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-09199

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it took to ensure that students and other people living in houses of multiple occupation were specifically targeted to respond to Scotland's Census 2022.

National Records of Scotland met with representatives from over 30 of Scotland’s Universities and Colleges, and with organisations such as Young Scot, FindAUniversity and NUS Scotland, to drive awareness across institutions of the importance of supporting and enabling students to complete their Census.

An information pack was sent to every manager of student accommodation, containing information on how students should be included within the census. For students living in privately rented accommodation, NRS included information on the census website to clarify roles and responsibilities for completing the census.

A multi-faceted promotional campaign was developed to reach as high a proportion of the adult population across Scotland as possible. This included targeted activity to reach groups of the population identified in research as likely to need more encouragement and support to complete the census, including students and young people.

Throughout May, six in person events were held at university campuses and college sites in order to directly engage with the student population and to provide help and support to complete the census. These events were targeted in areas of lower returns, including Glasgow and Dundee.

NRS, supported by Young Scot, created bespoke assets (posters, social media assets, podcasts etc.) shared on a variety of channels. Social media influencers were also used to target young people and students on relevant platforms.

In line with the Scotland wide approach, people living in houses of multiple occupation were offered a range of help and support to complete Scotland’s Census via the census website and Freephone helpline. Census Field Staff provided further in-person support to facilitate completion. Individual questionnaires were offered to anyone aged 16 or over who wished to provide responses in private.

Question reference: S6W-09109

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 27 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with SEPA regarding the flaring, which is causing night-time noise and light disruption for local residents, at Grangemouth Refinery.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with SEPA, the independent regulator, concerning SEPA’s regulatory role in relation to industrial sites in Scotland, including the Grangemouth complex. Whilst we understand the concerns around flaring, it is an essential safety mechanism. Improvements driven by SEPA have reduced the overall frequency and duration of flaring at the Grangemouth complex, and the planned installation of totally enclosed ground flares will further reduce the noise and light disturbance experienced by communities.

Question reference: S6W-09110

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what independent accountability there is for bus service delivery in Scotland.

Bus service provision in Scotland operates in an open de-regulated market, as established by the Transport Act 1985. Individual bus operators use their own commercial judgement to decide on service routes, fare structure and frequency. Additionally local transport authorities can provide subsidy for services that are not provided on a commercial basis.

Under the Transport Act 1985 local bus services must be registered with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. The registration of services is devolved and subject to the Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2001. The regulatory regime is designed to ensure that bus service operators are of good repute and that services are introduced, varied or cancelled in an orderly fashion and operated safely and reliably as registered. As part of the registration process, operators are required to notify local transport authorities in advance of registering, cancelling or varying a service.

If the Traffic Commissioner considers that an operator is failing to run a service in line with their registration she has the power to take action against them. This could include issuing a fine, imposing conditions on their PSV license, or rejecting a future service application from the same operator.

Question reference: S6O-01308

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding negotiating pay settlements with bodies, groups and organisations funded by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-09112

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the COVID-19 reducing risk in schools guidance will be updated to allow the use of venues by community groups.

There is nothing in Scottish Government guidance, which prevents the use of schools by community groups. Since March of this year the published guidance for schools has explicitly stated under the section on local implementation that “If undertaking a particular activity is not explicitly precluded through this guidance – i.e. if it is not listed as a routine measure – then schools and local authorities should treat it as permissible provided they take account of relevant risks.”

This was in line with advice from the Advisory Subgroup on Education and Children’s Issues, to ensure that only those measures that were necessary and proportionate were retained. This was also to ensure that there was alignment with equivalent measures across wider society where possible. The most recent version of the guidance for schools was updated on 31 May and can be accessed here: Supporting documents - Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on reducing the risks in schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6O-01266

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report published by Reform Scotland describing the Scottish National Investment Bank as “unfocused and ill-conceived”, having a “strategic deficiency” and recommending that the Bank be “reset”.

Question reference: S6O-01250

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has explored the possibility of creating apps for parliamentary functions.

Question reference: S6W-08736

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is being provided for mental health support in colleges through the Scottish Funding Council.

In this Academic Year (21-22) the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has provided £2.423 million to the college sector to provide additional counsellors in colleges in support of our Programme for Government commitment to provide more than 80 additional counsellors in Further and Higher Education and £4.4 million for the college sector to help colleges to further support student and staff mental health and wellbeing. These funds were allocated to the SFC by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6O-01187

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Information Commissioner’s progress report on its handling of Freedom of Information requests.

Question reference: S6W-07301

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 31 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06487 by Kevin Stewart on 28 February 2022, which seven NHS boards are receiving enhanced support, and which NHS boards it anticipates will receive enhanced support over the next 6 to 12 months.

NHS Borders, Fife, Forth Valley, Highland, Lanarkshire, Lothian and Tayside have all been receiving enhanced support to meet the waiting times standard and eliminate long waits by end March 2023.

We will shortly be writing out to all Boards to inform them about our programme of support for the next 6-12 months, including those which will be offered additional support.

From our £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal fund, we have allocated around £40 million to NHS Boards to improve CAMHS. £4.25m of that allocation is directly focussed on offering treatment to those already on their CAMHS waiting lists.

We have also provided an additional £9m to NHS Boards in 2021/22 to address waiting lists for Psychological Therapies with further investment being planned for 2022-23.