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: S6F-00733

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to encourage rail travel in Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-00720

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

To ask the First Minister how much has been spent on private sector contracts in the preparation of the proposed national care service.

Question reference: S6F-00715

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the findings of a recent report by the Virtual Trials National Project Board, which states that specialist online courts should be set up to deal with domestic abuse cases.

Question reference: S6F-00712

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00713

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-00711

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-05495

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the delays to the deposit return scheme, whether Zero Waste Scotland will publish an updated economic and waste management impact assessment for local authorities.

Modelling by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) projects that 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities will incur a net financial benefit from the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Local authorities are also expected to benefit from a reduction in the impact of litter, and from efficiencies to collection services following the implementation of DRS.

ZWS has no current plans to update its modelling. However, it is engaging with individual local authorities, in particular the three currently projected not to make savings, to assess the impacts of DRS on them and look at options for service improvements.

Question reference: S6W-05498

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the social care workforce have received the COVID-19 booster vaccination.

The COVID-19 statistical report which is published weekly includes a section for COVID-19 vaccinations by Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority group, including first, second, and third/booster doses for frontline social care workers. This cohort is made up of registered Scottish Social Services Council staff and does not include those without professional registration.

This data can be found at. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20580.

Question reference: S6W-05643

Asked by: Neil Gray, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to North Lanarkshire Council to build council housing in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government Council House Build Programme was introduced in April 2009, the aim being to incentivise local authorities to build new homes. This was the first such central government support to councils in a generation.

Our allocation through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) is not specific to council house building but for all social landlords across the council area. The following table, however, does show the actual funding spent by North Lanarkshire Council from the AHSP for council house building between 2009/10 and 2020/21.

Financial Year	Funding provided through the AHSP £m
2009-10	0.00
2010-11	0.00
2011-12	0.00
2012-13	3.200
2013-14	2.053
2014-15	4.592
2015-16	1.832
2016-17	5.200
2017-18	11.919
2018-19	5.660
2019-20	13.107
2020-21*	9.668
Total	57.231

*Funding for 2020-21 cannot be confirmed at this time as figures have not been published in the out-turn reports, and as we are currently working on the programme for 2021-22, we cannot provide this information.

A more comprehensive annual breakdown by local authority and programme type, including expenditure, is made available each year in the published Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme Out-turn Reports.

Out-turn reports can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.scot/policies/more-homes/affordable-housing-supply/ .

Question reference: S6W-05473

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to the independent review into the health impact of potential bias in medical devices and the impact on patients from different ethnic groups, and whether it plans to take forward any of the review's recommendations where they may apply in Scotland and cover devolved matters.

The Scottish Government is in regular discussion with the UK Government about the Independent Review into the health impact of potential bias in medical devices, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care on 21 November 2021.

The primary purpose of the Independent Review is to make recommendations to tackle any health impact on patients due to their ethnic origin in relation to medical devices currently in use in the UK. The UK Government plans a further announcement about the Independent Review.

Ahead of the wider Independent Review, two DHSC led rapid reviews are underway to identify potential areas of immediate concern with medical devices currently on the market in the UK, and will conclude by the end of January – one is specifically on Pulse Oximeters, and one on other medical devices currently in use in the UK. The Pulse Oximeter review will involve a roundtable with representation from experts in the field from across the UK including NHS Scotland, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England. The rapid reviews will help inform priority areas of the Independent Review.

It is intended that the Independent Review and DHSC led rapid reviews will result in recommendations to ensure medical devices are safe and effective for all. The Scottish Government will consider recommendations relevant to the NHS in Scotland.