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: S6O-01032

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates will qualify for an indefinite award within the first 12 months of the national launch of Adult Disability Payment.

Question reference: S6W-07458

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland.

We welcome people from Hong Kong who have chosen to move to Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting their integration into our communities and we have also published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website.

The Scottish Government is taking a coordinated cross-portfolio approach to support BN(O) nationals coming to Scotland, working with COSLA to assess the impact on public services in key local authorities. We have been pressing the UK Government to provide clarity on when the £2.98M funding for integration support will be transferred to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-07061

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to end the early medical abortion at home arrangements that were put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and if so, by when.

The Scottish Government has commissioned an independent evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the current approach to early medical abortion at home. The evaluation is being led by NHS Lothian, along with a number of academic experts. The Scottish Government will make a decision on the long-term future of early medical abortion at home once this evaluation has been completed. The Ministerial approval for early medical abortion at home in Scotland is currently being reviewed, with a view to enabling the current arrangements to be extended temporarily in order to allow them to continue until the evaluation has been completed and its findings have been considered.

Question reference: S6O-00854

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) whether it will consider amending its policy on party identity or affiliation appearing on publications paid for by the SPCB.

Question reference: S6W-06250

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost will be of its proposed plans to accredit new providers, in addition to Motability Operations, for the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme, and when these plans will come into effect.

Question reference: S6W-06339

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation took place to inform its proposed plans to accredit new providers for the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme, and whether people who have already been allocated a vehicle under the scheme will be affected by the change.

The 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland asked correspondents if the new Scottish social security system should continue to support access to the Motability scheme. Of the 200 respondents, 97% answered 'Yes'. During the subsequent consultation on Disability Assistance in 2019, the Government confirmed that a scheme equivalent to the Motability scheme would be put in place in advance of the delivery of Disability Assistance.

The Scottish Government believes that giving disabled people a range of suppliers to choose from will encourage value and promote choice. When the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme was launched in 2019, we therefore set out an intention to invite further applicants at regular intervals. Work to re-open further accreditation rounds will begin later this year.

Any future accreditation of providers under the Scheme will not affect people who have already leased a vehicle under the scheme.

Question reference: S6O-00769

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the Fair Start Scotland programme addresses the needs of those who face the greatest barriers to unemployment, such as severely disabled people.

Question reference: S6W-05935

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when breast screening for over-70s will resume.

The UK National Screening Committee, an independent scientific body that advises all four UK nations on screening, currently recommends that women between the ages of 50 and 70 are invited for three yearly breast screening. Therefore, while programme capacity remains challenging due to COVID-19, the pause on self-referrals allows appointments to be prioritised for the recommended screening population, for whom evidence shows clear benefits.

The organisations that oversee screening in Scotland, including the Scottish Screening Committee (SSC), National Screening Oversight (NSO) and the Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) agreed that self-referrals for women aged 71 and over should resume once capacity allows. However, in recognition of the anxiety the pause is causing, officials are exploring if there are options to accelerate the restart that would not unduly impact appointment times for the eligible screening population. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to stress that if anyone, of any age, is concerned they may have symptoms of breast cancer, they should immediately make an appointment with their GP Practice.

Question reference: S6O-00722

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the £10 Christmas payment will continue to be paid by the DWP to recipients of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment once the benefits are fully devolved.

Question reference: S6W-04992

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported discussions involving other devolved administrations regarding the Down Syndrome Bill, introduced in the UK Parliament, what its position is on whether the provisions in the bill should be applied in Scotland; what discussions it (a) has had and (b) plans to have on this matter, and with whom, and what its position is on the Bill being amended to include Scotland in the territorial extent, in order to place a duty on local authorities in Scotland to assess the likely social care needs of people with Down Syndrome and plan provision accordingly.

The Scottish Government wants to improve opportunities, outcomes and support for people with Down’s Syndrome. To this end, we have committed to introducing a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This Bill will ensure that the rights of people with Down’s Syndrome, among others, are respected and protected. To help make sure the new legislation is championed when it is implemented we will create a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner through the new law.

The Scottish Government position is that we take a wider view of Down’s Syndrome within the rights of people with all learning disabilities.

Rather than duplicate the Down Syndrome Bill, we will continue with our commitment to introduce a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This will ensure that the Bill meets the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome in the Scottish context.

Scottish Legislation already exists that requires Scottish public bodies meet the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome. The Additional Support for Learning Act (Scotland) 2004 (as amended) places duties upon education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 places duties upon Local Authorities and the NHS to provide services in a way which takes account of the particular needs of different service-users, and also takes account of the particular characteristics and circumstances of different service-users.

We continue to liaise regularly with our stakeholders around policy developments, and this includes the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities, People First and Down’s Syndrome Scotland.

The Scottish Government aims to carry out scoping work on the remit and powers of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner in this Parliamentary year. This year we will begin an engagement exercise explore the Commissioner role, how it will be developed and what it will be responsible for. We will engage with all learning disability and autism stakeholders across the public and third sector, this includes Government officials across the 4 UK Nations and those with lived experience, who will be at the centre of the work.