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-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.

Question reference: S6W-05218

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what considerations it has given to setting up a support fund for victims of domestic abuse that would deliver recurring payments in the short term to support someone who is leaving an abusive partner.

This fund is one of the recommendations in the Improving Housing Outcomes for Women and Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse report . We have convened an official level implementation and monitoring group to oversee implementation of the recommendations within the report, including working with partners to explore the options for a dedicated fund to support women leaving an abusive partner.

The Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) can currently provide financial and practical support to those experiencing Domestic Abuse with the provision of Crisis and Community Care Grants.

Question reference: S6W-05184

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether representatives from (a) Scottish Trans Alliance, (b) Stonewall Scotland and (c) any other transgender advocacy group are involved in allocation decisions concerning transgender prisoners, and, if so, what the nature of that involvement is.

have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Allocation decisions concerning transgender prisoners are the responsibility of SPS.

To inform decisions, a multi-disciplinary case conferencing approach is adopted, to which a range of case specific partner agencies can be invited based on the specific circumstances of the individual being discussed.

A representative from a transgender organisationmay be included in an individual’s case conference however the person in custody must agree to their participation. If agreement is given, then the transgender organisation representative should have relevant expert transgender-specific equality knowledge, information and perspectives to all aspects of the case conference discussion.

Question reference: S6W-05183

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a detailed timeline for the review of the Scottish Prison Service Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy, including the expected timing of internal and external stakeholder consultation, and at what point the review is currently.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The review of SPS’ Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment policy is taking place in two main stages. The first stage involves an in depth analysis of evidence that has emerged since the existing SPS policy was introduced. This work is underway and will directly inform the development work for the next stage.

The second stage is a series of discussions with key stakeholders which will involve:

engagement with prison staff who have experience of working with transgender persons in Scotland’s prisons, commencing December 2021.
a series of interviews with transgender persons in prison, commencing January 2022.
a survey of individuals living in custody across establishments in Scotland, commencing February 2022.
an invitation being extended to identified stakeholders for one to one discussions with SPS between February and May 2022. This will include invitations to organisations representing communities of interest and identity.

In tandem with stakeholder discussions, the current policy will be available on the SPS website to invite comment and feedback from other interested parties. The full analysis of stakeholder feedback and evidence and a refreshed policy position is expected to be concluded in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-04997

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when VoiceAbility will begin providing advocacy services in relation to the devolved social security benefits system, and when the roll-out of services will be fully operational.

Question reference: S6W-05374

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm if personal data, including ethnicity, which is taken when a COVID-19 vaccine is administered, is retained securely and is only used by NHS Scotland for the purpose for which it was obtained.

Full information on what personal information we process , including ethnicity, and how we use your data as part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme can be found on NHS Inform under Data, Privacy and Ethics.

Personal information we process - Personal information we process to support the coronavirus vaccination | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot)

How we use your data How we use your data to support the coronavirus vaccination programme | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-00611

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to farming charities.

Question reference: S6W-04996

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on Universal Credit (UC) Scottish choices split payments, where UC payments can be split between members of a couple in a household, in order to ensure that everyone has access to an independent income based on their individual circumstances, and what its position is on whether this will promote equality in the welfare system.

Following a pause, due to capacity challenges related to the pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021, officials from the Scottish Government and the UK Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have resumed work to finalise a proposal for introducing split payments of Universal Credit in Scotland. This work has been progressing steadily and Scottish Government officials expect to have a policy proposal ready for the DWP to undertake impact assessments in 2022.

Offering the choice of split payments of Universal Credit has the potential to help address the inequality inherent in household payments that reduce access to independent incomes and can place power in the hands of abusers. Whilst offering split payments of Universal Credit in Scotland will not be sufficient to solve these complex problems, improving the accessibility of an independent income may help people in difficult situations and result in fairer and more empowering outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-04995

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit is of the proposed review of the Scottish Welfare Fund, and what the timescale is for (a) the review to be completed and (b) its findings to be published.

We have committed, both in the Programme for Government and in our initial response to the Social Renewal Advisory Board’s report, to a full, independent review of the Scottish Welfare Fund. The review will examine many areas of the Fund including accessibility, funding levels, local authority administration and statutory guidance. In order to do this we are commissioning independent research, findings from which will be reported before the end of 2022.

Question reference: S6T-00356

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what flexibility will be afforded for the installation of interlinked fire alarms in light of recent reports about the available funding for low-income households.