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-00260

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to assembling half of all new trains procured for the domestic railway network within Scotland, equivalent to the commitment made by the Welsh Government.

Firstly, as means of clarification the Welsh Government did not commit to 50 percent of its fleet being assembled in Wales prior to its procurement. Both the Welsh and Scottish Governments must comply with relevant procurement law.

The procurement strategy for new rolling stock, to be produced by the wholly owned Scottish Government company named ScotRail Trains Limited, will be subject to approval by Transport Scotland. Through that process, the Scottish Government will seek to maximise opportunities for the involvement of the local supply chain.

Transport Scotland has already undertaken informal market testing with manufacturers to ensure the importance of local input is clear and any procurement will restate this. The current Class 314 conversion project at Bo’ness is focussed on developing a local supply chain which will support the need for diesel train replacement by zero emissions fleets.

Question reference: S6W-00256

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated costs are for structural repair works to the M8 Woodside Viaducts in Glasgow.

Transport Scotland are preparing robust estimates for the all the works involved with the repairs to the viaduct. However, the current estimate for the propping to enable the M8 restrictions to be removed and facilitate the repair works is £33.36million. This estimate, and the delivery programme, is being refined to ensure value for money as detailed design progresses. Costs for the subsequent concrete repair works to the supports will be provided by Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, Amey, when the extent of the repair works and repair method is agreed.

Question reference: S6W-00352

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next review the criteria for visiting care home residents, as it eases COVID-19 restrictions.

The Open with Care guidance, published on 24 February 2021, recommends a minimum of two indoor visits per resident per week (where they so wish), as long as certain conditions are met. This was a starting point to enable care homes to increase the frequency, duration and quality of visits through local assessment and support from local oversight arrangements. The guidance should be adopted to reflect the Protection Level of each care home’s local authority area.

Additional advice on supporting residents to make outings and overnight stays away from the care home was published on 17 May www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/ . The general principle is that when a resident wishes to go on outings away from the care home, that these should take place in line with general population COVID-19 permissions relevant to the local area, unless there is clear evidence justifying a more restrictive approach.

The Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in June .

Question reference: S6W-00400

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the social distancing requirement in places of worship from two metres to one metre.

We acknowledge how challenging this past year has been for everyone in our society, including places of worship. We are grateful to all of Scotland’s faith and belief communities for all they have done to keep their congregations safe and to support our communities during this unprecedented time.

From 26 April, we moved towards greater easing of the health protection restrictions, with the removal of the 50 person limit in places of worship; instead the numbers of people who can attend are limited according to the building capacity and physical distancing of two metres, along with other measures informed by a risk assessment.

The Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing including its impact on places of worship and an announcement, which will consider the faster spreading Delta variant, is expected in the near future. Sectoral guidance will be further updated at that time to reflect the outcome of the review, including proposals for as clear a route as possible to the reduction/removal of physical distancing to enable people and organisations to plan effectively for a full reopening. Physical distancing has been an important tool for controlling the virus, but as with all restrictions, we will only have this in place as long as is necessary

The Scottish Government has to balance the harms from the virus which are potentially fatal, with the impact on faith and belief communities of the restrictions on places of worship. However, please be reassured that the Scottish Government understands the important role of congregational worship in supporting spiritual, mental and social wellbeing and will continue to engage with faith and belief communities regarding the scope for further easing.

Question reference: S6W-00379

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether an economic impact assessment has been conducted in respect to the lockdown restrictions in the Falkirk Council area, and, if so, whether it will publish this assessment.

The virus continues to have severe direct impacts on people’s health, and the potential to put significant pressures on NHS capacity. For this reason, and to tackle the new, faster-spreading Delta variant, we have made the difficult decision to delay a move to Level 1 for some Local Authorities which have displayed high or rapidly increasing levels of incidence.

The decision to allocate areas to a Level, finely balances the need to control the virus and to minimise the wider economic and social harms of the restrictions. Consideration of the economic harms from Covid (Harm 4) is factored into the design of the Levels themselves, and a 4 Harms Assessment was undertaken on these Levels when they were last updated and published.

On 1 June, we published Coronavirus (COVID-19): Protection Levels allocation to local councils which explains the basis on which Levels 2 and 1 were applied to local council areas in Scotland. The Government also has a legal duty to undertake statutory Impact Assessments when Regulations concerning the Levels are changed. These include Equalities, Islands, Child Rights/Wellbeing, and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessments, and they are now published.

Question reference: S6W-00205

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric charging points ChargePlace Scotland has installed in each year since 2012-13.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency and improving air quality in our cities. To help incentivise this shift, the Scottish Government have invested over £45 million in Scotland’s own electric vehicle charging network, ChargePlace Scotland, which has steadily grown since 2012 with the highest number of installs being recorded in 2020 for both private and publicly owned charge points.

The ChargePlace Scotland network currently hosts 2080 electric vehicle charge points, which includes 335 charge points that are not available for public use but will support the blue light services, fleets and depot charging.

Year	Total	Public	Private
2013	122	122	0
2014	129	129	0
2015	277	277	0
2016	107	107	0
2017	170	170	0
2018	118	118	0
2019	321	267	54
2020	556	371	185
2021	280	184	96
	2080	1745	335

Question reference: S6O-00034

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the appointment of the new Makar.

Question reference: S6O-00041

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the presumption against short sentences has had on the number of people who are sent to jail for assaulting emergency workers.

Question reference: S6O-00043

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to tackle violence against women, particularly in relation to prostitution and purchasers of sex.

Question reference: S6O-00046

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many projects have been funded by the CashBack for Communities programme in East Lothian since the initiative was launched.