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-17889

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many diagnoses there have been of (a) Crohn's disease and (b) ulcerative colitis in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-17936

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 Jenni Minto on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards currently have a specialist endometriosis service in operation.

Question reference: S6W-17967

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10178 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022, whether it will provide an update on the total cost of any financial penalties issued by Transport Scotland to CalMac Ferries Ltd since October 2021.

Question reference: S6W-17445

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the most up-to-date Pupil equity funding - school level funding figures will be published.

Pupil Equity Funding allocations are updated and published annually to take into account new, closed and merged schools of that year. The 2023-24 Pupil Equity Funding allocations are currently being finalised and will be communicated to local authorities shortly with publication in due course thereafter. All previous allocations can be found here: Pupil attainment: closing the gap - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-17102

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much in real terms, based on current prices, its policy on (a) free prescriptions, (b) concessionary travel and (c) free personal and nursing care has cost in each year since its introduction, also broken down by the average annual real terms spending for a recipient of each scheme.

a) Prescription charges were removed in Scotland in financial year 2011-12, with £57m being baselined into territorial board budgets. The prescription charge for a single item in 2007-08 was £6.85. In England, where prescription charges were not abolished, the single item charge increased to £9.65 in April 2023.

b) In 2022-23 the nominal price payments for the Older & Disabled Persons’ scheme was £158.4m, and the Young Persons’ Scheme was £109.1m. These figures may be subject to future revision as operators have up to 12 months to make a claim for reimbursement in line with scheme legislation. Statistics on concessionary travel can be found in Chapter 2 via the following link: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-2022/

c) Information on expenditure related to Free Personal and Nursing Care is published annually, and is publicly available via the following link: Health and social care analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-17101

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average real terms spending, based on current prices, was for (a) a primary, (b) a secondary and (c) an additional support needs pupil, in each year since 2007.

Table 1 provides real terms spend per primary, secondary, and Additional Support for Learning pupil based on 2021-22 prices, to align with the most recent Local Government Financial Returns. Data is provided from 2007-08 for primary and secondary spend. Additional Support for Learning spend is provided from 2012-13, when the data was first collected in Local Government Financial Returns.

Table 1: Real terms average spend per pupil, 2007-08 to 2021-22

Financial ‎ Year	Primary ‎ Education	Secondary ‎ Education	Additional Support for Learning
2007-08	6,102	8,318	-
2008-09	6,119	8,407	-
2009-10	6,104	8,169	-
2010-11	6,159	8,126	-
2011-12	5,972	7,860	-
2012-13	5,827	7,885	5,381
2013-14	5,686	7,823	4,939
2014-15	5,554	7,832	4,699
2015-16	5,577	7,912	4,315
2016-17	5,579	7,894	3,975
2017-18	5,697	7,855	3,770
2018-19	5,894	8,071	3,579
2019-20	6,111	8,220	3,409
2020-21	6,088	7,851	3,386
2021-22	6,550	8,174	3,511

Figures are adjusted to exclude inter-authority transfers. Inflation adjustments are based on HM Treasury’s 31 March 2023 GDP Deflator outturn data.

Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2. Pupil Census - published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

3. GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Question reference: S6W-17760

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 19 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many remotely-operated (a) underwater and (b) aerial drones are currently available for use by NatureScot.

Question reference: S6W-17660

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commissioned any research on health-related issues in which participants were recruited through Facebook since May 2021, and, in any such case, what checks were put in place to verify the authenticity of any individuals who agreed to take part in such research.

Scottish Government contractors use a range of methods to recruit participants for social and market research projects, which may include Facebook in specific instances. We do not hold this information as standard on a project basis.

Research on Chronic Pain, commissioned by The Scottish Government from The Lines Between in 2022, included participants recruited via Facebook. Checks were made on participant eligibility via a detailed recruitment screener, including question on impact of pain and treatment pathways.

Question reference: S6W-17761

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 19 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation NatureScot is undertaking, or plans to undertake, with relevant stakeholders before it extends its conservation management advice for freshwater pearl mussels to include lochs.

Question reference: S6W-17687

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress being made in developing the pension age disability payment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17686 on 19 May 2023 which sets out the delivery timetable for Pension Age Disability Payment.

The Scottish Government continues to make progress in the development of Pension Age Disability Payment. Officials are currently drafting regulations to enable the delivery of Pension Age Disability Payment, whilst also engaging with stakeholders and those with lived experience of the current social security system to develop a benefit that delivers with dignity, fairness and respect.

The Scottish Government is also working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure a safe and secure transfer to Pension Age Disability Payment for individuals in Scotland who are currently in receipt of Attendance Allowance.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

	CHFS2
CY06	Oct 2021 - Sept 2022	£ 3,088,064
CY07 (to date)	Oct 2022 - March 2023	£ 1,454,997