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-22880

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in light of the report of the review of the Victim Notification Scheme, which was published in May 2023.

The Scottish Government commissioned an independent review of the VNS in spring 2022 to ensure that the scheme was working well for victims. The review published its report and an easy read summary in May this year. It made 22 recommendations for change of the scheme, including in relation to data, evidence and reporting, the information available and communications.

Since that time, we have been considering the report in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including criminal justice agencies and victim support organisations. We have used the information gathered from this programme of stakeholder engagement to inform development of our formal response to the review’s report.

We intend to publish that response towards the end of this year, or early next year, and for it to include information about what stakeholders have said to us on the recommendations, and our strategy for reform of the VNS.

Question reference: S6W-23028

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support will be provided for tree and plant growers to trial and develop new peat-free growing media mixes.

We have consulted on ending the sale of peat in Scotland as per the commitment made in our 2021-22 Programme for Government. We received over 550 responses to the consultation, which are providing valuable insights as to the transitional needs of growers. We are actively collaborating with the horticulture industry to facilitate the transition, with a crucial aspect being the allocation of sufficient time for the industry to identify alternative growing media and methods. It is important to recognise that there is no direct replacement for peat, and growers must proactively adapt to meet their individual needs.

We work closely with the horticulture industry and with research providers to commission and support a number of research projects that will assist transition away from peat. These include:

a Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Alternatives to Horticultural Peat in Scotland (2019, link );
an evaluation of alternative growing media for the production of healthy potato mini-tubers (2020, link );
an analysis of the barriers and Opportunities for Peat Growing Media Supply (2022, link );
identifying the plant health risks associated with plant waste disposal and peat-free growing media and developing best practice guidance for waste disposal and composting across sectors (2023, link ).

Question reference: S6W-22905

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements have been made to support children and young people travelling to England to receive (a) CAR-T therapy and (b) other specialist and innovative cancer treatments not yet available in Scotland.

The Scottish Government acknowledges that that it can be difficult for patients when there is a need to refer them outwith Scotland for specialist treatment.

Ministers expect Health Boards to be mindful of this, to discuss patients’ circumstances with them, and make suitable arrangements to ensure that the necessary treatment can be provided in a patient-centred way. This includes helping to identify and access financial support available for eligible patients and authorised escorts, such as through the Patient Travelling Expenses Scheme and the Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme (HITS).

All Health Boards also have the discretion to reimburse patient travel expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary.

Question reference: S6W-22907

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what provision it plans to make to support children and young people with cancer to travel to their specialist treatment when they are not required to stay as an inpatient.

The Scottish Government has several sources of funding available to children and young people with cancer, in Scotland, to assist with the travel expenses incurred for travelling for cancer treatment. These include the Patient Travelling Expenses Scheme and The Highlands and Islands Travel Scheme (HITS) for outpatients. All Health Boards also have the discretion to reimburse patient travel expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary.

Question reference: S6W-22758

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the use of service level agreements in relation to employment contracts adheres to the NHS Scotland Partnership Information Network (PIN) policies, which define a minimum standard of best employment practice.

Question reference: S6W-22906

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it plans to undertake a full review of the Young Patients Family Fund, including its eligibility criteria, to assess its impact to date.

Question reference: S6O-02767

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce accidents and improve overall safety on the A77.

Question reference: S6O-02728

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what clarification on teacher number arrangements will be provided to local authorities this year.

Question reference: S6W-22574

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to review non-domestic rates, particularly for hospitality businesses.

Since the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates, we have implemented a range of key reforms and changes to the non-domestic rates system, some of which came into effect on 1 April 2023.

We remain committed to three-yearly revaluations with a one-year tone date, introduced this year, as recommended by the Barclay Review, to ensure rateable values more closely reflect market values and to reduce volatility between revaluations. Revaluations redistribute the tax base to reflect changes in market circumstances and ensure fairness for all ratepayers, and the next revaluation is scheduled to take place on 1 April 2026.

The New Deal for Business established a consultative sub-group on non-domestic rates, which includes representative groups from the hospitality sector, to advise on further enhancements to the operation and administration of the non-domestic rates system following the implementation of the final recommendations of the Barclay Review. The sub-group’s recommendations were included in the New Deal for Business Report on Progress and Recommendations, and further details on how these will be taken forward are outlined in the New Deal for Business Group’s Implementation Plan which was published on 19 October.

Decisions on non-domestic rates for 2024-25 will be made in the context of the Scottish Budget which will be published on 19 December.

Question reference: S6W-22394

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21760 by Angela Constance on 9 October 2023, how many of the 543 charges under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 that led to a conviction in criminal court between August 2021 and March 2023 resulted in the person convicted (a) going to prison and (b) receiving a community sentence.

Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Taking into account that an individual can have multiple charges and each charge can have different disposals (for example a custodial and a monetary disposal), 250 charges (of the total 543 charges) resulted in the person convicted going to prison and 189 charges received a community sentence as main disposal.