to potential loss of income, which are not included in the figures at this stage. Costs for individual Nightingale hospitals in NHS England have not been published, but based on the total costs of the NHS England programme (£220 million), we are confident that NHS Louisa Jordan represents value for money and compares favourably to other hospitals of this type.

We will continue to monitor monthly running costs with regards to the NHS Louisa Jordan’s role in the remobilisation of NHS services, following the successful pilot at the NHS Louisa Jordan which has seen over 400 patients receive orthopaedic and plastic surgery outpatient consultations since the start of July and such costs will continue to monitored by the Governance Board chaired by the Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland.

Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the holding answer to question S5W-29031 by Jeane Freeman on 29 May 2020, when it will provide a substantive answer, and for what reason it has not provided this to date. (S5W-30903) Jeane Freeman: Ministers will always endeavour to answer Parliamentary Questions as quickly as possible.

In this instance, the Scottish Government awaited information from HM Treasury to be able to answer the question as fully as possible. When it was clear that updated figures would likely not be available in the near future, I responded to question S5W-29031 with the information available on 26 August 2020.

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what discussions NHS Information Services Division (ISD) has had with the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce and its sub-groups since July 2019. (S5W-31301) Joe FitzPatrick: Information services division ((ISD) became part of Public Health Scotland (PHS) from 1 April 2020. A range of officials from PHS have been actively involved in the work of the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce and its sub-groups since its first meeting in September 2019.

As well as being represented on the main Taskforce, a PHS representative is leading the work of the Public Health Surveillance sub-group, whilst a representative sits on the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) sub-group. PHS is also supporting engagement on implementation of the MAT Standards with a range of partners as part of the MAT sub-groups work.

PHS further support the Taskforce and its sub-groups by providing briefings on a range of issues, including; data governance, timescales for delivery of statistical reports and other PHS projects, advice on the feasibility of research; and the impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs.

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures suggesting that drug deaths in Scotland have risen by more than three times since 2005, and have been the world's worst since November 2008. (S5W-31303) Joe FitzPatrick: National Records of Scotland are responsible for publishing annual data on drug related deaths. The most recently published report reports on deaths in 2018. Information within the report confirms a total of 1187 drug related deaths in 2018.

I do not recognise the claim that Scotland has had the worst number of drug related deaths since November 2008 and I am not aware of any data that would indicate this. Data does show, however, that the number of drug deaths in Scotland has been on an upward trajectory since data collection began in 1992.

The number of drug related deaths, and the levels of drug related harm, that occur in Scotland is unacceptable, and it is a priority of this Government to do all we can to tackle this public health emergency that we are facing. I established a Drug Deaths Taskforce as part of our ongoing response, and we have invested around £895 million in services to tackle alcohol and drug use since 2008.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS workers are being routinely tested for COVID-19 in the same way that professional footballers are. (S5W-31348) Jeane Freeman: We are routinely testing healthcare workers where the evidence tells us it is appropriate to do so.

We test all asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in suspected nosocomial COVID-19 outbreaks. This decision was made based upon independent expert advice from the COVID-19 Nosocomial Review Group.

In addition, we test, on a weekly basis, staff working in specialist cancer units, in long term care of the elderly and in long stay mental health wards. These further categories were selected either by having regard to evidence of nosocomial spread in certain healthcare settings, and/or by having a likelihood of highly vulnerable patients in terms of COVID-19.

Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly reduced its funding to the Scottish Personal Assistant Employers Network (SPAEN), which supports the employers of social care personal assistants, and what equality impact assessment it carried out before reaching this decision. (S5W-31432) Jeane Freeman: The financial settlement in the 2020-21 budget was very tight and tough decisions were made across all parts of the health and social care portfolio. The majority of projects in the self-directed support and social care portfolio experienced reduced levels of funding.

Despite this, the total amount of funding from Scottish Government to SPAEN in 2020-21, is in line with previous years, it is made up of social care funding and specific support related to COVID-19.

It is good practice to regularly review grant funding arrangements to ensure alignment with policy aims and sustainability. As an organisation SPAEN has received Scottish Government funding for over a decade and some of its work is self-sustaining. Funding arrangements for 2020-21 followed the completion of a business review and receipt of SPAEN’s own funding application for 2020-21.

We are fully committed to the provision of independent advice and advocacy including advice on employment of personal assistants and as well as funding SPAEN we fund other organisations through the Support in the Right Direction programme (SiRD).

We did not complete an EQIA for this specific funding decision, however we did work with Self-directed Support Scotland (SDSS), a membership body representing disabled people’s organisations, in order to understand the impact of our funding to independent support organisations as part of the consultation and fund development of SiRD. A planned EQIA on reform of adult social care has been delayed due to COVID.

Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is considering regarding testing school pupils for COVID-19 quickly and in their own locality and, in light of the similarities that symptoms of the virus can have with cold and flu strains, what plans it has to introduce less invasive tests. (S5W-31437) John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of all school pupils, as well creating a safe environment for children to go to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. If anyone, including school pupils, have symptoms of the virus, they should immediately isolate and arrange test via a drive through centre, through ordering a home testing kit or via a walk-in testing if one is close to their home.

We are continually developing, and working with partners on, testing innovations that could enable us to provide testing in new and improved ways. Reducing the invasiveness of testing is one of the areas that we are looking to improve and we will seek to use less invasive testing techniques if they become available. The Scottish Government understands the importance of school pupil’s education and will continue to work hard to ensure all our children and young people are able to attend school.

Alexander Burnett (Aberdeenshire West) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31181 by Joe FitzPatrick on 24 August 2020, whether it will provide (a) further information on the development of the LymeApp app and (b) indicative dates for when it anticipates the app will be rolled out in the Highlands for user testing; what discussions it has had with other NHS boards regarding the development of the app, and what plans it has to bring other NHS boards into its development. (S5W-31439) Joe FitzPatrick: NHS Highland, working with Scotland's Rural College and two commercial companies, are taking forward the development of LymeApp. The evaluation and testing of the app will start in September 2020 and will continue until the end of January 2021. In 2019, all NHS Health Boards were invited by the Director of Public Health for NHS Highland to take part in the user evaluation and testing process. One other Board, NHS Wester Isles, expressed an interest at this stage. Health Boards and other potential user groups are still able to take part during the testing / evaluation period. Further information can be obtained from NHS Highland.

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what the budget is for the new NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde specialist mesh service that is being established; how many patients per year this service will (a) have consultations with, (b) treat and (c) operate on, and what the projected cost is per patient. (S5W-31442) Jeane Freeman: Funding of £1.3 million (2020-21), and £1.9 million in each of the following two years will be made available for the new specialist service.

The new service expects 35 surgical cases this year and, in the following two years, it expects in the region of 130 multi-disciplinary team referrals and around 100 surgical cases per year. The projected cost per patient in years two and three is therefore around £19,000. Cost per patient in the first year is higher due to initial start-up costs and phased recruitment.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 tests were carried out at the mobile testing units that were stationed in (a) Helensburgh on 27-28 July 2020 and (b) Dumbarton on 28 July to 2 August 2020. Holding answer issued: 10 September 2020 (S5W-31446) Jeane Freeman: A holding answer was provided.

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government on which date the First Minister was made aware that patients were being transferred from hospitals to care homes without being tested for COVID-19. (S5W-31461) Jeane Freeman: Ministers did not have information on the results of Covid-19 tests for patients who were discharged from hospital prior to the release of the Sunday Post FOI. However, following Parliamentary Questions in May officials discussed with Public Health Scotland (PHS) the potential of linking the discharge and test result datasets.

Following discussions it was agreed to initially focus on the cohort of patients who experience a delay, and work on combining the delayed discharge and testing data commenced in July with initial data expected to be available in October 2020.

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government on which date the First Minister was made aware that patients were being transferred from hospitals to care homes after having tested positive for COVID-19. (S5W-31462) Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31461 on 10 September 2020. All answers to Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether the decision to allow the reopening of indoor sports facilities to the public from 31 August 2020 includes gyms, swimming pools and sports courts that are part of individual schools and used by pupils. (S5W-31499) John Swinney: Indoor sports facilities opened for the general public from 31 August 2020. Decisions on access to facilities located in schools are made locally. At present it should be noted that pupils are not permitted to use indoor school sports facilitates for PE until at least the 14 September as scientific advice currently recommends that PE provision in schools be restricted to the outdoors.

Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, in light of there only being two specialist mother and baby units in Scotland, what action it is taking to support the mental health of new mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it will improve (a) access to these units and (b) the provision of specialist community perinatal mental health services in each NHS board area. (S5W-31510) Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is committed to improving services in perinatal and infant mental health across Scotland. The 2019-20 Programme for Government contained a specific focus on the mental health of women, babies and their families accompanied by an investment of £50m over 4 years. The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board has been established to provide oversight of this investment and to roll out service provision across statutory and third sector services.

Perinatal Mental Health services across Scotland continued throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and were prioritised for access to Near Me, a secure online platform for providing services. To help support parents, we invested £240,000 in providing access to the Solihull Online programme which is aimed at improving parent-child relationships, managing problematic behaviour and promoting positive mental health. This includes a postnatal course on ‘Understanding Your Baby’ as well as a course for the antenatal period. Information regarding mental health and emotional wellbeing was provided through Parent Club throughout the pandemic. Additionally the Inspiring Scotland Perinatal and Infant Mental Health service directory provides signposting for third sector services across Scotland.

The two Mother Baby Units in Scotland (Leverndale and St Johns) are regionally managed but provide support to all mothers across Scotland. Access to these units is based on need and clinical judgement, rather than geography. The Scottish Government expects that where admission to an inpatient unit is required, that women and infants will be admitted appropriately, in line with clinical judgement and the wishes of the patient.

In 2019-20 and 2020-21 we have invested £750,000 across both Mother Baby Units to improve the experience of care for women in need of intensive support. This funding aims to improve services in line with the recommendations based on the Delivering Effective Services report by the Perinatal Mental Health Managed Clinical Network.

We have also invested £30,000 in the new Mother Baby Unit Family Fund which will provide a contribution to the expenses incurred by partners when travelling to visit a mother and baby receiving care. Making it easier for whole family care to be provided.

We are also in the process of providing funding to every health board in Scotland to increase their specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health services. This builds upon initial investment of £80,000 in the North of Scotland in 2019/20 to support the initial development of community services. We are working with Grampian, Highland, Orkney and Shetland and are providing further funding to create services which support the needs of women across these areas.

In addition, funding has also been offered to support Maternity/Neonatal Psychological Interventions services and to develop Infant Mental Health services. We expect these services to be in place by the end of this year.

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the minutes of the Scottish Screening Committee meeting in November 2019, whether it will provide further details of the action it will lead on for the development of a protocol for NHS boards wishing to undertake pilot programmes for lung cancer screening. (S5W-31534) Joe FitzPatrick: Work on development of a protocol for NHS boards who wish to undertake pilot programmes for lung cancer screening was planned following the Scottish Screening Committee meeting in November 2019. However, this was paused due to the focus on Covid-19 and the remobilisation of the NHS. In particular, efforts of the Scottish Government, Health boards and the Scottish Screening Committee have focused on ensuring that the adult national screening programmes, which also had to be paused in March, can restart safely.

Progressing this work remains important, and it will be resumed as soon as it is possible to do so.

Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plan to appoint an additional 250 school nurses by 2022. (S5W-31587) Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government remains on track to meet the Programme for Government 2018-19 commitment to have an additional 250 qualified school nurses in place by the end of 2022. We are in discussion with Health Boards and Higher Education Institutions for the 2020-21 intake with the expectation a further 50 students will commence this academic year. Organisational Development and Operations

Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication, Social Security Scotland client diversity and equalities analysis to December 2019, which states that BME devolved benefit applicants have a lower level of approved applications, at 73%, compared with white applicants, at 82%, what the reasons are for this difference. (S5W-31454) Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland collects equality information so that we can better understand how different groups are engaging with our benefits. This will help inform evaluation of both policy and delivery to help us continually improve.

Between December 2018 and December 2019, data was gathered from clients who volunteered to complete an Equalities Monitoring and Feedback form. Because the form was not mandatory, the response rate was very low (less than 5%), which means we cannot be sure that this data was representative of the clients that applied at that time. Of the clients who completed the Equalities Monitoring and Feedback form, only 170 were in the minority ethnic group, which includes African, Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British, Caribbean or Black, Mixed or multiple ethnic groups, and Other ethnic group, and only 130 of those forms were able to be linked to the application outcome data which the approval rates are based on.

Since December 2019, the method used to collect equalities information has been improved by making the questions mandatory. This should provide more robust data. More recent data, covering the period from December 2019 up to the end of May 2020, will be published later this month. It will be important to understand whether this variation in the levels of applications approved is also reflected in this new data.

Social Security Scotland uses data collected from clients and from other sources to continually improve the service provided to all of its clients, to help reduce any differences seen in approved applications within any of the equalities groups. This will be a key theme in the Agency’s first Equality Strategy which is currently being developed following a public consultation earlier this year.

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27645 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 March 2020, when it expects to be able to provide an update on the installation of Social Security Scotland into its new head office in Dundee. (S5W-31479) Shirley-Anne Somerville: It is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on the status of an on-going commercial matter. An update will be provided when negotiations and commercial matters are finalised in relation to any new office accommodation for Social Security Scotland.