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-02666

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many childcare settings in each local authority area have signed up to the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme.

Initial data from our local authority partners shows that 3,101 childcare settings and 116,293 eligible children are registered to the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme out of around 7,822 total childcare settings in Scotland.

Please see the following table:

Local Authority	Number of settings registered (as at 1 August 2021)
Aberdeen City	128
Aberdeenshire	152
Angus	99
Argyll & Bute	105
Clackmannanshire	32
Dumfries & Galloway	127
Dundee City	74
East Ayrshire	32
East Dunbartonshire	53
East Lothian	61
East Renfrewshire	54
Edinburgh, City of	199
Eilean Siar	25
Falkirk	94
Fife	218
Glasgow City	262
Highland	198
Inverclyde	33
Midlothian	51
Moray	90
North Ayrshire	42
North Lanarkshire	206
Orkney	27
Perth & Kinross	67
Renfrewshire	87
Scottish Borders	83
Shetland	28
South Ayrshire	62
South Lanarkshire	152
Stirling	60
West Dunbartonshire	45
West Lothian	155
Total	3101

Question reference: S6W-02595

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on (a) how many and (b) what percentage of homes in each local authority have had interlinked fire alarms fitted.

It is not possible to determine exactly how many owner occupied homes have alarms of the prescribed type installed as this information is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey. In the future, when the regulations on the new fire alarm standard have come into effect, it will be possible to collect more precise data because compliance with the tolerable standard is included in the Survey. This will allow us to monitor progress in bringing Scotland’s homes up to the new standard.

Drawing on the latest 2019 Scottish House Condition Survey data we estimate that of the approximately 1,550,000 owner occupied properties in Scotland, 7% (or around 100,000) of homes did not have any smoke alarm at all, and around a quarter (or 400,000) had only one alarm. This indicates that around 500,000 owner-occupied properties are likely to fall below the proposed standard. It is possible that a proportion of the remaining 1,005,000 properties with more than one alarm would also not comply with the standard, although it is not possible to determine this from the currently available data.

Question reference: S6W-02621

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the roll-out of the electronic transfer of prescriptions across all NHS boards and care settings.

The NHS Scotland already has in place the electronic transfer of prescriptions between general practice and community pharmacy.

Our NHS Recovery Plan and Programme for Government commits to investing in developing new digital solutions such as ePrescribing and eDispensing to make the prescribing process paperless which will free up capacity for healthcare professionals so that they can see more patients and making it easier for patients to access their medicines quickly and safely.

Question reference: S6W-02596

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry will publish its report.

Question reference: S6W-02597

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the average number of long-term empty homes in each local authority has been in each year since 1999.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01075 on 22 July 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website

The answer as provided in S6W-01075 sets out the available information published on the number of long term empty homes through Scottish Government annual statistics on long term empty properties and unoccupied exemptions, most recently published at Housing statistics quarterly update: December 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Detailed Excel tables are also available at Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , which provide local authority level figures on the number of long term empty properties from 2005 to 2020, and on the number of unoccupied exemptions from 1996 to 2020.

The figures are sourced from the Council Tax Base data return, and are based on an annual snapshot of properties on the Council Tax Valuation List as at the first Monday in September each year. Data on long term empty properties have been separately identified in the Council Tax Base data return from 2005 onwards, and so no information is held centrally for the earlier years 1999 to 2004.

Question reference: S6W-02594

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to assist NHS boards to support patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Question reference: S6W-02657

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a wild venison marketing board.

The Scottish Government supports the Scottish Venison Strategy and its ambition for 2030 to make Scottish Venison the premier choice of consumers and commercial buyers, both here in the UK and in international markets. We have provided funding to support a venison promotion campaign earlier this year.

I was delighted to recently support Scottish Venison Day on 4 September and I was pleased that retail sales of Scottish venison have recently increased. As part of the Food and Drink Recovery Plan, the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership has also provided £80,000 to support demonstration sites for locally based chill and processing facilities.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a wild venison marketing board.

Question reference: S6W-02588

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates it has met the UK Government to discuss the establishment of an inquiry on the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic; whether it will publish the minutes of these meetings, and on what dates future discussions or meetings are planned.

Question reference: S6T-00151

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is in discussions with the UK Government regarding its decision to terminate its supply agreement with Valneva for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001.

Question reference: S6T-00146

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the announcement by the UK Government not to proceed with plans to introduce vaccine passports.