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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-22221

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the publication of the Remote, Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan.

Question reference: S6W-22098

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the make-up of the proposed town boards in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the UK Government regarding town boards in Scotland. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy have written a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, asking for a discussion on how UK Government plan to provide appropriate governance for the Long Term Plan for Towns in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-21876

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can take any further action to prevent the development of a new oil field at Rosebank, in light of the UK regulator's decision to approve the development.

Question reference: S6W-21754

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported significant challenges in relation to the availability of a skilled and competent workforce that is able to carry out Single Building Assessments at scale.

The safety of homeowners and residents is our absolute upmost priority and Ministers are committed to the assessment of and ensuring remediation of multi residential buildings with potentially unsafe cladding. Work is underway to ensure that the 105 buildings in the pilot programme are on a pathway to a Single Building Assessment by the summer of 2024 and we will continue to engage closely with developers and the supply chain to ensure further assessment, mitigation and remediation so that no homeowner or resident is left without an assessment or a pathway to remediation.

Question reference: S6W-21468

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what contingencies it has put in place for the potential relocation of patients and staff in hospitals or health care facilities found to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Health Boards are responsible for managing the NHS estate and should have business continuity plans in place. The Scottish Government is working closely with Health Boards and will provide support for contingency arrangements where a need is identified. Guidance on what needs to be included in a business continuity plan is provided by the Scottish Government.

NHS Boards are providing up to date information on RAAC on their websites - links to all NHSScotland Boards RAAC webpages are available on the NHS Scotland Assure RAAC Survey Programme webpage:

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Discovery Survey Programme - List of Properties | National Services Scotland (nhs.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-21180

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will bring forward a new national funding framework for hospices, following its meeting with Hospice UK in March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-21905

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which ports in northern Europe are under consideration as part of any proposals that it has seen for restoring roll-on, roll-off ferry services from Rosyth.

Question reference: S6W-21870

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many young offenders are currently being held in young offender institutions, and how many of those young offenders are under the age of 18.

Question reference: S6W-21762

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported warnings from several national supermarkets regarding an increase in shoplifting.

The Scottish Government recognises the disruption and harm to businesses from theft and antisocial behaviour, and Police Scotland and partners are taking action to tackle and reduce it.

As the First Minister made clear in the chamber on 5 October 2023, while the latest recorded crime data for shoplifting shows an increase, the level remains below pre-pandemic levels.

The Scottish Government fully supports the innovative Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime, which is led by Police Scotland and includes a number of other organisations including retailers.

The Partnership is taking a collaborative approach to preventing and deterring crimes such as shoplifting through the sharing of best practice and intelligence, alongside enforcement activity.

Anyone affected by this kind of incident should report it to Police Scotland who remain focused on keeping our communities safe from harm.

Question reference: S6W-21766

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 11 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many dog attacks have resulted in hospitalisation in the last five years, broken down by dog breed.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21589 on 5 October 2023, which contains data from Public Health Scotland on the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland. Public Health Scotland do not collect that data broken down by dog breed type.

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