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-19730

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Scotia Arts since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

Question reference: S6W-19535

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils with additional support needs disappeared from the education system during the 2022-23 academic year, in light of recent reports that thousands of school pupils were unaccounted for by local authorities elsewhere in the UK.

Question reference: S6W-19637

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed equal rights of appeal with representatives of local government.

I meet local authority representatives on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues which I am responsible for as the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning. The Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council 2023 raised third party rights of appeal with me at a meeting on 11 May. Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council officials met on 30 May 2023 to discuss planning appeal procedures – the matter of third party rights of appeal was briefly raised during that discussion.

Question reference: S6W-19500

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on delivering on the action points identified in its suicide prevention action plan, Every Life Matters.

The National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group (NSPLG) has made very strong progress in delivering the suicide prevention action plan, Every Life Matters . NSPLG’s final annual report published in October 2022 and can be found here . Delivery has been maintained since October, including focussed work on improving responses for people in suicidal crisis, using the principles of Time, Space and Compassion.

The delivery of Every Life Matters has created an excellent platform to drive forward Creating Hope Together - our ambitious new strategy and action plan , which the Scottish Government published with COSLA in September 2022. The evidence and support for Every Life Matters actions means we are continuing to deliver on those actions as part of our ongoing work.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published our suicide prevention delivery priorities for 2023-24 on 28 June 2023. These were shaped through stakeholder discussions and a range of evidence, including views from people with lived experience of suicide.

Question reference: S6W-19904

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels of average household water bills in Scotland, and on how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Question reference: S6W-19906

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels for the starting salary for a qualified teacher in Scotland, and on how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Question reference: S6W-19610

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been made to the (a) Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan and (b) Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan scheme for solar PV and/or energy storage systems, since the scheme was created, and how many applications have been successful.

The requested application figures for solar PV and/or energy storage systems for the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme and Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme are set out in the following tables:

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme
Applications Received	2987
Applications Successful	2425
Applications Rejected	64
Applications Being Processed	498
Figures are from scheme launch in December 2022 to 03 July 2023.

Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme
Applications Received	9
Applications Successful	7
Applications Rejected	2
Applications Being Processed	0
Figures are from scheme launch in April 2020 to 03 July 2023.

Note - the figures for “Applications Being Processed” includes applications which are awaiting applicants to supply additional information required to progress to the next stage of the process.

Question reference: S6W-18480

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to (a) NHS Pharmacy First Scotland and (b) Community Pharmacy Scotland in each year since 2018-19.

All funding for services delivered by the community pharmacy network, including for Pharmacy First Scotland, is paid directly to independent community pharmacy contractors as part of the remuneration arrangements. No funding is paid directly to Community Pharmacy Scotland.

NHS Pharmacy First Scotland funding forms part of the overall remuneration package. These details are published annually on the SHOW website - SHOW - Scotlands Health On the Web - Publications

The remuneration Global Sum was set at the following in each year from 2018-19

2018-19 - £180.959 million

2019-20 - £183.559 million

2020-21 - £188.148 million

2021-22 - £197.977 million

2022-23 - £205.489 million

The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service was launched in 2020-21. Funding allocated from the remuneration Global Sum for each year since was as follows:

2020-21 - £25.8 million

2021-22 - £27.5 million

2023-23 - £30.8 million

Question reference: S6W-19416

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to legislation controlling the use of flammable cladding following the Grenfell tragedy, in what ways does the legislation in Scotland differ from that which applies to the rest of the UK.

Building Regulations in the UK are the responsibility of the UK Government in England, the Welsh Assembly in Wales, the Northern Ireland Executive in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Government in Scotland. Whilst all regulations are similar throughout the UK the key differences in relation to flammable cladding are:

the ban of flammable cladding in Scotland applies at a lower height of 11m compared with 18m in the rest of the UK; and
the legislation in England was amended to extend the ban of flammable cladding to hotels, hostels and boarding houses from 1 December 2022.

The next review of fire safety regulations in Scotland is due to commence later this year where we will consider these matters and other relevant developments further.

Question reference: S6W-19456

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that college students from rural communities have access to affordable on-site accommodation.

The Scottish Government has no direct role in the provision of student accommodation, whether managed by universities, colleges or private sector organisations.

Colleges operate independently of government and there is therefore very little scope for the Scottish Government to intervene in the operational businesses of colleges.

The Scottish Government has commissioned a review of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector to consider how supply, affordability and standards can be improved. The review which is being led by a cross-sectoral expert group and informed by independent research, has now concluded and we will receive the recommendations of the Review Steering Group shortly.