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-06474

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to lower the age for bowel screenings, and what assessment it has made of recent research and practice, including the US Preventive Services Task Force B-grade recommendation for screening for colorectal cancer in adults aged 45 to 49.

The Scottish Government will only make plans to introduce any changes to the eligible age range for the bowel screening programme in Scotland if this is recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC advises Ministers and the NHS in the 4 UK countries on all aspects of screening. The Committee’s recommendations are based on the latest evidence and agreed criteria for appraising the viability, effectiveness and appropriateness of a screening programme.

The current age ranges for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme are based on the 2018 recommendation that screening for bowel cancer using the faecal-immunochemical test should be offered every 2 years to men and women between the ages of 50 and 74 in the UK.

The Scottish Government continues to stress that it is important at any age to be aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer, and to report any concerns to a GP Practice so that these can be investigated.

Question reference: S6W-06377

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to improve public awareness of paint recycling and reuse initiatives.

I welcome the reports from Royal Society of Chemistry on making Polymers in Liquid Formulations (PLFs) more sustainable, helping to raise awareness of the complex issues around sustainable paint, and waste management.

Zero Waste Scotland provide further detail on what to with used paint and paint cans here: What to do with used paint | Recycling | How to Waste Less . Zero Waste Scotland also work through Revolve to promote the wider reuse of items and materials and help raise awareness of responsible consumption.

This service provision supplements social enterprise and third sector initiatives running paint collection and redistribution reuse networks for waste paint.

Question reference: S6W-06337

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the net benefit figure for Business, in table 2 of annex F of the publication, A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland: Final Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, of £333 million is calculated as the sum of -£1,291 and £920 million, and, if so, whether the figure is correct, and, if not, how the figure is calculated.

Annex F of the updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which we published alongside the draft DRS Regulations on 15 December 2021, provides a sensitivity analysis of the economic case for DRS by analysing two assumptions for key scheme parameters raised by industry: a figure of 2.7bn containers per year placed on the market (compared to the 2.2bn originally modelled) and a figure of 37,000 return points (compared to the 17,000 originally modelled).

Although the original assumptions published in Table 3 of the same BRIA remain our final, and best, estimate of the costs and benefits associated with DRS, we analysed the impact on the 25-year net present value (NPV) based on these two figures suggested by industry.

Annex F, Table 2 sets out an overall NPV of £583m if the two industry assumptions are taken into account, and provides a breakdown of this figure by sector. The overall figure of £583m has been re-validated and is correct. However, a manual error was made in copying over some of the data cells in this table. The corrected figures are set out in the table below. It is important to note that the error does not affect the overall findings of the BRIA; nor does it change the overall net present value that was presented in Table 2, Annex F.

When we were notified of this error we immediately corrected it by writing to the Convener of the Net Zero, Energy, and Transport Committee. We have amended the published Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment on the Scottish Government website. To provide further reassurance following the detection of this error, all other data presented in the BRIA have been re-validated and confirmed to be correct.

Actor Name	Costs (£m)	Benefits (£m)	Net Benefit (£m)
Local Authorities	- 45	219	173
Business	- 1,325	931	- 394
Regulator	- 17	0	- 17
System Operator	- 603	1,331	727
Society	- 1,116	1,209	94
Total	- 3,106	3,690	583
Note. The DRS for Scotland is designed to optimise delivery against the four strategic outcomes and to be complementary to any future packaging EPR scheme.

Figures may not sum due to rounding

Question reference: S6W-06387

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government by what date in 2022 the review of the strategy, The best start: five-year plan for maternity and neonatal care, will be published.

The original timeframe for the Best Start Implementation Programme Board envisaged a five year implementation timeline, ending in 2022. However the programme has been effectively paused for nearly two years as NHS Boards prioritised the response to COVID-19. I therefore agreed a two year extension to the implementation period for Best Start last year. The expectation is that NHS Boards will have implemented all of the recommendations by mid-2024, with implementation of continuity of carer within the lifetime of this Parliament.

In addition to monitoring of implementation, the Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland on the overall evaluation of the Best Start approach.

Question reference: S6W-06385

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a recent Royal College of Nursing Scotland employment survey, what action it is taking in response to the reported finding that 61% of nursing staff in Scotland are thinking of leaving their jobs.

In light of the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wellbeing of our health workforce, wherever they work, remains a key priority. The 2021/22 pay uplift saw staff receive an average 4% pay rise, the highest in the UK. The Scottish Government is committed to ensure that NHS Scotland nursing staff continue to benefit from the best pay and conditions in the UK.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government made £12 million available to support the wellbeing of the workforce. This includes £8 million from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support for the workforce alongside an additional £4 million to provide further support to address winter pressures.

To complement this at a local level, we also have a range of resources including the National Wellbeing Hub, a 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, confidential mental health treatment the Workforce Specialist Service and funding for additional local psychological support. We are also providing further support for practical measures to aid rest and recuperation alongside additional resources such as Coaching for Wellbeing and grief and bereavement support.

Nursing and midwifery staffing is also at a record high, up by 13.1% since September 2006.

Question reference: S6W-06671

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the estimated value of romance and companionship fraud in each year since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-05939

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many cases of breast cancer may not have been diagnosed as a result of women over 70 not being able to self-refer for routine breast cancer screening.

Question reference: S6W-06031

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02968 by Graeme Dey on 28 September, when it anticipates it will publish provisional findings from the Ernst & Young review of the ferry network.

Question reference: S6W-06897

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-06298

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05488 by Ben Macpherson on 28 January 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many of these reports have been solved and how many remain unresolved, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

All reports received via the mygov.scot portal between 24 August 2020 and 30 November 2021 have been analysed, with appropriate actions identified and initiated. Social Security Scotland therefore consider that these information reports are resolved.

Information on fraud is regularly published in our Annual Report and Accounts. Social Security Scotland carefully considers the information on counter fraud activity that can be placed into the public domain to ensure that any information release does not undermine the ability of Social Security Scotland to prevent and detect crime.