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-12877

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding awarded over the last year from the Social Enterprise Net Zero Transition Fund, including the environmental outcomes achieved to date from each project.

A table providing a summary of awards made from the Net Zero Transition Fund (NZTF) and their objectives has been lodged with SPICE, BIB no. 63871.

It is too early to outline the carbon savings/environmental impact just now, but we will be asking for this data in due course. The fund remains open and there are a number of active applications under consideration with further expressions of interest from Social Enterprises which are being supported by Social Investment Scotland (SIS) to finalise their plans.

Question reference: S6W-13090

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it initially allocated to the Tenant Grant Fund; what percentage of this fund was distributed to each local authority, and whether it will provide an update on how much each local authority has spent of its allocated funds to date.

The Tenant Grant Fund was a £10 million fund with each local authority receiving a share, based on a distribution agreement between CoSLA and Scottish Government.

The allocations were as follows:

Local Authority	Allocation
Aberdeen City	4.1%
Aberdeenshire	2.9%
Angus	1.6%
Argyll & Bute	1.0%
City of Edinburgh	15.8%
Clackmannanshire	1.5%
Dumfries & Galloway	2.2%
Dundee City	3.8%
East Ayrshire	2.0%
East Dunbartonshire	1.1%
East Lothian	1.8%
East Renfrewshire	0.9%
Falkirk	2.3%
Fife	6.5%
Glasgow City	16.2%
Highland	3.1%
Inverclyde	1.0%
Midlothian	1.7%
Moray	0.9%
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0.2%
North Ayrshire	3.1%
North Lanarkshire	5.9%
Orkney Islands	0.2%
Perth & Kinross	1.9%
Renfrewshire	2.3%
Scottish Borders	1.8%
Shetland Islands	0.3%
South Ayrshire	2.0%
South Lanarkshire	4.6%
Stirling	1.1%
West Dunbartonshire	2.7%
West Lothian	3.4%

We published updated spend data on 10 January 2023 and it is available at Tenant Grant Fund monitoring report: September 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). This shows all local authority expenditure and the number of grants paid by local authorities, up until 30 September 2022.

Question reference: S6W-13174

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any proposals for a compensation, settlement and pension scheme for key workers seriously impacted by long COVID as a result of their work.

Adult Disability Payment provides financial assistance for the additional costs experienced by disabled people and people with long term health conditions. Individuals with ongoing daily living or mobility difficulties due to having had Covid-19 can apply for Scottish disability assistance.

More widely the Scottish Government has set out in its Covid Recovery Strategy over 70 actions that will support people by: increasing financial security for low-income households; enhancing the wellbeing of children and young people; and creating good, green jobs and fair work. In support of the Scottish Government’s overarching aims, this will focus on reducing systemic inequalities, tackling poverty, and supporting people most affected during the pandemic.

The administration of pensions is reserved to the UK Government.

Question reference: S6W-13158

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what planned work has been undertaken to develop an adoption/foster care box of essentials for families.

In Scotland, there is a range of financial and practical support available to adopted and fostered children and young people, and their families. This year, the Scottish Government has provided funding of over £500,000 to third sector organisations, including Adoption UK Scotland and the Fostering Network, to provide the help that adoptive and foster families may require.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce an adoption/foster care box of essentials for families. Adoptive parents and foster carers are, however, eligible to register for a Baby Box through their appointed social worker if they are caring for a child between 0 – 6 months.

Question reference: S6W-13326

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans NHS Scotland has to restore thrombectomy services, including reversing any planned service reductions for the current year and lifting the reported thrombectomy recruitment freeze.

The Scottish Government remains committed to introducing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service in Scotland. As a result of the Emergency Budget Review, the thrombectomy service was not reduced, rather the expansion of the service was paused.

The budget for thrombectomy and development of a refreshed stroke improvement plan has been increased from £8.6 million for 2022-23 to £12.5 million in 2023-24. Prior to the 2023-24 budget announcement, the delivery of a national thrombectomy service had already received over £16 million of investment.

Work is ongoing to establish the most effective means of further expanding access to thrombectomy, including how the increased budget will be best used in recruiting staff to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from this treatment.

We are also in discussions with National Services Division, to ensure that decisions taken on potential expansions of the thrombectomy service consider the wider access requirements of patients across Scotland and ensure access is as equitable as possible.

Question reference: S6W-13053

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to facilitating postal deliveries of prescriptions for people in rural areas who are housebound and have no access to a community pharmacy.

Question reference: S6W-13057

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02569 by Kevin Stewart on 9 September 2021, how many short-term mobility aids have been issued by each health and social care partnership since March 2022.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold this information.

Following the publication of Guidance on the provision of wheelchairs on short term loan in March 2021 ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/guidance-provision-wheelchairs-short-term-loan/ ) Scottish Government officials engaged with individual Health and Social Care Partnerships to initially gauge what progress had been made in implementing the guidance. However, due to the pressures of the pandemic, a full review was not carried out as planned.

That engagement established that there were nine services who were providing a short term wheelchair loan service in house. These were Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde – Acute division.

Following a public consultation we plan to issue revised guidance on the provision of equipment and adaptations. Alongside short term wheelchair provision, this guidance includes extensive advice on the effective and timely provision of community equipment and housing adaptations. Accompanying the guidance is a range of good practice guides and self evaluation tools, which we will support services to utilise and evaluate how they are performing against the Key Actions contained in the guidance.

Question reference: S6W-13321

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were convicted of shoplifting in each of the last five years, and of those, how many have reoffended within a year of conviction.

The number of people convicted in Scottish courts, where the main charge was Shoplifting, was published on 21 June 2022 in Table 4b of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2020-21 bulletin.

The most recent five years of data are shown in the following table:

Financial year	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21 1
People convicted where the main charge was Shoplifting	6,248	5,661	5,928	5,422	2,673

1. Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be indicative of long term trends.

The number of people reconvicted of Shoplifting within one year of being convicted of the Index crime of Shoplifting was published on 4 October 2021 in Reconviction Rates in Scotland Statistics .

Data are only available for the most recent three years and are shown in the following table:

Cohort	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
People reconvicted of Shoplifting within one year of being convicted of the index crime of Shoplifting	1,137	990	997

Question reference: S6W-13175

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist any key workers affected by long COVID who are threatened with losing their homes due to their condition.

Within the financial year 2022-23, we’ve made available an initial £3 million from our £10 million long COVID Support Fund to provide NHS boards and partners with additional resource to deliver the best local models of care for assessment, and support for the treatment or management of symptoms.

Anyone who is at risk of homelessness as a result of long-COVID or any other reason can contact their local authority for advice and support. Additionally home owners with a mortgage are encouraged to engage with their lenders at an early stage to discuss their options and tenants should contact their landlord. Other organisations such as Shelter Scotland and Citizen Advice Scotland are also able to provide advice and support.

Supported by Scottish Government funding, the Money Talk Team service is delivered by the Citizens Advice Network in Scotland and provides an income maximisation service, including advice on welfare reform and debt to help clients save money, access benefits and grants they are entitled to and deal with debt problems.

Question reference: S6W-13122

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will urgently consider revisiting its reported decision to reduce the total finance made available to GP practices through the sustainability payment in 2022-23, and increase the funding from £10 million back to the originally announced £15 million, in light of recently announced UK Government spending commitments that it states will increase Scotland's funding over the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 by £1.5 billion.

The Scottish Government has surpassed its commitment to ensure every extra penny it receives from the UK Government is spent on health and social care. This means an extra £1 billion will be available to improve front line services and help fund the NHS pay deal for 2022-23. Scottish Government continues to keep the management of the 2022-23 budget under close and constant review, however, we do not anticipate further consequential funds from UK Government this financial year.