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-06365

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 28 January 2022, how many classes it anticipates will “relocate to alternative spaces while alternative, longer-term measures are put in place”; whether it will update the Parliament on the number of classrooms that are taken out of use on this basis, and whether it has assessed how many alternative spaces are available.

Question reference: S6W-06356

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether every school classroom has been subject to CO2 monitoring, and, if not, by what date this will be completed.

Question reference: S6W-06206

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to raise standards in the construction industry to protect consumers.

Through the work of the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) which I chair the Scottish Government is keen to see renewed focus on construction quality, including regulatory compliance, which will improve life-cycle value to clients and productivity of the industry.

The CLF meets bi-monthly with trade union, construction industry and government representatives collaborating on driving progress on the Construction Recovery Plan, which contains a range of practical actions to support the sector. As part of the transformation sub group of the CLF, work is ongoing on an action to gather and disseminate lessons from construction quality improvement initiatives and issue guidance on maintaining focus on construction quality and regulatory compliance during economic downturn. Another action is to establish the infrastructure to take forward and accelerate the work of the Construction Quality Improvement Collaborative.

We are working with the UK Government to explore how the proposed New Homes Ombudsman scheme provided for in the UK Building Safety Bill could operate in Scotland. We will continue this engagement to try to achieve a scheme that works for Scotland and respects the devolution settlement to ensure that buyers can purchase new-build homes with confidence and be assured that any problems relating to quality will be resolved effectively and efficiently.

In relation to the Building Standards system and to improve compliance with the building regulations, a consultation on proposals on the introduction of a new Compliance Plan Manager role, the definition of high risk buildings and penalties and enforcement was issued on 11 November 2021 and closed on 9 February 2022. Raised standards in this respect would be to ensure buildings meet the minimum building regulatory standard.

Further advice can be obtained from consumeradvice.scot which is a free consumer helpline funded by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-06336

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) time period and (b) discount rate of return was used to calculate the Net Present Value (NPV) figures in table 2 of annex F of the publication, A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland: Final Business Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Question reference: S6W-06006

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 and Town and Country Planning (Short-term Let Control Areas) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 being approved, whether overall responsibility for oversight of businesses in the short-term letting sector will (a) move to its Housing and Social Justice Directorate and (b) remain within the overall responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy.

Tourism, planning and housing officials have worked closely together on the development of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 and Town Country Planning (Short-term Let Control Areas) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022. The policy area taking the lead will depend on the specifics of each case.

However, generally the short-term lets policy team within the Directorate for Housing and Social Justice are responsible for matters relating to the short-term lets licensing scheme and control area regulations, which fall within my portfolio remit.

The overall responsibility for tourism businesses and tourism strategy remains with the tourism policy team within the Directorate for Economic Development, which fall within the remit of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy.

Question reference: S6W-05619

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the justification is for its guidance setting out a COVID-19 14-day self-isolation period for care home residents, and whether there are plans to change this guidance to specify a shorter period, similar to changes to guidance on self-isolation for the wider public.

recognise how difficult self-isolation for 14 days has been for those who live in care homes and their loved ones. While self-isolation has been necessary for minimising the risk of Covid-19 transmission, I understand that restrictions on visiting during isolation periods can be distressing for and negatively affect the wellbeing of care home residents and their loved ones. This is why it is important that restrictions are not in place for any longer than necessary and Scottish Government Officials have worked with clinical experts to keep restrictions under close review throughout the pandemic.

Self-isolation periods for care home residents was, in January, reviewed by clinical experts. The result of this review was a recommendation that there could be a reduction of the self-isolation period for individuals identified as cases or contacts of a Covid-19 case, who live in adult care homes, from 14 days to 10 days. On 19 th January 2022 the Scottish Government communicated this updated guidance to care homes and confirmed that care homes should adopt this change in guidance with immediate effect.

I appreciate the isolation period still differs from the general public, which may be disappointing for individuals living in care homes. This change is in line with guidance issued by Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and the UK IPC cell and reflects the ongoing risks facing vulnerable people living in a communal setting. To minimise the impact isolation periods can have on residents, they can choose a friend or family member to be a named visitor, to visit them during their self-isolation periods. Scottish Government Officials have worked with Public Health Scotland to normalise visiting by named visitors and emphasise that this is the default approach and care homes and health protection teams should support these visits, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

In addition to this, following a review by Public Health Scotland, people transferring from hospitals to care homes will no longer need to isolate, if they have had a negative PCR test in the previous 48 hours, so long as they have no symptoms of a respiratory virus and have had no prior exposure to COVID-19, over the previous 14 days.

Scottish Government Officials continue to work with Public Health Scotland and ARHAI to review all remaining restrictions including self-isolation periods for residents.

Question reference: S6O-00815

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Historic Environment Scotland is considering criteria that could be used to identify sites that could be left to managed decline.

Question reference: S6O-00817

Asked by: Natalie Don-Innes, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the UK Government on the devolution of drug legislation to the Scottish Parliament, particularly in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Question reference: S6O-00816

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling any issues related to high numbers of second homes in some parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00812

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to support World Book Day on 3 March 2022.