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-00433

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2021

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports of an increase in turnaround times for ambulances offloading patients at A&E departments.

Question reference: S6F-00427

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2021

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-00424

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-03925

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used for the assessment of classroom ventilation, and how many classrooms have failed a ventilation inspection, broken down by local authority area.

The precise practical steps that each local authority took to conduct ventilation assessments of learning teaching and play spaces depended on the type/model/brand of CO2 monitors that the local authority used. Local authorities were asked to undertake assessments by reference to the Reducing Risks in Schools Guidance, which sets out the levels of CO2 that should be used to identify and prioritise spaces for improvement.

Details on individual assessments are held by local authorities. However, local authorities were asked to provide the Scottish Government with information on any ventilation mitigations or remedial action arising from the CO2 monitoring exercise. Local authorities have to date reported only limited instances of remedial action being required in their learning estates as a result of initial CO2 monitoring. Where actions have been required, they have most often been simple measures.

Question reference: S6W-03866

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding implementation of the Ivory Act 2018.

Scottish Ministers, alongside Scottish Government officials, have been in regular contact with the UK Government to bring forward legislation to implement the Ivory Act 2018 later this winter. The ban is then expected to come into force in Spring 2022.

The Scottish Government is required to obtain approval from the Scottish Parliament to proceed with proposals by Scottish Ministers to consent to the making of UK secondary legislation affecting devolved areas. I wrote to the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee in September with notification of our intent to proceed with this secondary legislation. Formal consent to proceed with the legislation is then possible, once the Committee has given it due consideration.

Question reference: S6W-03924

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many classroom ventilation inspections were carried out before schools started the October 2021 holidays.

Question reference: S6W-03955

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many trees it has planted in each year since 2016, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-03947

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the time taken to complete a fatal accident inquiry into the death in custody of a young person, what is (a) the average time taken and (b) the longest time taken in each of the past five years.

The following table shows, in relation to deaths in prison where the deceased was aged 25 or younger, the average and longest time taken to conclude an FAI in each of the last five years. Days are calculated from the date of death to the date evidence at the FAI was concluded.

	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22 (as at 28 October 2021)
Total FAIs concluded in year	5	2	4	4	2	0
Average length (days)	883	935	1,132	733	568	0
Longest time to complete FAI (days)	1,428	1,236	1,549	1,091	647	0

Question reference: S6W-03857

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government's Heat and Buildings Strategy aiming to ensure that heat pumps cost the same as fossil fuel boilers by 2030, whether it plans to set out a similar ambition and route to achievement of equalisation of cost by 2030, and, if so, when it will do so.

There is a range of projections as to how far heat pump costs can be brought down, set out in various recent publications by BEIS and the Climate Change Committee.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the supply chain to maximise cost reductions, and to leverage economic opportunities for Scottish businesses and communities. We have committed to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to kick-start market growth, and will work with industry to co-produce a new ‘Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan’ by Summer 2022. In addition we have been working with the heat pump industry to explore the potential for Heat Pump Sector Deal for Scotland, and will respond to the forthcoming recommendations of an advisory group at the earliest opportunity.

Question reference: S6W-03862

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of drink spiking in each of the past five years.