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: S6F-00579

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will require large retail stores to close on New Year’s Day 2022 so that retail workers can spend the day with their loved ones.

Question reference: S6F-00575

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-03148

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many GP appointments in each month since March 2020 have taken place (a) face to face, (b) over the telephone and (c) virtually, broken down by NHS board.

(a) & (b) We collect high quality data from across the health system, and are working with stakeholders to improve the quality of data we can collect from GP practices to ensure it is comparable and robust. There is no obligation on practices or health boards to report data on activity to Scottish Government, therefore we don’t have a robust time series of data covering the full time period asked for at health board level.

GP practices have remained open, accessible and at the forefront of our community services to deal with non-COVID-19 medical care throughout the pandemic.

We have continued to meet routinely with GPs and their representatives, and hear regularly from patients, to help build intelligence around appointments and pressures in GP practices throughout the pandemic, and are currently working together with NSS and PHS on a more advanced digital solution for capturing this information moving forward.

(c)In relation to virtual appointments, the table placed in the Scottish Parliament Information centre under bib number 62934, shows the number of face to face appointments being undertaken using the video consulting platform Near Me, but would not fully cover the various digital means of engaging with the Health Board - for example to feed in blood pressure readings and receive feedback through a managed service.

Question reference: S6W-04828

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional business space was created as a result of the 2020 round of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.

Question reference: S6W-04692

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve safety on the A9 between Inverness and Tore, and whether it will consider lowering the speed limit on the road to 50mph.

We are progressing an options appraisal using Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance to identify potential improvements on the A9 between North Kessock Junction and Tore Roundabout. The latest report on this appraisal is expected to be published by 10 December and will set out a short list of options recommended for further consideration. Transport Scotland will review these recommendations and consider the next steps, taking account of the feasibility of the options and available resources.

In the short term, works to install street lighting at the A9/B9161 Munlochy junction will commence this month. In addition, a review of the speed limit around Tore Roundabout will be carried out, along with investigations into improvements to active travel facilities and road markings at the roundabout

The section from Longman Roundabout to south of the North Kessock junction is already subject to a 50mph speed limit. A speed limit reduction to 50mph on the section north of this, to Tore Roundabout, is an option being considered in the current appraisal. This option is not consistent with national guidance on speed limits, given the current average speeds and rural environment of this dual carriageway road. Lowering the speed limit has potential to cause platooning of traffic, reducing the gaps available to turn right at junctions. Furthermore, the process to make any speed limit reduction allows those disadvantaged by the proposal to object. The public consultation results indicated overall negative views towards this option, meaning that a significant number of objections are likely. The findings of the options appraisal will be published mid-December.

Question reference: S6W-03678

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons it removed the obligation to isolate and report positive cases of COVID-19 for children under a certain age.

Question reference: S6W-04674

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric bicycles it (a) has purchased since 2007 and (b) owns.

The core Scottish Government has not purchased any electric bicycles since 2007. The Core Scottish Government does not own any electric bicycles.

The Scottish Government holds cycle friendly employer status from Cycling Scotland. The Scottish Government offers a cycle to work scheme which allows staff to hire a bike and safety equipment, paid for through monthly salary deductions.

During COP 26, 13 electric bikes and associated equipment (helmets, Hi-vis, lights, locks etc) were loaned from Energy Savings Trust (EST) to Transport Scotland for the duration of the conference. The electric bikes were for Scottish Ministerial and senior officials use.

The electric bikes have subsequently been returned to EST.

Question reference: S6W-03605

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some people experienced difficulties accessing the NHS Scotland Covid Status App in the 72 hours after launch.

Most people were able to access the NHS Scotland Covid Status App without difficulty from launch. Where people experienced difficulties it was when they requested access to their vaccination status through the app after having verified their identity. This process involved the app linking to an existing NHS system. There was an extremely high number of initial users trying to access this NHS system that matched a verified an individual with their health record at the same time. This led to the system being overwhelmed for a short period and a related fault developing in the NHS system that routed these requests. The fault, along with the required fix, was identified within the first 24 hours and the fix successfully implemented on the evening of 1 October. The backlog of health record matching requests had been cleared within 48 hours of the app being launched, during which time people who experienced difficulties at that time could continue to use their paper version, or their PDF downloaded copy.

Question reference: S6W-04892

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the monthly average sales income has been for fishermen in each of the last three years.

For the years 2018 to 2020, the average monthly sales income has been calculated for fishers employed on Scottish Vessels. This is given in the following table:

Monthly average sales income for fishers on Scottish registered vessels, 2018 - 2020

	2018	2019	2020
Landed value (£) in real terms	£624,485,606	£615,801,328	£487,707,712
Number of fishers employed	4,860	4,886	4,737
Monthly average sales income (£)	£10,708	£10,503	£8,580

The information on fishers employed is collected as at 31 December in each year and reflects those employed during the year. Some of these fishers are irregular, so will not work on the vessel full-time, so will have a lower income. This means that we are unable to provide monthly averages for each month as we do not know how many fishers were employed in each month. It should also be noted that some fishing sectors will have larger incomes than others and different crew share arrangements will be in place, meaning that some fishers on the same vessel will earn more than others.

The landed value in real terms and monthly average sales income are given in pounds and have been adjusted to 2020 prices by adjusting for inflation. As this is based on landed value only, it is not a reflection of earnings as no costs have been accounted for.

Question reference: S6W-04742

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the total cost will be of the ScotRail nationalisation rebrand, and whether this rebrand will be completed by a contractor or undertaken by ScotRail or the Scottish Government.

The only branding that will be required to be changed as part of bringing ScotRail services within the public sector under Scottish Government control is that of franchisee identifying stickers i.e. the small stickers on train doors and stations - “This service is operated by Abellio ScotRail”. It is anticipated that these will be changed through routine maintenance activities with no material additional cost to the taxpayer.