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-13947

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-13457 by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023, when the evaluation of the framework will be completed.

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-13949

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-13532 by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023, when it expects this investigatory work to be completed.

Question reference: S6W-13951

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, what the timeline is for its project to trial the Framework in social care settings.

Question reference: S6W-13950

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-13532 by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023, what the minimum standards developed are.

The Fair Work in Social Care Group has developed the following minimum standard terms and conditions:

Term/Condition	Proposed minimum Terms and Conditions
Sickness	Tenure within the sector is recognised for sick pay: < 1 Year. 5 weeks full, 5 weeks half pay 1 Year+ 9 weeks full, 9 weeks half pay 2 Years+ 18 weeks full, 18 weeks half pay 3Years+ 22 weeks full, 22 weeks half pay 5 Years+ 26 weeks full, 26 weeks half pay
Annual Leave	35 days; 27 holidays, 8 public On appointment: 35 days After five years: 37 days After ten years: 41 days (all including 8 public holidays)
Pensions	Contributions of 10% from the employer and 5% from the employee.
Professional Development Time	To include paid time for induction, mandatory training, and role specific training as required by regulatory bodies. To include ongoing professional development.
Maternity and Paternity	Maternity: 52 weeks, comprising; 8 weeks full pay, next 18 weeks half of full pay (plus Statutory Maternity Pay). Next 13 weeks, Statutory Maternity Pay, final 13 weeks no pay. Paternity: 2 weeks.
Core Pay (Contracted hours, overtime and overnight support)	Core pay should include contracted hours, any guaranteed overtime and overnight support payments.
Overnight Support	Sleepovers to be paid at a minimum Real Living Wage hourly rate. Waking hours paid at contractual rate with a minimum of Real Living Wage hourly rate.

Question reference: S6W-13968

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the SFA about the future of the national football stadium.

Question reference: S6W-13906

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of Chinese investment in the whisky industry in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13903

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of Chinese investment in Scotland.

Information on the value of Chinese inward investments into Scotland can be found in the publicly available report Businesses in Scotland, which shows that there are currently 15 Chinese owned businesses in Scotland, with an estimated employment of 1,770 and a turnover of £1.25 billion. The Scottish Government does not carry out further analysis on inward investment by specific countries on a sectoral basis.

The Scottish Government works with its enterprise agencies to ensure robust due diligence and proper consideration of human rights is undertaken on inward investments from China as well as from any other country. Additional safeguards are provided by the National Security and Investment Act 2021, which protects against acquisitions within sensitive areas of the economy that could cause harm to the UK’s national security.

Question reference: S6W-13898

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain has specifically considered veterans issues as part of its work to improve chronic pain management in Scotland.

We recognise the impact that chronic pain can have on people’s quality of life, including those with health problems arising as a result of their service to their country. The Scottish Veterans Commissioner (SVC) report ‘Veterans’ Health and Wellbeing ( www.gov.scot ) contained a recommendation that the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACCP) consider support for Veterans as part of their work.

As detailed in the Scottish Government’s Support for the Veterans and the Armed Forces Community report published in November 2020, in line with this recommendation, the Scottish Government provided funding for the Pain Association Scotland to deliver a project to develop bespoke chronic pain self-management support for Veterans which received excellent feedback from participants. Outputs from this work included the development of a standardised Veterans referral form for healthcare practitioners seeking to support these patients.

The Scottish Government set out a refreshed approach to improving care and support for people with chronic pain in the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan , published in July 2022. The Plan sets out a number of specific actions that are intended to improve care and support for people with chronic pain across Scotland, irrespective of underlying clinical cause or background. As we deliver the Plan we will identify opportunities to improve pain management support for groups facing inequalities, including Veterans, to ensure they can access the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Question reference: S6W-13917

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what policy review it has undertaken in relation to children with autism and their assessment for other conditions and co-morbidities, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Significant policy review in relation to neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and attention deficit disorder (ADHD) was undertaken through the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce which reported in 2019. The Taskforce recommended that the Scottish Government should develop a neurodevelopmental service specification for use across services in Scotland. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board and the subsequent Joint Delivery Board took responsibility for developing these principles and standards of care.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People which sets out seven standards for service providers to ensure that children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles with support needs receive the support that they require.

The Specification is purposefully inclusive and includes support for those who may be identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The Specification states that comorbidity and coexistence of a range of neurodevelopmental needs is common and that all children and families should experience joined up support, based on the single child’s plan, with professionals from different agencies working together to provide the range of support the child or young person needs.