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 MSPs 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: S6W-16083

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of GP practices in NHS (a) Lanarkshire and (b) Forth Valley that are at risk of closure.

Question reference: S6W-16725

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce regulations to bring the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 into force.

Question reference: S6W-16274

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its pilot to remove peak ScotRail fares, what its rationale is for running the pilot over a six-month period, and what its position is on whether this will be a sufficient period of time during which to assess the success or otherwise of the trial; what it considers would constitute the success of the pilot, and how this will be measured; what the rationale is for potentially removing peak fares, and what the evidence base is that suggests that removing peak fares will achieve this; in which geographical area(s) it expects the removal of peak fares to have the most impact, and what impact it projects the removal of peak fares will have on the ScotRail's income from ticket fares during the trial period.

Question reference: S6W-16174

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures Transport Scotland has in place to monitor the success rates of the tree planting that it carried out along the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Road/Balmedie-Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) section of the A90 is managed on behalf of Scottish Ministers/Transport Scotland by the Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) company Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL). The associated landscaping areas are included in the Agreement with ARL. Around 1.5 million trees were planted. The project is in year 4 of the 5 year Establishment Period. As the name suggests the Establishment Period is designed to closely monitor plant development and take action if appropriate to address tree plant establishment failures.

During the Establishment Period ARL’s appointed specialist landscape architect is required to undertake inspections of the tree planting 6 times in year one, 4 times in year 2, and 3 times for each of years 3, 4 and 5. On completion of the Establishment Period the landscaping enters the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) phase when annual inspections are required. The O&M period ends in 2047.

Following each inspection the landscape architect makes recommendations which are carried out by ARL and which could include tree tube/guard removal as the trees develop as well as identifying opportunities to enhance biodiversity and reduce pesticide application. Other work carried out over the last 4 to 5 years includes weed control, grass cutting in amongst those trees, pruning of damaged branches and re-staking of trees.

The appointed Contracting Authority (Jacobs consultants) receive annual reports and undertake joint inspections to ensure the contractual requirements are being fulfilled. Jacobs subsequently advise Transport Scotland of progress and discuss any matters as necessary.

Question reference: S6W-16379

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish all correspondence that it had with (a) the Royal College of Nursing, (b) the Royal College of Midwives, (c) GMB, (d) UNISON, (e) Unite the Union and (f) the Royal College of Physicians, regarding a pay deal for NHS staff.

Pay negotiations are held in a confidential space through the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee and it would not be appropriate for the Government to publish correspondence between Ministers and individual parties. The full scope of the agreement, containing detail on the wider review of Agenda for Change, has been published on the Scottish Government website ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-agenda-for-change-review-scope/ ).

Question reference: S6W-16343

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to Keep Scotland Beautiful in each year since 2016.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has delivered a range of initiatives on the Scottish Government's behalf and has been allocated the following funding since 2016 to enable it to do so:

2016-17: £11,147,463

2017-18: £11,152,455

2018-19: £11,131,472

2019-20: £8,642,939

2020-21: £10,054,598

2021-22: £1,227,428

2022-23: £609,000

The reduction in funding to KSB from 2021 is due to the Climate Challenge Fund coming to an end. KSB delivered the fund on the Scottish Government’s behalf until their contract ended in June 2021. The previously reported funding for 21-22 of £1,555,145 reduced due to underspend linked to the CCF being returned to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-16375

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much long Covid support funding was allocated to each NHS board in 2022-23.

Information on the level of funding made available to NHS Boards through the long COVID Support Fund for 2022-23 can be found on page 2 of the Scottish Government’s 20 December 2022 letter to the Scottish Parliament’s COVID-19 Recovery Committee. This is accessible on the Scottish Parliament website at: https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/covid19-recovery-committee/correspondence/2022/letter-from-cabinet-secretary-for-health-and-social-care--long-covid.pdf .

Question reference: S6W-16181

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the number of jobs that sustainable aviation fuel could create in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16182

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the future value of sustainable aviation fuel in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16066

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Public Health Scotland report, Gonorrhoea infection in Scotland: 2013-2022, which shows that the incidence of diagnosed gonorrhoea infection has increased since May 2021 from three positives per 100,000 people to 17.2 positives per 100,000 people in November 2022.

The Scottish Government recognises the continuing rise in gonorrhoea diagnoses, and we are grateful for the efforts of the dedicated clinicians who continue to work to find and treat affected individuals.

We acknowledge the impact that the pandemic has had on service capacity and levels of routine testing. That is why the upcoming Sexual Health and Blood Borne Strategy, which will be published this Spring, has a strong Covid recovery focus, and why we have invested over £500,000 into development of online STI testing. A pilot of this has begun in NHS Lothian, and we will continue to work with our NHS partners to understand how it may be further expanded.