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: S6O-01644

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress that has been made in finding a solution to save the Belmont in Aberdeen and the Edinburgh Filmhouse and International Film Festival from permanent closure.

Question reference: S6W-12600

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Scottish Ministers have been informed that a property factor has failed to comply with a property factor enforcement order in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-12435

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £830.6 million allocated to the additional support for Social Care in its 2022-23 budget, which was announced on 9 December 2021, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

All of the £830.6 million allocated to Additional Support for Social Care in the 2022-23 budget has been included in the block grant allocation provided to local authorities. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently and the information requested on spend would therefore require to be requested from local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-12599

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have not been complied with in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-12480

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to review the current planning procedures for funding allocated for the construction of Changing Places toilets.

The Scottish Government introduced Scottish Building Regulations in 2019 requiring the provision of Changing Places Toilets in larger new buildings to which the public have access. These provisions are detailed in the Building standards technical handbook 2020 . At the same time, we also amended our Planning System to include these amended building regulations and further detail can be found within the Planning Circular 1/2020: Changing Places Toilets Regulations.We are not planning any further legislative changes in this area at this stage. Our work to amend building standards in 2019 was robust and sought to strike a sensible balance between encouraging further CPT provision across Scotland whilst recognising the resource needed to build these facilities may be prohibitive for smaller buildings.

We have recently published our Changing Places Toilets: Planning Guide and an accompanying easy read . This guide, written in collaboration with PAMIS (Promoting A More Inclusive Society), details practical considerations when considering installing a Changing Places Toilet in both existing and new buildings. This helpful toolkit will improve Changing Places Toilet provision in the immediate term and ensure that new toilets built following our changes to legislation are appropriate and well considered

Question reference: S6W-12394

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments made by the General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress regarding the forthcoming National Care Service Bill that reforms "could end up costing an awful lot of money for the Scottish Government at a time when that money could be better used to deal with a system that is in crisis in a much more immediate way".

The establishment of a National Care Service (NCS) is the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the National Health Service (NHS). It is necessary to deliver the consistency and quality of care and support across Scotland that people deserve, and reinforce our commitment to Scotland’s people to take long term action to change our society and make it a fairer place to live.

The Financial Memorandum set out the range of possible costs for the NCS. Estimates are being constantly monitored and reviewed as new information becomes available.

We recognise that there is an urgent need to make improvements to social care now, and we are not waiting for the NCS to start that process.

We are taking the action we can now to address challenges in social care. We have committed to increase spend in social care by 25% by the end of parliament, helping to lay the groundwork for the NCS.

Our 2022-23 budget confirmed more than £1.6bn for social care and integration to lay the groundwork for the NCS. Any spending decisions made on the NCS service will be backed by rigorous, evidence based decisions.

In April this year the minimum hourly rate for those providing direct adult social care increased to £10.50 an hour.

The Scottish Government transferred £200 million to Local Government to support investment in social care, including to deliver this uplift.

This represents an increase of 4.8% from the £10.02 pay rate that was introduced in December 2021. This is also an increase of 10.5% for these workers in the course of a year – with pay rising from at least £9.50 per hour in April 2021 to at least £10.50 per hour in April 2022.

Question reference: S6W-12500

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reported research from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland that states that there is only one consultant psychiatrist for every 10,250 people in Scotland.

Since 2007, the number of Psychiatric Consultants across all specialities in NHS Scotland has increased by 20.7% to 544.9 whole time equivalent posts. Despite this workforce expansion, we know that demand for psychiatric treatment continues to grow. That is why in 2021 we increased the number of Core Psychiatry places by 5 in response to increased demand for psychiatry. This year we are expanding training by a further ten places, and we will consider further increases in future years. In the 2023-24 training year, we will fund another 15 Core Psychiatry training places. Five of these will be created for the February 2023 start date and the other ten will be made available for trainees taking up post in August 2023. Further, the Scottish Government is working with NES and the Royal College of Psychiatry to encourage medical students to consider a long-term career as a psychiatrist. This work includes the ‘Choose Psychiatry’ campaign, undergraduate taster sessions and improved psychiatric placements at Foundation level.

Question reference: S6W-12481

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated for the construction of new Changing Places toilets in the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing in Changing Places Toilets over this parliamentary term, in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country and to support mobile Changing Places Toilets to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

Funding for the construction of new Changing Places Toilets has not yet been allocated. We are progressing the first phase of work in order to design an investment programme that ensures that the Changing Places Toilets which are built are fit for purpose. Further information about this fund will be available next year. We have recently published our Changing Places Toilets: Planning Guide and an accompanying easy read for people who are planning to develop Changing Places Toilets now.

Question reference: S6W-12483

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with people with lived experience to co-design its current policy regarding Changing Places toilets.

We are committed to working with people with lived experience as we progress our first phase of work to design an investment programme that ensures that the Changing Places Toilets which are built are fit for purpose. We work closely with PAMIS (Promoting A More Inclusive Society) and will engage further with people with lived experience as we develop our Changing Places Toilets investment programme. On 2 November, I also attended a meeting of the Cross-Party Group on Changing Places Toilets to provide an update on progress.

Engaging with people with lived experience is at the heart of policy-making in the Scottish Government. We believe that people have the right to contribute to, and to influence, the decisions that affect their lives, choices and life chances, and that involving the people likely to be affected by the decision in the process results in better decision making.

Question reference: S6W-12283

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost is to Forestry and Land Scotland for purchasing the Glenprosen estate in Angus.