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-15700

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to “introduce restrictions on alcohol advertising in locations where children would be readily exposed to it”.

Question reference: S6W-15701

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the risk of relapse in people who are in recovery from alcohol use disorder.

The Scottish Government provides funding to support our local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships who are responsible for the design and delivery of treatment and recovery pathways at the local level. They ensure a full range of recovery services are available such as aftercare, detox, residential rehabilitation and psychosocial treatments.

We acknowledge that alcohol recovery for most people is not a linear process, and for those whose goal is abstinence there is a risk of relapse at various points in their recovery journey, so alcohol services are supportive of people re-engaging after relapse. For others, they may want to consume alcohol but at a lower level. Alcohol services are open to and supportive of these individuals in achieving their goals. Services are also supportive of re-engagement if after meeting a goal an individual relapses into previous drinking patterns or if they want to work towards a new goal regarding their drinking.

The Scottish Government has consulted on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion to protect vulnerable groups, including those in recovery. Evidence suggests that alcohol marketing can be a barrier to successful recovery. Following analysis of responses we will consider possible restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-15741

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13177 by Ben Macpherson on 10 January 2023, how many people received the Winter Heating Payment in February 2023, and how many outstanding payments remain to be made as of 1 March 2023.

The data required to make Winter Heating Payments was supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions on 31 January 2023. Following this, Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland carried out internal assurance processes on the around 400,000 records received. To ensure the safety and security of the payments, payments began in small batches.

As of 28 February 2023, 34,261 people had received the Winter Heating Payment and a further 365,303 eligible clients were to be paid. We expect to distribute £20 million in this round of Winter Heating Payments, more than double the £8.3 million provided on average by the Department for Work and Pensions in each of the last seven years of Cold Weather Payment.

A first release of Official Statistics on Winter Heating Payment will be published on 6 June 2023. These will be available at our statistics publication page at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications.

Question reference: S6W-15698

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation by the Children’s Parliament that the Scottish Government should stop alcohol sponsorship of events at which children may be present.

It is crucial that the voices of children and young people are at the heart of developing our next steps on alcohol policy.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion directly references the recommendations of the Children’s Parliament and contains a section, and questions, on potential restrictions on alcohol sponsorship of events.

The consultation closed on 9 March. An independent contractor will comprehensively analyse the responses and publish a report. We will then further consider possible restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-15716

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15314 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 March 2023, how much funding has been allocated to local authorities to enable them to forgive school meal debt since 1 January 2022.

The Scottish Government has not allocated funding to local authorities specifically for school meal debt since 1 January 2022.

As referenced in the answer to question S6W-15314 on 6 March 2023, the management of debt is an issue for education authorities and their finance departments.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-15702

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to reduce (a) the attractiveness and (b) consumption of alcohol among the general population.

The Scottish Government takes a whole population approach to tackling alcohol-related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.

We published our first consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion in November 2023. The consultation has now closed and will be independently analysed before any potential proposals are put forward for consultation.

Minimum unit price (MUP) is a policy which aims to tackle the consumption of alcohol at a population level by setting a floor price at which alcohol can be sold, this is currently 50 pence per unit of alcohol. A recent report from Public Health Scotland (PHS) found that MUP had been successful in creating a 3% net reduction in total alcohol sales in the first three years of implementation. PHS will be producing a final report on the evaluation of MUP in summer this year and we should wait until this has been published before drawing any overall conclusions.

Question reference: S6W-15703

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all children and young people have an alcohol-free childhood.

Our Alcohol Framework (published 20 November 2018) sets out our priorities for preventing alcohol-related harm. There is a strong focus on reducing health inequalities and protecting children and young people from alcohol-related harm.

A key action in the framework is to consult on potential restrictions on alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland this year to protect children and young people. Our consultation, which has now closed, was informed directly by young people’s voices, gathered through projects by the Children’s Parliament and Young Scot Health Panel.

The consultation will be independently analysed before any potential proposals are put forward for consultation.

Question reference: S6W-15710

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on any link between alcohol marketing and increased alcohol consumption in children and young people.

International evidence shows that seeing alcohol marketing is associated with an increased likelihood that children and young people will start to drink alcohol or, if they already drink alcohol, drink more. This is harmful to them in both the short and long term.

This is set out, and forms the primary rationale, for our recent consultation on potential restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion.

Question reference: S6W-15705

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government who was involved in approving the consultation on restricting alcohol marketing and promotion, before it was published on 17 November 2022.

The Scottish Government’s public consultation on potential restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland was approved by the Minister for Public Health.

A commitment to consult on such restrictions was agreed by Cabinet in August 2021 as part of the Programme for Government 2021-22. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation approved the publication of this consultation paper in November 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15711

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on any role that alcohol marketing plays in encouraging problem drinkers to consume alcohol.

As our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion set out, there is evidence that those who drink heavily have increased susceptibility to alcohol marketing and that this can translate into drinking behaviours. For those in recovery, alcohol marketing can be a trigger which threatens their recovery and can be responsible for relapse.

The consultation closed on 9 March. An independent contractor will comprehensively analyse the responses and publish a report. We will then further consider possible restrictions.