Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-14311

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many potholes have been repaired in each of the last five years.

Transport Scotland, through its Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.

The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all potholes that present, or could present, an immediate hazard to trunk road users. These are defined as Category 1 defects within the term maintenance contract, which also sets out strict timescales for their repair. Following identification of Category 1 pothole defects, the Operating Companies are required to make the defect safe by 6am the following morning, preferably by completing a permanent repair. Where this is not possible then a temporary repair is required within the same timescale with permanent repairs required 28 days. The following table shows the number of Category 1 potholes identified and repaired in each of the last five whole years.

Financial Year	Number of Potholes
2017-2018	13,354
2018-2019	11,989
2019-2020	12,660
2020-2021	12,949
2021-2022	9,679

Question reference: S6W-14170

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has an assurance process to ensure that health and care digital innovations are developed in an ethical, standards-based way, and, if this is the case, how much was spent on creating it.

An Accelerated National Innovation Pathway has been established to standardise and facilitate the adoption of health and care innovations. The Scottish Health Technology Group also supports standardisation by providing robust governance and advice. Digital technologies are required to meet clinical safety standards such as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and compliance with MHRA regulations.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for health and social care will articulate further national principles and deliverables around the ethical use of data. The strategy is due for publication this year

Question reference: S6W-14323

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the next Climate Justice Fund independent evaluation will be conducted and concluded, and whether it will include analysis of (a) the £2 million loss and damage funding announced around COP26 and (b) the £5 million loss and damage funding announced at COP27.

The next evaluation is planned for the end of the current funding cycle (to March 31 2026) and will include all funding that has been allocated from within the Climate Justice Fund. The evaluation will cover whether or not the funding has achieved it’s strategic objectives, and whether the Fund as a whole is continuing to demonstrate best practice in delivering climate justice against the three pillars of justice that were adopted following the previous evaluation.

Question reference: S6W-14313

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13349 by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023, whether it is the case that it can now confirm how much funding will be allocated to the Climate Justice Fund in financial year 2023-24, and, if it is not the case, whether it will provide a draft figure, prior to final budget allocations being made, of how it expects to allocate for this purpose.

Question reference: S6W-14276

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it (a) has made and (b) plans to make of the number of buildings that are used (i) for the provision of residential care, (ii) for sheltered housing, (iii) as a place of assembly, entertainment or recreation, (iv) as a hospital and (v) as shared multi-occupancy residential complexes and have been identified as having combustible cladding materials that will require remediation.

The Scottish Government expects duty holders, including local authorities and the NHS, to deliver a safe environment for all users including the building types in question. The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 requires that duty holders carry out a fire safety risk assessment of relevant premises to identify any risks to the safety of persons caused by fire, including the risk posed by combustible cladding.

The ban of combustible cladding that came into force on 1 June 2022 through the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 applies to new buildings, conversions and to existing buildings where the external wall cladding system is being replaced. The regulations do not apply retrospectively to existing buildings.

Question reference: S6W-14296

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13230 by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022, whether it will provide further detail of the scale of the financial impact on those local authorities not expected to receive a net financial benefit from the introduction of Deposit Return Scheme, and whether it proposes to provide funding to local authorities to offset any losses.

Calculations are based on commercially sensitive data provided in confidence to Zero Waste Scotland by local authorities. Therefore, we will not provide any additional information.

Zero Waste Scotland has engaged with three local authorities which are modelled to not make a saving and offered modelling support to identify changes that could mitigate the potential net cost. The Recycling Improvement Fund, a £70 million fund designed to support local authorities to make impactful change to their recycling services, is available for any local authority to apply to.

Question reference: S6W-14279

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent communication it has had with public bodies, including local authorities and the NHS, regarding the safety of buildings affected by the ban on combustible cladding materials that will require some form of remediation.

The ban of combustible cladding that came into force on 1 June 2022 through the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 applies to new buildings, conversions and to existing buildings where the external wall cladding system is being replaced. The regulations do not apply retrospectively to existing buildings.

The Scottish Government communicated the changes to the building regulations to all local authorities as well as a range of stakeholders groups including the NHS, by written means and/or through participation in expert panels. Consultation exercises, social media releases, blogs and dissemination events were also used to reach key groups.

Question reference: S6W-14297

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability of suitably qualified (a) engineers and (b) technicians able to provide maintenance and repair services for reverse vending machines, as part of the delivery of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-14295

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13230 by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022, according to the modelling done by Zero Waste Scotland, how long on average after the initial investments would local authorities expect to experience a net financial benefit.

Question reference: S6W-14258

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) First Minister, (b) Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, (c) Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training and (d) Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights last visited an independent school.

Chamber and committees