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-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-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: 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-12464

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding enterprise issues that fall within of the responsibilities of the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, how it assesses (a) outcomes, (b) performance and (c) value for money in relation to capital investment.

Robust processes are in place for assessing the outcomes, performance and value for money of capital investment, tailored to the nature of the investment.

For example, projects within the Scottish City and Region Growth Deal Programmes are developed in accordance with HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance which requires appraisal of the social economic and carbon outputs, outcomes and impacts from public sector investment; whole life cycle costing is examined and value for money reviewed. In addition, Benefit Realisation Plans for the Deal Programmes, aggregate project business case performance information, supplemented by qualitative information, to evidence the cumulative impact of public sector investment in the relevant region.

Our enterprise agencies also follow a rigorous appraisal process aligned to the Scottish Public Finance Manual and HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance to assess investment proposals. Evaluation of value for money is also undertaken. In the period from April 2017 to March 22, Scottish Enterprise delivered £85m of capital investment grant support to businesses which is expected to leverage a further £410m of private sector investment. The agency’s evaluation demonstrates that its capital investment grants also support other benefits, including company creation, innovation, increased company sales and exports, and attracting companies to locate to or stay in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12448

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much in-year additional health and social care funding, in addition to the spending commitments outlined in its 2022-23 budget, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by (i) date of announcement and (ii) nature of expenditure.

The Scottish Government continues to prioritise funding for health, providing increases year on year and funding of £18 billion in 2022-23, as set out in the Scottish Budget.

However, the scale of the financial challenge across the Scottish Government and health and social care is unprecedented, as a result of rising inflation and energy costs and the ongoing impacts of Covid and Brexit.

The UK Government’s Autumn statement provided no additional funding this year to support health and social care in addressing these challenges or to support fair pay deals, with the funding outlined over the coming two years falling massively short of the combined impact of Covid pressures, energy costs and inflation.

It is vital that further funding is provided by the UK Government to address the backlog in care caused by Covid and to help our NHS and social care staff deal with the cost of living crisis

Question reference: S6W-12444

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £165 million allocated to the National Care Service in its 2022-23 budget has been allocated and spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

We have revisited the NCS financial memorandum assumptions and, based on a revised recruitment profile and revised investment in data and digital work, £15 million of funding in 2022-23 has been reprioritised. We are taking time to get this right, ensuring engagement through events such as the Forum and launch of the Lived Experience Expert Panel. As a result some costs that would have been expected in this financial year will not occur.

Question reference: S6W-12286

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total amount was of any legal costs incurred by the purchase of the Glenprosen estate.

Question reference: S6W-12301

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholders have identified rehabilitation leads within their organisations to lead on delivery of recommendations in the report, Rehabilitation and Recovery: A Once for Scotland Person-Centred Approach to Rehabilitation in a Post-COVID Era.

Establishing a Rehabilitation Governance Board is one of the delivery outcomes of the Rehabilitation and Recovery: A Once for Scotland Person-Centred Approach to Rehabilitation in a Post-COVID Era. The approach paper states that we will “Develop clear reporting and accountability arrangements to ensure delivery of the recommendations”. The Scottish Government is in the process of establishing the Board, which will help to identify local rehabilitation leads, ensuring appropriate appointments to take forward the aims identified in Rehabilitation and Recovery. Recruitment to the Board will begin in the New Year and it is expected members will represent a broad-range of rehabilitation workforce and may be drawn from NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and third sector partners.

Question reference: S6W-12060

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what islands impact assessment has been carried out in connection with the First Home Fund.