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-05500

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a strategic transition plan from Scottish-generated nuclear energy to renewables, and, if so, whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S6W-05529

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reallocated £45 million from the health budget to the Business Support Fund, and, if so, from which part of the health budget this contribution was taken.

The Scottish Government had expected to receive £120 million of additional Health consequential funding in respect of additional allocations to the UK Department of Health and Social Care for testing and vaccination costs.

Whilst we have yet to see the final consequential breakdown for UK Supplementary Estimates, indications were in December that this figure was revised down to £75m.

Rather than a reallocation of £45 million within Scottish Budgets to support business, this figure actually represents the shortfall in Health funding against previous expectations – a reduction of £45 million.

However the financial position has moved considerably since then and full details of all budget transfers supporting the recently announced measures will be set out in the forthcoming Spring Budget Revision.

Question reference: S6W-05508

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates the closure of (a) Hunterston B and (b) Torness nuclear power station will have on consumer energy bills, and whether it will provide details of its projections.

We do not have modelling explicitly calculating the potential impact of the closures of Hunterston and Torness however we believe that nuclear power represents poor value for consumers. There remains considerable uncertainty around the economics of new nuclear generation, and the long-term storage of nuclear waste remains a difficult issue. The latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction delivered offshore wind at £39.65 per megawatt hour – substantially below the £92.50 awarded to Hinkley. Internal analysis tells us that in 2030 alone Hinkley could add almost £40/year to a consumer bill, whilst the equivalent offshore wind farm would reduce consumer bills by £8/year.

Question reference: S6W-05528

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the health resource Barnett consequentials received for 2021-22 remain unallocated.

Question reference: S6W-05530

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much COVID-19 funding it plans to carry forward to 2022-23, broken down by portfolio.

The 2022-23 Scottish Budget as published on 9 December assumed no specific carry-forward for resource funding through the Scotland Reserve. £179 million of capital and financial transactions was assumed as the estimated Scotland Reserve availability for 2022-23, but this is not linked to specific portfolio underspends.

The 2022-23 Scottish Budget did include £620 million of other anticipated funding, calculated on a risk-based assessment of availability across a range of sources. This assessment included an estimate of £145 million of funding related to future consequentials associated with changes to UK non-domestic rates legislation, which HM Treasury has now confirmed is included in the £440 million guaranteed additional funding for 2021-22. This £145m will therefore now have to be factored into overall budget management in the final months of the current financial year, with the remaining balance considered as part of the Scotland Reserve carry-forward.

Question reference: S6W-06191

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government how it is applying evidence-based psychological interventions to change lifestyle behaviours related to (a) obesity, (b) disability and (c) chronic disease.

Question reference: S6W-06280

Asked by: Natalie Don-Innes, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the COVID-19 Support Grant, COVID-19 Support Grant - Restart, and Bus Service Operators' Grant will be continued in the 2022-23 financial year.

Today I am announcing a new Network Support Grant which will run from 1 April 2022 to help maintain bus services while passenger numbers recover from the effects of the pandemic.

The Network Support Grant will replace the COVID Support Grant, COVID Support Grant - Restart, and the Bus Service Operators Grant. The Network Support Grant will provide more flexibility than the emergency COVID funding schemes, allowing services to adapt to changed travel patterns and will be available on the same terms to new as well as established operators to help improve efficiencies and the offer to passengers. The level of support provided under the grant will reduce as passenger numbers recover and we will retain key controls and obligations on participating operators

The draft Scottish Budget for 2022-23 provides up to £93.5 million for this, including £40 million in additional funding. Full details of the Network Support Grant can be found on the Transport Scotland website.

Question reference: S6W-05979

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05645 by Ivan McKee on 19 January 2022, whether an impact assessment was undertaken as part of its decision to classify the bingo sector as a live event.

The Scottish Government does not assess risk on a sector by sector basis as the risks of a significant number of people gathering together indoors is the same regardless of the activity that brings them together.

For the purposes of the capacity limits on indoor gatherings the Scottish Government considers a live event to be something that brings together a significant number of people for communal participation in a leisure or entertainment activity.

The Scottish Government carried out an impact assessment of the live event regulation and its impact on businesses which include, but is not confined to, Bingo halls. This has been published at the link below: The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 6) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk).

Question reference: S6W-05998

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has met the Scotch Whisky Association since June 2021.

Scottish Ministers have met with the Scotch Whisky Association four times since June 2021. On occasion, Scotch Whisky Association staff also attend meetings such as the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Trade Board, where various industry stakeholders and the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism & Enterprise is also in attendance. Discussions between Scottish Government officials and the Scotch Whisky Association take place regularly.

Question reference: S6W-05982

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm if a judicial office holder from outwith Scotland will preside over the public inquiry into the malicious prosecutions concerning Rangers FC.