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-14025

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13529 by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023, whether the Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group has agreed any priority actions to date, and, if so, what they are.

Question reference: S6W-14197

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what actions are being taken to promote skilled heritage jobs, including stonemasonry.

Traditional skills are promoted in a number of ways by non-departmental public bodies such as Skills Development Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland. These include apprenticeships, which are a key way for employers to invest in their workforce and provide skills that the economy needs now and in the future, as underlined by our commitment to a skilled workforce set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

As part of the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment Strategy, Developing the Young Workforce, we have worked with employers and sector bodies to develop a programme called “Build Your Future” that promotes careers in construction and heritage skills, including stonemasonry, to young people through construction skills tasters.

A short life working group is currently being led by Historic Environment Scotland to identify how sustainable models of stonemasonry training can be developed in Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland also directly supports and works with organisations across Scotland to promote skilled heritage jobs through provision of advice, support and mentoring. Through its grants programmes, Historic Environment Scotland also directly supports the employment of skilled craftspeople on third party projects, as well as requiring grant recipients to engage in education, training and outreach to promote skilled heritage jobs.

Question reference: S6W-14022

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) SP Energy Networks and (b) Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks in relation to Network Rail infrastructure to ensure the timely delivery of renewable energy development infrastructure.

Electricity networks are a reserved matter and the Scottish Government has no role in determining how network infrastructure is delivered.

Scottish Government officials meet with Scottish Power Energy Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues pertaining to the delivery of Scotland’s net zero targets and we encourage networks companies to work collaboratively with all stakeholders including Network Rail.

Question reference: S6W-13995

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to open any new (a) static and (b) mobile breast cancer screening units in 2023, in light of the UK Government announcement that it will be providing funding for 13 and 16 such units, respectively.

The Scottish Breast Screening Programme (SBSP) currently operates six breast screening centres, complimented by twenty mobile breast screening units. These service each area of Scotland on a three yearly rotational basis and are intended to address the geographical challenges faced by the breast screening programme in Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the service and providing equality of access to breast screening. This commitment is laid out within the major review of the breast screening programme, which was published on 23 May 2022, and is being taken forward by a dedicated Modernisation Programme Board, which is working to ensure the programme is fit for the future. Further information on the review can be found here: Scottish Breast Screening Programme: major review - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-14023

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13529 by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023, how many shared posts have been established, and where they are based.

Question reference: S6W-14019

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish the updated National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-14071

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12397 by Jenny Gilruth on 6 December 2022, whether it will provide an update on how many journeys have been completed by young people using a free bus pass through the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, based on the latest information available.

Question reference: S6W-13985

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in providing digital access to health and care services through asynchronous communication since the publication of its Digital Health and Care Strategy.

As mentioned in answer to question S6W-13982 on 31 January 2023 a number of programmes being taken forward in Scotland that support the use of asynchronous communication. Whilst it is therefore not possible to give an exact figure related to asynchronous communication only, since the publication of the Digital Health & Care Strategy in October 2021 to December 2022, the Sottish Government has invested around £2 million in relevant systems.

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

Question reference: S6W-13958

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals Connecting Scotland has assisted in accessing the devices, data and support that they need to be able to use digital technology, broken down by local authority area.

The Connecting Scotland programme aims to ensure that people in Scotland have access to digital services by providing them with opportunities to access and utilise devices, connectivity, skills, and support effectively. To date, the programme has brought a total of 60,000 digitally excluded people online since programme launch.

A table containing the information specified in your question has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 63974 ).

Question reference: S6W-14024

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13529 by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023, how often the Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group meets; when it last met, and who the members of the group are.

The Scottish Public Health Workforce Development Group last met on 11 January 2023 and meets approximately every two months.

The Group members are representatives from the Scottish Directors of Public Health, NHS Education for Scotland, the Registrar Public Health Group, the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, Voluntary Health Scotland, Public Health Scotland, the Committee of the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland, Scottish Government (Health Workforce/Health Improvement/Health Protection), the Scottish Health Promotion Managers Group, COSLA and the Scottish Community Development Centre.