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-05064

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Places for Everyone programme, and by what date it expects that Sustrans will be able to accept applications for new projects.

Question reference: S6W-05436

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to announce the next phase of the Learning Estate Investment Programme.

The Learning Estate Investment Programme has made significant progress since the first projects were announced in September 2019, with projects in construction and in development representing a £1.2bn investment in the learning estate.

The Scottish Government intend to announce the projects that will form part of Phase 3 of the programme within the next 12 months. We will write to local authorities seeking investment proposals in 2022 and in the meantime we will work with local government to agree the development programme timeline.

Question reference: S6W-04861

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure the effective mainstreaming of Housing First, following the end of the pathfinder projects.

At 1 October, all six local authorities in the pathfinder programme have mainstreamed their support provision and remain committed to delivering a Housing First programme. I can confirm that the Housing First pathfinder programme formally ends on 31 March 2022. The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with 50% of funding for the final year to support the mainstreaming of Housing First. This funding ended on 30 September 2021.

To support the scaling up and mainstreaming of Housing First, the Scottish Government has been working in partnership with Homeless Network Scotland on a suite of tools to support local authorities and their partners:

Publication of a National Framework which provides a comprehensive overview to all organisations involved in developing and implementing Housing First e.g. local authorities, health and social care partnerships.
Development of a ”check-up” process has been undertaken to support the scale-up of Housing First and enable measurement against the Housing First principles. The check-up process involves self-reflection, peer input and includes a sounding board of experts to help local authorities improve their programme.
A dedicated monitoring framework to capture Housing First progress across Scotland’s local authorities. The monitoring framework collects in-depth detail on all Housing First tenancies from 1 April 2021 on a quarterly basis. The second quarterly progress report was published on the Scottish Government website on 30 November 2021.

Scottish Government’s funding of Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans support the development of Housing First across Scotland. Officials are supporting local authorities through regular meetings and on an individual basis. These foster a supportive environment to ensure effective implementation of Housing First programmes across Scotland. Homeless Network Scotland’s annual Housing First Conference on 31 March 2022 will coincide with, and celebrate the end of, the pathfinder programme.

Question reference: S6O-00543

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the steps that it is taking to strengthen Scotland's international relationships.

Question reference: S6O-00500

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its pilots to provide free bicycles for school-age children.

Question reference: S6O-00471

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the Tay Cities Region Deal is having on Dundee.

Question reference: S6O-00398

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to reported calls for licensees to be required to provide alcohol sales data to their local licensing board.

Question reference: S6W-03985

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kevin Stewart on 26 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to establish independent oversight and assurance of NHS Tayside’s mental health services, and to ensure there is ongoing support for the Tayside Executive Partnership in responding to the findings and recommendations from the independent inquiry, following Dr David Strang’s progress review, which was published in July 2021.

I have now appointed an independent group who will provide oversight and assurance. The group will work with the Tayside Executive Partnership to support progress in improving Tayside’s mental health services and ensure that the recommendations from the independent inquiry are fully implemented.

The group will be chaired by Fiona Lees, former Chief Executive of East Ayrshire Council. She will be supported by David Williams, former Chief Officer of Glasgow City Integrated Joint Board and previously an Advisor on Integration to the Scottish Government; and Fraser McKinlay, former Controller of Audit and Director of Performance Audit and Best Value.

The Scottish Government takes the recommendations from the independent inquiry seriously and I believe the skill set and experience of these members are essential to providing the appropriate oversight of their implementation to improve mental health services in Tayside.

The Independent Oversight and Assurance Group on Tayside Mental Health Services will provide me with written updates on progress on a quarterly basis. The role of this group is also separate from that of the Tayside Executive Partnership which is expected to have its own collective assurance processes and remains accountable to the NHS Board and relevant Councils. This is a time-limited group, initially for a 12 month period. The timescales for its operation will be kept under review and as such, it will not become an established part of the governance landscape in Tayside.

I am determined that real and sustained progress is made in Tayside through the implementation of the independent inquiry recommendations and most importantly, that the people of Tayside receive the quality of mental health care which meets their needs and expectations, and that healthcare staff are appropriately supported and developed.

Question reference: S6O-00276

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what cross-government support and funding it is providing to local authorities to aid the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-03412

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ash Denham on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report and recommendations of the Legal Aid Payment Advisory Panel.

I thank the members of the Legal Aid Payment Advisory Panel for the careful consideration taken over the recommendations in its report.

We will carefully consider the recommendations in the Report and these will help shape future reform to the legal aid system.

In particular, I welcome the recommendation that further research is needed to ensure that fees are set at appropriate levels, therefore we will now begin the process of commissioning that research and will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout that process.

Legal Aid Payment Review Panel: report to the Minister for Community Safety