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-13954

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13474 by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023, what information it holds on how many social care staff (a) have and (b) have not received a "robust and supportive induction" since the launch of the National Induction Framework on 1 February 2022.

This answer is not centrally held, however, the SSSC advises that although the National Induction Framework resource is presented as open access (in order to ensure maximum accessibility), and therefore analytics are anonymous, they can advise that the number of visits to the site is 10,852 with total interactions (including visits) standing at over 30,300.

Although visits to the site are not individually identifiable, since the launch of the framework in February 2022, there have been 3,100 interactions through TURAS, the NES/Health platform.

More information can be found here:

https://sssclrs.uk/dashboards/6239f16c3f75d206d3162a42/6239f19d3f75d206d3162a72/NIF---Analytics

Question reference: S6W-13952

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13505 by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023, how often the Fair Work in Social Care Group meets, and when it last met.

The Fair Work in Social Care Group organised itself into four workstreams on Pay; Terms and Conditions; Effective Voice; and Sectoral Bargaining. The workstreams meet 1-2 times per month, most recently on 17 January 2023.

The Fair Work in Social Care Group is now overseen by a Joint Ministerial Group, co-chaired by myself and COSLA Health and Social Care Spokesperson. The Joint Ministerial Group met on 3 November 2022 and is scheduled to meet again in February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-13937

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the current number of mental health counsellors in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13829

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it consulted (a) The UK Offshore Energies Association (b) Global Underwater Hub (c) Scottish Renewables (d) Liquid Gas UK (e) Energy UK (e) Solar Energy UK and (f) The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board as part of the development of its Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which was published on 10 January 2023.

The Scottish Government engaged with a range of industry stakeholders as part of the development of the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, including through the Scottish Energy Advisory Board and its Strategic Leadership Groups, as well as engagement with research organisations and independent experts. Officials regularly engage with stakeholders including OEUK, Scottish Renewables, Energy UK and Solar Energy Scotland, and that engagement has informed the development of the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. We will continue to engage with industry experts and wider stakeholders, and encourage the broadest possible range of responses to the consultation on the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

Question reference: S6W-13812

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many community-based defibrillators there are in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13875

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many drug tests for any prohibited substance have taken place in prisons (a) in 2021-22 and (b) so far in 2022-23, broken down by how many test results were (i) positive, (ii) negative and (iii) inconclusive.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following table provides the total number of drug tests conducted in each financial year, along with the results.

Year	Total Number of Tests	Positive tests	Negative tests
2021-22	4496	294	3892
2022- Jan 2023	3770	258	3185

* The reports run from 01 April to 31 March each year.

The SPS do not record data on inconclusive tests.

Question reference: S6W-13599

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS 24 call handlers who can speak more than one language there have been in each year since 2017.

Question reference: S6W-13443

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published its indicative projections for health and social care workforce growth, and, if so, how this was incorporated into the health and social care (a) three-year workforce plans and (b) medium-term financial framework.

Question reference: S6W-13461

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional staff the Centre for Workforce Supply has added to the workforce.

Question reference: S6W-13485

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many paramedics have been trained in each year since 2007.