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-16614

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties inspected by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) were found not to have met the repairing standard, broken down by local authority area, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-16219

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans (a) last visited a police station, and where that police station was, and (b) next plans to visit (i) a police station and (ii) Police Scotland's headquarters.

Question reference: S6W-16156

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15763 by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023, in light of the reported increase in vaping-related illnesses and disorders among young people, whether it will consider recording and holding the data that was requested.

Parliamentary question S6W-15763 asked “how many patients under 18 have been admitted to an NHS facility for vaping-related illnesses or disorders in each year since 2019”. At that time (March 2023) Public Health Scotland (PHS) responded that these data were not currently held. However, PHS are now carrying out work to identify the number of individuals with vaping related illness in Scotland and will publish figures in July 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16157

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it is considering to reduce teenage vaping, in light of the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021-22 finding that one in 10 school pupils in S4 regularly vape.

The results of the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021-22, and reports from schools and parents about young people vaping, are of great concern to the Scottish Government.

Vapes are an age restricted product and should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18. In October 2022 we wrote to all registered retailers of these products to remind them of their duty of sale and we regularly meet with Trading Standards on enforcement.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products and we are aiming to bring forward new regulations in 2023. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

We will publish our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan this year, which will include actions to reduce vaping among young people.

We are reviewing vaping education for young people in schools and have also funded ASH Scotland to work with a range of youth organisations on the risks associated with vaping.

Question reference: S6W-16221

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many spaces for bikes were available for use on ScotRail (a) trains and (b) carriages, in the most recent year for which data is available, and how many train stations currently have bike racks or other bike storage and locking facilities available.

Question reference: S6W-16170

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on (a) what the average wait time was for customers calling Scottish Water’s customer helpline and (b) how many calls were handled, in each year since 2016.

The Scottish Government is not required to hold this information. As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Douglas Millican, Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

The average wait time for customers calling Scottish Water’s customer helpline between 1st April 2022 and 1st April 2023 was 19 seconds. The chart below provides information about how many calls were handled by Scottish Water in each year since 2016.

2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
291,453	302,925	307,146	300,825	176,176	324,939	320,906

Question reference: S6W-16090

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that CalMac’s new Ar Turas ticketing system no longer offers the option of a season ticket for residents of the Isle of Cumbrae, what plans are in place to offer suitable and appropriate discounts in line with historic benefits.

CalMac are focussing their efforts on the Ar Turas Go-Live event. However, TS officials have had an initial meeting with CalMac to investigate potential options for eBooking of multi-journey tickets. This is at an early stage. It is important to note the wider benefits that the Ar Turas System will bring for both customers and staff.

Wider fares policy will be considered as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan and future fares options will be considered through that process.

Question reference: S6W-16065

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of cuckooing have been (a) reported to and (b) identified by Police Scotland in each year since 2017 and what steps it is taking to tackle this activity.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling serious and organised crime and strongly condemns the illegal practice of ‘cuckooing’ and the subsequent misery it causes victims.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the operational intelligence on incidents involving cuckooing. This information should be requested from Police Scotland directly.

The Scottish Government is working with partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to disrupt cuckooing and County Lines networks.

Question reference: S6W-16210

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any official or minister is due to give evidence to the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry.

No Scottish Government official or Minister has been called to give evidence to the Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry. As the Inquiry is independent of Ministers, it is for the Chair to determine how the Inquiry’s terms of reference are interpreted and direct how the Inquiry carries out its duties. It is entirely for the Chair to consider who to seek statements from and who to call to give evidence to the Inquiry.

Question reference: S6W-16209

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the cost of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry in each financial year since the Inquiry was established.

The Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry publishes its expenditure on a quarterly basis on its website: http://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/inquiry-costs

The latest published figures show that the Inquiry has spent £10.4m since its setting-up date on 30 November 2020 until 31 December 2022:

Financial Year	Expenditure
30 November 2020 – 31 March 2021	£0.8M
1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022	£5.1M
1 April 2022 - 31 December 2022	£4.5M
Total	£10.4M

It is for the independent Chair to direct how the Inquiry operates whilst fulfilling his duty to avoid any unnecessary costs.