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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 43783 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-13646

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will assess the potential of piloting a VAT offset or rebate scheme in Scotland that is focused initially on properties listed on the Buildings at Risk Register maintained by Historic Environment Scotland, in order to test its efficacy as an incentive to promote retrofit, renovation and reuse of Scotland's most at-risk built heritage.

Setting VAT rates is reserved to the UK Government, and remains a decision for HM Treasury. This issue affects heritage properties across all four nations of the UK and provides an opportunity for the UK Government to respond proactively to the global climate emergency. I wrote to Nigel Huddlestone MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, in February last year making the case for a VAT reduction to encourage and promote energy efficiency improvements in traditional buildings, unfortunately the UK Government has not indicated any willingness to consider the issue at this time.

The Scottish Government has already recognised in its housing strategy, Housing to 2040 , that reductions in VAT on household repairs would encourage home renovation in Scotland, and better equip homes for the challenges posed by climate change and the transition to net zero.

The Historic Environment Scotland publication, Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings addresses the common assumption that it is harder to improve the energy efficiency of older buildings, and enables the owners of traditional and historic properties in Scotland to make informed choices about the options available.

The Scottish Government will continue to call on the UK Government to introduce VAT reductions for traditional buildings and to work with stakeholders, including Historic Environment Scotland, to develop further solutions to transition Scotland’s historic buildings to net zero emissions while respecting and preserving their special characteristics.

Question reference: S6W-13232

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Cold Weather Payment, which was previously administered by the UK Government and under which households in Scotland were eligible for payments of £25 per week when temperatures drop below freezing for seven days between November and March, whether it is the case that the Winter Heating Payment is capped at a maximum of £50, and, if it is the case, what the reasons are for this.

Regardless of weather conditions, Winter Heating Payment will provide a stable, reliable payment of £50 to around 415,000 eligible people on low-incomes and provide a valuable contribution towards their heating expenses during the winter months. Recognising the difficulties being faced by many due to the increased cost of living, we have made the decision to increase the payment value for 2023-24 by 10.1% to £55.05.

Separately, in response to the energy crisis we have doubled the Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million to ensure additional support continues to be available to people affected by the rising energy costs and struggling with their bills this winter. A further £20 million has been committed for the Fuel Insecurity Fund in 2023-24. We have also delivered Child Winter Heating Assistance, a benefit only available in Scotland, which is intended to help mitigate the additional heating costs that the households of the most severely disabled children and young people face in the winter months. For 2022-23, we have increased Child Winter Heating Assistance by 6%, to £214.10, and will further increase the payment for 2023-24 by 10.1%, to £235.70.

Question reference: S6W-13553

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13303 by Angus Robertson on 16 December 2022, whether it will provide the full production costs, including staff costs.

Question reference: S6W-13532

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken forward recommendations on Fair Work in relation to minimum standards for terms and conditions in social care.

Question reference: S6W-13506

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been undertaken to update the formal conditions associated with continuous professional development opportunities for adult social care workers.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) launched a new system for Continuous Professional Learning (CPL), in October 2020. The change allows for a more flexible approach to recording learning, doing so in a way which works best for registered workers and gives employers more of a role in reviewing registrants’ learning.

Through SSSC social services workers have access to free learning resources, interactive webinars that support CPL and career development and new information on nationally recognised learning resources endorsed by SSSC all of which will support CPL.

Question reference: S6W-13586

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many transactions the Additional Dwelling Supplement has been applied to in (a) the 2022-23 financial year to date and (b) each of the previous four full financial years, also broken down by local authority area.

Revenue Scotland publishes monthly and annual data on transactions subject to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS). This data is available at: Statistics | Revenue Scotland .

The monthly data published by Revenue Scotland includes the number of transactions subject to the Additional Dwelling Supplement per month. Data up to and including November 2022 is currently available at: Monthly LBTT Statistics | Revenue Scotland . In total, 17,970 transactions were recorded for the period of April 2022 to November 2022.

Local authority level data is published on an annual basis, as part of Revenue Scotland’s Annual Summary of Trends in the Devolved Taxes. The report for 2020-21, which provides data for the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2021, is available at: Annual Summary of Trends in the Devolved Taxes 2020-2021 | Revenue Scotland . The report for 2021-2022 is due to be published in early 2023.

Question reference: S6W-13631

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports young people who are school non-attenders or not in mainstream education to have resources similar to the national Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) resources.

Local authorities are responsible for the education of all pupils who are registered within their school rolls.

It is for teachers, schools and local authorities to determine how best to deliver learning and teaching on any topic and subject, in line with Curriculum for Excellence. We expect teachers to use their professional judgement, experience and understanding of their pupils to respond sensitively to complex and challenging issues.

The national relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) resources are part of a wider package of resources available to all schools and teachers to support delivery of RSHP education. A summary of wider resources in use across Scotland is available on Education Scotland's National Improvement Hub at https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/a-summary-of-rshp-resources/ .

Question reference: S6W-13641

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have accessed the national Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) resources and used them as part of the school curriculum since their creation.

Question reference: S6W-13806

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-13805

Current Status: Withdrawn