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-14085

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis the remit of the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure was established.

In June 2020, the Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity was established to consider and inform the Scottish Government’s approach in relation to the impacts of COVID-19 on Minority Ethnic (ME) communities. This was in response to reports at a UK-wide and international level that some ME groups may be at risk of experiencing disproportionate effects, both in terms of adverse health outcomes and in a wider context, including economically.

Our current priorities are rooted in the delivery of the recommendations of our Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity (ERG). Specifically, these actions cover the ongoing work to implement the data and systemic recommendations of the Expert Reference Group (ERG) for COVID-19 and Ethnicity, as agreed to by the Scottish Government in November 2020 .

Recommendation 7 from the ERG outlined the need to establish a more effective accountability and governance infrastructure in Scotland, namely an independent Race Observatory. The Scottish Government required specific expertise to help move forward with establishing the Observatory and therefore formed a short-life working group, now known as the IGG, to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6O-01837

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-13741

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when section 50 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, prohibiting pavement parking, will come into force.

Transport Scotland is continuing to consult with Local Authorities and others to develop both the secondary legislation required to allow them to enforce the National pavement parking prohibition as well as the Parking Standards Guidance which will underpin the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

The first of the associated regulations, which sets out the Exemption Order Procedures which local authorities must follow, was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 16 November and came into force on 9 December 2022.

My officials continue to work on the other secondary legislation which is required during the course of this year. These further regulations will ensure Local Authorities have all of the necessary tools to enforce the pavement parking prohibitions from late 2023 onwards.

Question reference: S6O-01832

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging increased patronage on rail routes serving Mid Scotland and Fife.

Question reference: S6W-13548

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in (a) Fife and (b) the Central Scotland region rely on liquefied petroleum gas for heating or hot water.

This information is not available in the form requested.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) explores the physical condition of Scotland’s homes as well as the experiences of householders. Data from the (SHCS) provides estimates of the number and percentage of households using LPG (bulk or bottled) as a primary heating fuel, based on a single year of data, and at a local authority level by averaging three years’ of data. The survey has not been designed to provide results by Parliamentary Region. The most recent data for 2017-19 by local authority is presented in the following table.

It should be noted that at a Scotland level over the period 2017 to 2019, 1% or 25,000 of households were estimated to use LPG as a primary heating fuel in their homes. Given this low prevalence, precise actual estimates from survey results are not available for Fife and other Local Authority areas.

It should also be noted that some households may use LPG as a secondary heating fuel, alongside other fuels. This is not included in the table below.

Table 1: Number and percentage of households using LPG (bulk or bottled) as a primary heating fuel, by local authority, SHCS 2017 to 2019

Local Authority	LPG bulk or bottled ‎ Number	LPG bulk or bottled ‎ Percentage
Aberdeen City	[c]	[c]
Aberdeenshire	3,000	3%
Angus	2,000	4%
Argyll and Bute	2,000	6%
Clackmannanshire	[c]	[c]
Dumfries and Galloway	2,000	3%
Dundee City	[z]	[z]
East Ayrshire	[z]	[z]
East Dunbartonshire	[c]	[c]
East Lothian	[c]	[c]
East Renfrewshire	[z]	[z]
City of Edinburgh	[z]	[z]
Na h-Eileanan Siar	1,000	7%
Falkirk	[c]	[c]
Fife	[c]	[c]
Glasgow City	[z]	[z]
Highland	3,000	3%
Inverclyde	1,000	1%
Midlothian	1,000	2%
Moray	1,000	2%
North Ayrshire	[c]	[c]
North Lanarkshire	[z]	[z]
Orkney Islands	[z]	[z]
Perth and Kinross	2,000	4%
Renfrewshire	[z]	[z]
Scottish Borders	1,000	2%
Shetland Islands	[c]	[c]
South Ayrshire	1,000	2%
South Lanarkshire	1,000	1%
Stirling	1,000	2%
West Dunbartonshire	[c]	[c]
West Lothian	[c]	[c]
Scotland	25,000	1%

Notes

1. Figures are based on a three-year average from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2017- 2019.

2. All numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

3. The following symbols are used in this analysis: [c] indicates base sample too small to report (below 30 cases) or estimate representing 2 or fewer sampled households and [z] indicates no sample cases in this category.

Question reference: S6W-13547

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of reports that, from 1 January 2023, Mossmorran terminal in Fife will no longer be supplying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and whether (a) it has had any meetings with Mossmorran terminal upstream partners to discuss this matter and (b) any contingencies have been put in place to ensure that people who rely on LPG can still access it.

The Scottish Government is aware of this matter and has engaged with relevant stakeholders, including trade association Liquid Gas UK, on the sufficiency of gas volumes available in the sector, and with the upstream partner choosing to reduce LPG supply via Mossmorran to better understand their commercial decision.

Security of energy supply, including LPG, is a UK Government reserved matter and Scottish Government officials are in contact with counterparts at the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to confirm that quantities of gas being processed are more than sufficient to meet demand – and that BEIS continue to monitor the picture closely in communication with suppliers to ensure there remains adequate availability of LPG for distributors in Scotland.

Further, I have written to the Secretary of State for BEIS to outline members’ concerns raised with me, and to seek UK Government’s express reassurance on Scottish LPG supplies for 2023 and beyond. I have also requested clarity on the UK Government’s plans to extend existing levels of support through the Energy Price Guarantee to help struggling rural households with rising energy costs, asking the Secretary of State to urgently confirm whether the £200 Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) to help households who use alternative fuels such as LPG will be repeated during 2023-24.

Question reference: S6O-01772

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is measuring progress on its Covid Recovery Strategy commitment to improve financial security for low-income households.

Question reference: S6W-12718

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals had a near-fatal overdose in each of the last five years, and, of these individuals, how many were linked up with drug treatment services, broken down by NHS board.

We don’t hold the data that provides the total number of all events of near-fatal overdoses across Scotland.

The need for improved data sharing has been identified as key for the improvement of near-fatal overdose follow-up pathways. Through the Directors of Public Health National Drug Deaths Incident Management Team (NDDIMT), the need for improved data sharing is being taken forward as matter of priority in relation to MAT standard 3 - that all people at high risk of drug related harm are proactively identified and offered support to access treatment or care and support.

I am actively pursuing options for clarifying the position on information-sharing and discussions are ongoing with the Data Protection Officer around potential action they can take to assist with the sharing of essential information.

Question reference: S6W-12712

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether guidance regarding the pharmacological and psychological management of benzodiazepine dependency has been finalised, following the interim guidance made available in 2021, and, if this is the case, whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S6W-12714

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has modelled the financial costs of implementing Medication Assisted Treatment standards (a) one to five and (b) six to 10, and whether it will publish these costs.