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-20445

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has confidence that all necessary steps are being taken to root out racism in Scottish cricket.

The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in sport, or indeed wider society and we are working to ensure there is real and lasting change on this issue.

While there is clearly a long way to go, there have been some significant positive steps taken towards delivering change within the sport in recent months, and the Scottish Government has confidence that the necessary steps are being taken.

To ensure transparency around the progress made against the recommendations, sport scotland are publishing quarterly progress updates. The most recent update was published on 25 July and can be accessed on the sport scotland website.

Question reference: S6W-20667

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its More Homes Division is subject to a recruitment cap, and, if so, when any such cap was put in place and when it is expected to end.

The Scottish Government continually monitors its operations and delivery through the application of effective workforce controls at the organisational level. We prioritise our resources to support the elected government’s agenda, with workforce controls allowing flexibility to deploy resources as required. These controls are routinely monitored and adjusted to respond to the financial position and delivery requirements of the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-20429

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current system of energy performance certificates is fit for purpose.

Earlier this year, the Climate Change Committee wrote to the Scottish Government setting out a series of recommendations for the reform on EPCs, noting that the current arrangements are “not fit for purpose”. We responded to this letter acknowledging that EPCs need to be reformed in order to deliver our climate targets.

The Scottish Government published a consultation on EPC reform on 25 July 2023. In addition to proposals to reform domestic and non-domestic EPC metrics, the consultation also highlights that we are reviewing existing assessment and quality assurance processes. We will draw from previous independent analysis and work with the Approved Organisations that accredit energy assessors, and the UK Government to identify changes and best practice to help maintain and improve standards. Together, we are confident that these proposed reforms will ensure that in future EPCs can be fit for purpose.

Question reference: S6W-20664

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many homes there are in each parliamentary region, including a breakdown of how many homes have an EPC rating below grade C.

This information is not available in the form requested.

The Scottish Government does not produce counts of homes by parliamentary region.

The number of households and dwellings in each parliamentary constituency is published by the National Records of Scotland, with the latest available estimate dating from 2022. This is available at: Scottish Parliamentary Constituency .

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides estimates of the number of homes which have an EPC rating below band C.

The SHCS survey has not been designed to provide results by Parliamentary Region, however results are available by Local Authority area.

The Scottish Government publishes local authority analysis using a three year pooled data set to ensure sufficient sample sizes. The most recent estimates of homes with an EPC below C at local authority level are for 2017-2019, and are presented in the following table.

	Number of dwellings by Local Authority and the number and percentage which have an EPC rating below C.
Local Authority		Total number of households / occupied dwellings	Of which EPC rated below C	% rated below EPC C	Sample
Aberdeen City		108,000	57,000	53%	248
Aberdeenshire		111,000	74,000	66%	245
Angus		54,000	38,000	71%	257
Argyll and Bute		42,000	29,000	71%	232
Clackmannanshire		24,000	10,000	41%	220
Dumfries and Galloway		70,000	53,000	76%	270
Dundee City		70,000	41,000	59%	256
East Ayrshire		55,000	29,000	53%	252
East Dunbartonshire		46,000	27,000	58%	253
East Lothian		46,000	28,000	60%	238
East Renfrewshire		39,000	24,000	60%	233
Edinburgh, City of		236,000	115,000	49%	613
Na h-Eileanan Siar		13,000	12,000	91%	273
Falkirk		72,000	33,000	46%	251
Fife		168,000	95,000	57%	443
Glasgow City		293,000	128,000	44%	644
Highland		109,000	82,000	75%	261
Inverclyde		38,000	19,000	50%	219
Midlothian		39,000	19,000	49%	275
Moray		43,000	30,000	70%	206
North Ayrshire		64,000	37,000	58%	227
North Lanarkshire		152,000	68,000	45%	335
Orkney Islands		10,000	9,000	85%	265
Perth and Kinross		68,000	45,000	66%	262
Renfrewshire		86,000	36,000	42%	190
Scottish Borders		54,000	36,000	65%	213
Shetland Islands		10,000	10,000	92%	274
South Ayrshire		52,000	34,000	65%	236
South Lanarkshire		146,000	82,000	56%	329
Stirling		39,000	23,000	59%	246
West Dunbartonshire		43,000	21,000	49%	229
West Lothian		78,000	30,000	39%	268
Scotland		2,479,000	1,374,000	55%	8,963
Notes 1. Source Scottish House Condition Survey 2017-19. 2. EPC figures are based on SAPv9.92 3. The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size. A statistical tool for calculating 95% confidence intervals around these estimates can be found at Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analysis 2017-2019 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . 4. The national rate shown in this answer (55%) is an average over 2017-19 to match the local authority data and will differ from that found in the main SHCS Key Findings report (53%) which relates to a single year, most recently 2019. Available at Scottish house condition survey: 2019 key findings

As set out in the most recent Scottish House Condition Survey 2021 Key Findings Report, (available at Scottish House Condition Survey 2021 ) there will be no Local Authority publication relating to the 2019 to 2021 three year period as the 2020 SHCS was suspended due to Covid-19 and the 2021 SHCS was undertaken using a different methodology that is not consistent to previous years.

Question reference: S6W-20636

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the affordable homes supply programme target was increased to 110,000 in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme but did not set a specific revised mid-point target.

Question reference: S6W-20576

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review legislation regarding stalking.

Question reference: S6W-20594

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason job losses in the housing construction sector are reportedly not considered a risk to the affordable housing supply programme in its risk register.

Question reference: S6W-20388

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can give that the Scottish justice system will not wrongfully pursue individuals and leave taxpayers to absorb the cost of any compensation payments for any such wrongful prosecutions.

Under Scotland's criminal justice system, it is for the police to investigate possible breaches of the criminal law and for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to consider whether prosecutions should be progressed in any given case. Decision-making within this area is for these independent agencies and the Scottish Government is not involved in decision-making in criminal cases. COPFS make decisions in the public interest using the process set out in their Prosecution Code . COPFS works closely with Police Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and other partners to deliver justice in individual cases.

His Majesty Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland provides independent scrutiny of Police Scotland. Similar independent scrutiny of COPFS is provided by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland .

Where a person considers they may have experienced a miscarriage of justice, they can apply to the independent Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission who have a statutory function to investigate miscarriages of justice with a view to individual cases being considered for return to the Appeal Court for a fresh appeal. This is a special power for criminal cases to be re-opened even after the normal appeals process may have been exhausted.

Where a person does have their conviction overturned in the Appeal Court, the Scottish Government operates two schemes relating to miscarriages of justice - the statutory scheme and the ex-gratia scheme.

Question reference: S6W-20494

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of young people in the Glasgow region have received a card through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme as of May 2023, broken down by local authority area.

By the end of May 2023, there were 67,615 cardholders under the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme in Glasgow City. This represents 67% of the estimated eligible population in the local authority area.

Cardholder data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO) and is provided by local authority. As such, data is not available by constituency area or larger parliamentary regions.

NECPO supports the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data. The figure includes travel products collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile app.

Question reference: S6W-20214

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of the organisations that received funding from the Hate Crime Security Fund in 2021-22, broken down by local authority area.