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-07199

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage cumulative economic growth in Scotland, in terms of increased total GDP, was for the period from May 2007 to December 2019, and how this compares with the equivalent figure for the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-07198

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage cumulative economic growth in Scotland, in terms of increased total GDP, was for the period from May 2007 to May 2016, and how this compares with the equivalent figure for the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-07262

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many classroom assistants have been employed in each local authority in each year since 1999.

Information on the number of pupil support assistants employed in 2021 was published on 15 March 2022 and is available here School support staff statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Information on previous years is available in the answer to parliamentary question S6W-01069: 'To ask the Scottish Government how many classroom assistants have been employed in each local authority area in each year since 1999.'

Question reference: S6W-07155

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when people who are over the age for automatic inclusion in the breast screening programme will be able to make breast screening appointments at locally available screening units.

In recognition of the anxiety the pause for those over the age of 71 to self-refer is causing, I asked for work to explore options that will accelerate the restart of self-referrals for women aged 71 and over. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic. As part of these considerations our goal is to restart the option to self-refer by the end of September 2022, with a number of factors still to be worked through. The restart will be done in a phased way without unduly impacting appointment times for the eligible screening population for whom there are clear screening benefits. Every effort continues to be made to increase capacity in the screening programme, including through deploying additional mobile units and offering weekend and evening appointments.

Regardless of their age, women should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.

Question reference: S6W-07174

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-14658 and S5W-24160 by Shona Robison on 6 March 2018 and Jeane Freeman on 22 July 2019 respectively, what steps it is taking to raise public awareness of the reported potential impact of Essure contraceptive implants on women's health.

Question reference: S6W-07255

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged (a) 25 to 50 and (b) 51 to 75 have been convicted of dangerous driving in each of the last five years; how many have had their licence removed, and what the average period of disqualification was.

The available information is provided in the following tables.

People aged 25-50 and 51-75, convicted for Dangerous and careless driving offences (where main crime), 2015-16 to 2019-20.

	2015-16		2016-17		2017-18		2018-19		2019-20
	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75
Dangerous driving offences	349	62	389	73	521	76	458	70	545	90
Driving carelessly	1,500	575	1,557	599	1,518	593	1,235	494	1,283	539

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

People convicted for Dangerous and careless driving offences (where main crime) receiving driving disqualification, 2015-16 to 2019-20.

	2015-16		2016-17		2017-18		2018-19		2019-20
	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75
Dangerous driving offences	335	57	368	67	496	68	432	63	521	85
Driving carelessly	228	37	259	35	256	50	177	42	181	27

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Average period of driving disqualification (in months), received by people aged 25-50 and 51-75, convicted for Dangerous and careless driving offences (where main crime), 2015-16 to 2019-20.

	2015-16		2016-17		2017-18		2018-19		2019-20
	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75	25-50	51-75
Dangerous driving offences	27	17	25	20	26	19	26	18	25	18
Driving carelessly	11	12	12	12	12	10	10	14	10	10
Average total	19	15	18	17	20	14	20	16	20	16

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Please note: Averages exclude lifetime driving bans.

Question reference: S6W-07242

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional funding for schools that take refugee children from Ukraine.

Scotland has a proud history of welcoming displaced people and people seeking asylum. The Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities stand ready to welcome and support people with the safety and security they need to rebuild their lives.

The Government is actively working with a wide range of partners, including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, councils and the Scottish Refugee Council, to ensure effective coordination of plans to address the practical challenges of resettling those coming to Scotland.

The UK Government have committed to providing £10,500 in additional funding to local authorities for each resettled Ukrainian to support access to services. We understand that an additional sum will be provided for children of school age, and we are seeking further clarity from UK Government on the specifics of this.

Question reference: S6W-07200

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage cumulative economic growth in Scotland, in terms of increased total GDP, was for the period from May 2007 to December 2021, and how this compares with the equivalent figure for the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-07176

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place to improve the health of any women who may have experienced reported side effects such as chronic pain, nickel poisoning, perforated organs and autoimmune reactions as a result of having an Essure contraceptive implant.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06890 on 9 March 2022.

It is important that anyone who experiences complications receives appropriate and timely care, and so I would encourage any woman with concerns to speak to her GP in the first instance. We are clear that GPs must take any patient’s concerns seriously, and must ensure that they have all the advice they to make an informed decision on their care.

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

Question reference: S6W-06979

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will be taking further to the release of the James Hutton Institute report on the impacts of sewage sludge.

Whilst there was no new evidence in the James Hutton Institute report to suggest a significant risk to human health or wellbeing in respect to the use of sewage sludge, my officials will continue to engage with both SEPA and Scottish Water regarding the report, to ensure the risk assessment and appropriate, recommended mitigations are in place.

The legislative changes recommended by the review of the Storage and Spreading of Sewage Sludge on Land in Scotland (The Sludge Review), are being introduced via the Integrated Authorisation Framework regulations, which are currently being progressed and will be consulted on in the coming months.