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-01652

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to increase the allocation of police officers in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6O-01658

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work with Veterans First Point Fife.

Question reference: S6O-01664

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-01659

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects police officer numbers to be restored to the previous target of 17,234 officers.

Question reference: S6O-01644

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress that has been made in finding a solution to save the Belmont in Aberdeen and the Edinburgh Filmhouse and International Film Festival from permanent closure.

Question reference: S6W-12600

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Scottish Ministers have been informed that a property factor has failed to comply with a property factor enforcement order in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-12435

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £830.6 million allocated to the additional support for Social Care in its 2022-23 budget, which was announced on 9 December 2021, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

All of the £830.6 million allocated to Additional Support for Social Care in the 2022-23 budget has been included in the block grant allocation provided to local authorities. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently and the information requested on spend would therefore require to be requested from local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-12599

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have not been complied with in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-12480

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to review the current planning procedures for funding allocated for the construction of Changing Places toilets.

The Scottish Government introduced Scottish Building Regulations in 2019 requiring the provision of Changing Places Toilets in larger new buildings to which the public have access. These provisions are detailed in the Building standards technical handbook 2020 . At the same time, we also amended our Planning System to include these amended building regulations and further detail can be found within the Planning Circular 1/2020: Changing Places Toilets Regulations.We are not planning any further legislative changes in this area at this stage. Our work to amend building standards in 2019 was robust and sought to strike a sensible balance between encouraging further CPT provision across Scotland whilst recognising the resource needed to build these facilities may be prohibitive for smaller buildings.

We have recently published our Changing Places Toilets: Planning Guide and an accompanying easy read . This guide, written in collaboration with PAMIS (Promoting A More Inclusive Society), details practical considerations when considering installing a Changing Places Toilet in both existing and new buildings. This helpful toolkit will improve Changing Places Toilet provision in the immediate term and ensure that new toilets built following our changes to legislation are appropriate and well considered

Question reference: S6W-12394

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments made by the General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress regarding the forthcoming National Care Service Bill that reforms "could end up costing an awful lot of money for the Scottish Government at a time when that money could be better used to deal with a system that is in crisis in a much more immediate way".

The establishment of a National Care Service (NCS) is the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the National Health Service (NHS). It is necessary to deliver the consistency and quality of care and support across Scotland that people deserve, and reinforce our commitment to Scotland’s people to take long term action to change our society and make it a fairer place to live.

The Financial Memorandum set out the range of possible costs for the NCS. Estimates are being constantly monitored and reviewed as new information becomes available.

We recognise that there is an urgent need to make improvements to social care now, and we are not waiting for the NCS to start that process.

We are taking the action we can now to address challenges in social care. We have committed to increase spend in social care by 25% by the end of parliament, helping to lay the groundwork for the NCS.

Our 2022-23 budget confirmed more than £1.6bn for social care and integration to lay the groundwork for the NCS. Any spending decisions made on the NCS service will be backed by rigorous, evidence based decisions.

In April this year the minimum hourly rate for those providing direct adult social care increased to £10.50 an hour.

The Scottish Government transferred £200 million to Local Government to support investment in social care, including to deliver this uplift.

This represents an increase of 4.8% from the £10.02 pay rate that was introduced in December 2021. This is also an increase of 10.5% for these workers in the course of a year – with pay rising from at least £9.50 per hour in April 2021 to at least £10.50 per hour in April 2022.