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-00614

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2021

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that vulnerable individuals are able to access support from charities and community groups over the festive period despite any required COVID-19 measures.

Question reference: S6F-00612

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recent survey by the Educational Institute of Scotland, which found that at least 50% of teachers said their wellbeing was poor or very poor.

Question reference: S6F-00607

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00606

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6T-00388

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it will take in response to the 2020-21 audit of its consolidated accounts by the Auditor General for Scotland.

Question reference: S6T-00385

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will explain its decision to increase peak and off-peak regulated rail fares by 3.8%.

Question reference: S6T-00382

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any workforce issues in social care, in light of comments from the Chief Executive of Scottish Care that the social care sector is facing the biggest workforce crisis it has ever experienced.

Question reference: S6W-05147

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) UK Government and (b) insurance industry regarding (i) the issue of reimbursing COVID-19-related domestic trip cancellations and (ii) whether there is a need for consistency across providers.

At present there are no restrictions on domestic travel therefore no specific discussions have been tabled with the UK Government. The majority of domestic trips are able to go ahead however we are asking that people be cautious when travelling and choosing activities and we are strengthening some mitigating measures in some areas of the visitor and retail economy. The Scottish Government also continues to engage regularly with the UK Government in relation to support for the wider tourism and hospitality industry.

The regulation of insurance providers is a reserved matter and the Competition and Markets Authority may choose to engage if they believe there is a need for consistency across providers.

Question reference: S6W-04949

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04128 by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2021, whether it will provide an update on its plans to display a person's COVID-19 booster vaccine status on the (a) paper vaccine certificate and (b) digital COVID passport.

Question reference: S6W-04989

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how convicted prisoners who identify as trans male or female are facilitated in the prison estate, and how many are currently held in each part of the prison estate, broken down by facility, prison or institution.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Decisions by the SPS as to the most appropriate location to accommodate transgender people are made on an individualised basis, informed by a multi-disciplinary assessment of both risk and need.

Such decisions seek to protect both the wellbeing and rights of the individual as well as the welfare and rights of others around them, including staff, in order to achieve an outcome that balances risks and promotes the safety of all.

As of 3 December 2021, there were 15 transgender individuals held across 10 prisons in Scotland. In order to avoid the potential indirect identification of individuals, it is not appropriate to disaggregate the data as requested.