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-04297

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, what the application process is for the £10 million of funding to help people who are struggling to pay fuel bills.

The £10 million Fuel Insecurity Fund will be made available to households struggling with their energy costs this winter through a range of third sector delivery partners, chiefly the Fuel Bank Foundation, Registered Social Landlords and Advice Direct Scotland, which will be delivering the Home Heating Support Fund. Application processes will be put in place by each delivery organisation and are expected to involve a mix of direct applications and referrals by trusted advice partners.

Question reference: S6W-04296

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, what eligibility criteria it has applied to the £10 million to help people who are struggling to pay fuel bills.

Support from the £10 million Fuel Insecurity Fund will be delivered by third sector partner organisations and will be available to households across Scotland who are at risk of self-disconnecting, or self-rationing their energy use this winter, regardless of tariff type or fuel type.

Through all of the projects supported by the Fuel Insecurity Fund, we will seek to ensure that those receiving help are not just provided with financial support but that they are also connected with wider advice and support on energy efficiency, income maximisation and how to reduce energy bills.

Question reference: S6W-04386

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to reduce poverty-related health inequalities.

We are committed to addressing the underlying causes of health inequalities; ending poverty, increasing fair access to employment, education and training, and improving our physical and social environments.

Community Link Workers continue to be at the forefront of our efforts to tackle poverty-related health inequalities. We are building on the funding we provide to community-led organisations and supporting the success of Community Link Workers by creating a network of 1,000 additional staff. We are embedding welfare rights and money advice services across 150 primary care settings throughout Scotland.

We provide £9 million to fund smoking-cessation services, which especially benefits people from deprived communities, and we are making Active Schools programmes free for young people. Our Alcohol Framework contains 20 actions to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harms and reduce the inequality gap. We fund the Healthy Living Programme in over 2,300 convenience stores, mainly in more deprived areas, which increases fruit and vegetable sales.

Progress in these areas, alongside our public health priorities, will help tackle the unfair and unjust health inequalities that exist across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-04394

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in (a) maintaining and (b) improving rail infrastructure in West Scotland in each year since 2016.

Network Rail is a wholly owned subsidiary company of the UK Government, and responsibility for determining and monitoring its operation, maintenance and renewal expenditure rests with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Transport Scotland funds Network Rail in accordance with the ORR’s determination, and also provides additional funding for enhancements which we monitor and control closely above the substantial investment in operations, maintenance and renewal. Therefore, under this split arrangement, which is a feature of UK Government rail legislation, the Scottish Government does not hold the full investment information broken down by region within Scotland.

Therefore I would recommend that the member contacts Network Rail or the ORR for the detailed information requested for rail infrastructure investment in the West of Scotland since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-04373

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many veterans in Scotland are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Universal Credit, alongside other reserved benefits including Employment and Support Allowance, are fully reserved to the UK Government and as such the Scottish Government does not hold the data relevant to this question.

The Department for Work and Pensions provides the data confirming the number of people in receipt of both of these benefits, however it does not record information relating to an individual’s past employment or if they are a veteran.

Question reference: S6W-04418

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many women have self-referred to the breast cancer screening programme, in each year since 1999.

Information on the numbers of women over the screening age who have self-referred into the breast screening programme can be found in the tables below.

Please note that in 2003, the age range for routine invitation to the breast screening programme was amended. Women aged 50 to 64 years old were invited for routine breast screening up to 2003, and from 2003, women aged 50 to 70 years old were routinely invited.

It is important to note that the data below is management information and has not been subject to the necessary quality checks carried out for an official publication. The breast screening year runs from 1st April to 31st March.

Table 1: Breast screening attendance by women aged 65 and over self-referring to the screening programme in Scotland, 1st April 1999 to 31st March 2003.

Year	Self-referrals ages 65 and over
1999-00	9,722
2000-01	10,502
2001-02	11,130
2002-03	13,026

Table 2: Breast screening attendance by women aged 71 and over self-referring to the screening programme in Scotland, 1st April 2003 to 31st March 2020.

Year	Self-referrals ages 71 and over
2003-04	4,024
2004-05	4,847
2005-06	5,768
2006-07	6,156
2007-08	6,572
2008-09	8,498
2009-10	7,357
2010-11	8,577
2011-12	9,413
2012-13	7,925
2013-14	9,074
2014-15	9,695
2015-16	8,191
2016-17	9,845
2017-18	10,475
2018-19	12,144
2019-20	10,958

Source: Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-04337

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to add the COVID-19 booster vaccination to the vaccination status app, and whether proof of the booster vaccination will be required for (a) international travel and (b) domestic use.

Question reference: S6W-04374

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many veterans are in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance.

Question reference: S6W-04128

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether COVID-19 booster vaccinations will be registered on the NHS Scotland Covid Status App; what the reasons are for its position on this matter, and, if they will be registered, by what date this will happen.

Yes, work is currently in progress to ensure people can access their COVID-19 booster vaccination information in the app and on the paper and PDF versions through the NHS Portal. It is expected this will be available from December 2021, following the recent agreement of international standards on how to display booster information on 18 November.

Proof of booster vaccinations are not currently a requirement of the domestic certification scheme. However, we are aware that a small number of countries have introduced a vaccine ‘expiry’ point as part of their certification arrangements.

In the meantime, people intending to travel should check the entry requirements of the country they are visiting on the GOV.UK foreign travel advice pages, as PCR testing is also widely accepted.

Question reference: S6F-00538

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that the use of antidepressant medication among children has increased by more than 80% over the last 10 years.