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-18028

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17402 by Kevin Stewart on 9 May 2023, how much support has been given to bus operators for the purchase of new buses in the last three years; how many of any such new buses have had sufficient space for bike transport, and what conditionality for bike storage is applied to the purchase of new buses.

A total of £85.9m has been awarded to bus operators to support the purchase of new battery electric buses through rounds of the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme and the Scottish Zero Emission Challenge Fund, and 26 of these new buses have space for transporting bikes.

Phase 2 of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund launched on 15 May 2023 notes that our support for the purchase of new buses and coaches will be, where appropriate, conditional on space being available for bike transport.

Question reference: S6W-18038

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report, The Nursing Workforce in Scotland, that 73% of RCN members worked over their contracted hours at least once a week, with over half of respondents reporting that these additional hours were unpaid.

Question reference: S6W-17951

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16997 by Tom Arthur on 9 May 2023, whether it can confirm that 6% of its contractors do not pay employees a minimum wage of at least £10.90 an hour, as stated in its answer to question S6W-15469, including employees not directly involved in the delivery of its services, and whether it will provide a list of those companies that it contracts to deliver services that do not pay all of their employees a minimum wage of at least £10.90 an hour.

The Scottish Government now routinely mandates the payment of at least the Scottish real Living Wage (£10.90) to employees directly involved in the delivery of its contracts. The 6% of contractors referenced in the Annual Report 20-21 was made up of 16 suppliers. Recent analysis of these suppliers and the associated contracts has revealed that of these 16, 14 now pay the real Living Wage either through a change of contractor during a re-let or via contract management processes. For the 2 remaining suppliers, one contract is currently being retendered due for award in July 2023 and the other is due for re-tender in 2024.

The Scottish Government is taking steps to maximise the payment of the real Living Wage, by including Fair Work First Criteria, including providing fair pay for workers in the delivery of the contracts where relevant and proportionate.

Question reference: S6W-17955

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, how funding to pay for household measures will be (a) coordinated and (b) delivered, and, specifically, what it anticipates will be the role of local authorities in this.

Support for households is currently accessed via Home Energy Scotland or via local authority-led Area Based Schemes. Funding for these schemes is allocated annually by the Scottish Government.

It is likely that this arrangement will continue in the short term, but we are committed to working with delivery partners, including Local Government to ensure the efficient and delivery of support to households.

As noted in response to S6W-16779 the Scottish Government is working with wider stakeholders to align current and future delivery and funding programmes with Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies to support a strategic approach to the decarbonisation of heat reflecting local contexts and tailoring support to specific needs of communities.

Question reference: S6W-17935

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many outstanding cases of human trafficking have yet to lead to a prosecution due to court backlogs.

The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.

Any form of human trafficking is completely unacceptable. Through the Victim Centred Approach Fund, we are providing record funding of more than £9 million over the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025 to organisations supporting victims of human trafficking.

We have a strong track record on court investment, and continue to prioritise supporting justice partners to address the backlog.

The 2023-24 budget allocates £42.2 million for justice recovery, which includes over £26 million for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to maintain enhanced court capacity. We have also increased SCTS’s resource funding by £5 million, and provided record resource funding for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Question reference: S6W-17924

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage NHS boards to adopt the coeliac disease clinical pathway, in line with the Once for Scotland approach.

In 2018, a new national evidence-based pathway for coeliac disease was launched across four health boards (NHS Lothian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside). It was funded by Scottish Government’s Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) and co-produced in partnership with key stakeholders including Coeliac UK, and people living with coeliac disease and clinicians.

We recognise that more needs to be done and we expect all Health Boards to fully implement the pathway in order to improve services and ensure that, with dietetic person-centred support, people with coeliac disease take control of their condition and manage its impact on their health and quality of life.

We continue to support NHS Boards on the adoption of the pathway through our representation on the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Elective Care Group (EUDECG) which includes representation from all key stakeholders to support delivery, including NHS Boards and Endoscopy units across the country, in line with our Once for Scotland approach.

Question reference: S6W-17958

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, who will be responsible for managing the coordination of suppliers at local level, to ensure that they have the skills and quality marks required, in time for the roll-out of delivery plans, and what it anticipates will be the role of local authorities in this.

Ensuring that we have a suitably qualified workforce in place will be imperative for delivering a smooth rollout of energy efficiency and zero emission heating measures which will support us to achieve our net zero ambitions.

We currently offer support to the sector through a number of schemes which includes the Low Carbon Skills Grant which is available to heating and plumbing apprentices’ to undertake heat pump training as part of their qualification.

To further ensure the quality of works carried out we also provide funding to assist Scottish SMEs installing heat pumps in achieving MCS certification for the first time through the MCS Certification Fund.

We will continue to keep our offers of support under review to ensure that they are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.

Delivery partners for each scheme, including local authorities where relevant, are currently responsible for the coordination of suppliers to ensure they have sufficient capacity in place to deliver schemes. It is likely that this arrangement will continue but we are committed to working with delivery partners to support the development of local and national supply chains and skills.

Question reference: S6W-18164

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the extension of the Delivering Equally Safe Fund until March 2025, whether it has taken steps to ensure that rape crisis centres are able to apply for additional funding before the introduction of its proposed new funding model for specialist services for women and girls affected by gender-based violence.

In March 2022, the Scottish Government agreed that the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) funding period should be extended beyond September 2023, to allow suitable lead in time for a new funding model to be developed, following the conclusion of the Independent Strategic Funding Review.

Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) and its centres will continue to receive Delivering Equally Safe (DES) Funding until March 2025, along with all the other DES funded projects.

Ministers will consider the Funding Review findings when they are published on 6 June.

Question reference: S6W-17978

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many ATM sites have benefitted from 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Table 1 shows the number of ATM sites in receipt of 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme since 2018.

Table 1: ATM sites in receipt of 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme relief

Year	Number of ATM sites
2018	45
2019	61
2020	65
2021	53
2022	35

Source: Billing Snapshot 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The Billing Snapshot dates were 1 June 2018, 31 May 2019, 1 July 2020, 1 June 2021, and 1 July 2022.

In rural areas, the sites of ATMs are exempt from rating, including buildings in which the ATM is situated if the building is used only for the purpose of the ATM.

Question reference: S6W-17736

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date its More Homes Division next plans to publish an updated Affordable Housing Supply Programme: process and procedures guidance note, and for what reasons it did not do so at the beginning of the current financial year.