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-03499

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the total annual cost of alcohol harm in Scotland, including to the NHS and healthcare, in light of the Institute of Alcohol Studies reporting that the annual cost of alcohol harm in England is £27.4 billion, which includes a £4.9 billion cost to the NHS in England.

Question reference: S6O-03494

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to restart the GP Sustainability Loan Scheme, including by what date it expects to restart the scheme.

Question reference: S6O-03490

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to tackle wildlife crime.

Question reference: S6O-03498

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with NHS Lanarkshire, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6O-03493

Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Question reference: S6O-03504

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that disabled people who receive Scottish social security benefits are treated lawfully, in light of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s reported investigation into the treatment of some disabled benefits claimants by the UK Department for Work and Pensions.

Question reference: S6O-03500

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to address child poverty.

Question reference: S6W-27770

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified during the course of its ongoing investigation any other public sector organisations that have been impacted by the cyber attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway infrastructure.

As part of the on-going forensic analysis, NHS Dumfries & Galloway identified that files belonging to National Records of Scotland, that were stored on the NHS D&G IT infrastructure, have been stolen as part of the cyber-attack. As National Records of Scotland are the data controller for those files, they are now considered a second victim in this incident. As such a crime report has been made to Police Scotland.

National Records of Scotland have undertaken a risk assessment and are taking appropriate actions to notify individuals that have been affected. National Records of Scotland will issue a news release later today to provide further information to members of the public.

Question reference: S6W-27332

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund in each year since it was established.

The Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund had an annual budget of £120 million and ran from 2021-22 to 2022-23. It supported delivery of the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan Coronavirus (COVID-19): mental health - transition and recovery plan - summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and funding was allocated on an annual basis to a number of different organisations and delivery partners including the Third Sector, Local Authorities and NHS Boards. From 2023-24, the Recovery and Renewal Fund annual budget has been incorporated into the overall direct programme budget for mental health.

Going forwards, the direct programme budget for mental health published in the 2024-25 Scottish budget will be used to meet the priorities set out in our recently published Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy 2023-25 Mental health and wellbeing strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-27348

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to changing its short-term lets licensing rules, in light of Airbnb's claims that the rules are harming the tourism industry.

We remain committed to fair regulation of short-term let accommodation, which provides assurance to guests on safety and quality such as gas and electrical safety compliance and the suitability of hosts. We have listened to the sector and we have already made a number of changes to legislation and guidance, including extending the deadline for the overall scheme, and on 16 May I will lay an amending SSI, which makes further operational updates based on a range of feedback.

I have also written to the relevant lead committee to set out the monitoring we are undertaking of the new regulations, which includes ongoing engagement with stakeholders from the sector, local authorities, and residents groups. I have listened to specific feedback from Airbnb when I have met them in recent months, and I am cognisant of their desire to continue to build confidence in Scotland’s tourism offer ,which will also be achieved by stability of the scheme, which is still in a transitional phase. The global platforms I have met have said it is too early to draw conclusions on licensing more widely, and especially difficult to attribute trends to any one of multiple factors, however I would welcome any information they are willing to share as we prepare to provide a further implementation update to Parliament in the coming months.