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: S6O-00407

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will make a decision regarding the level of MSP allowances for staff for 2022-23.

Question reference: S6O-00413

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, in light of reported concerns, what consideration it is giving to additional funding for increased security personnel and security for MSPs' surgeries and local offices.

Question reference: S6W-04380

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action NHS Scotland is taking to help tackle the climate emergency.

Question reference: S6W-04139

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to update COVID-19 guidance on international school trips.

Question reference: S6W-03981

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the winter flu period is anticipated to commence in 2021.

Most influenza infections typically occur in the winter months with a peak between December and March. Public Health Scotland produce a weekly report monitoring the surveillance of influenza infection which currently sits at baseline activity (week 42). The latest weekly report can be found here: Weekly national seasonal respiratory report - Week 42 2021 - Weekly national seasonal respiratory report - Publications - Public Health Scotland .

Question reference: S6W-03880

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether district nurses are being used to administer COVID-19 booster vaccines and winter flu vaccines to individuals at home, and, if so, under what circumstances.

Due to the importance of the autumn/winter vaccines, some health boards are utilising Community Nursing Teams.

This will particularly be for those patients who are on their current caseloads and are housebound. Community Nurses are also supporting vaccinations in care homes, not only to those on caseload but to help support delivery to this priority group. Community Nurses are also undertaking additional shifts in vaccination clinic settings.

Question reference: S6W-03774

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its Heat in Buildings Strategy, what it is doing to ensure that colleges and schools have sufficient trained professionals to teach the skills required to deliver the strategy; what planning is taking place to create and provide such courses; what it is doing to encourage potential students to undertake such training; what it estimates the cost will be to local authorities of providing such training; where it anticipates local authorities will fund this from, and whether it will provide any financial support to local authorities for this.

Plans to create and provide training courses to support the heat in buildings strategy:

Working with industry, we have developed a set of installer skills requirements to help professionalise services in the sector, and provide clearer career pathways for young people. We consulted on these earlier this year and we are now integrating these requirements into the relevant industry standards.

We anticipate that the heat in buildings transition will require a substantial growth in supply chains, particularly in the availability of skilled heating and energy efficiency installers. However, the specific scale and timing of the required workforce growth will depend on a range of factors including the changing demographics and supply chain demand across the construction sector.

We have partnered with Scottish Renewables and Skills Development Scotland to undertake a ‘Heat in Buildings Workforce Assessment Project’ which will help us define the timing of workforce growth and how best to support people transitioning into key roles. This work will report back in Spring 2022. This will improve our understanding on how best to support workforce investment and ensure that jobs will be available for people to move into as they complete their training.

Ensuring that colleges and schools have sufficient trained professionals to teach the skills required to deliver the strategy:

At the end of 2020 the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland published the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan, (CESAP) setting out the actions we need to take to ensure our workforce is able to support the transition to net zero.

The launch of the Green Jobs Workforce Academy also demonstrates our commitment to providing accessible information on training opportunities and skills transferability to job seekers.

Gathering and communicating data on the demand for green jobs will be crucial in developing and delivering the right skills interventions at the right time. As part of the ongoing CESAP Implementation, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council are currently reviewing training provision in the context of our Heat in Buildings Strategy. The results of the workforce assessment project, detailed above, will serve as an evidence base for this review.

Encouraging potential students to undertake relevant heat in buildings training:

The Modern Apprenticeship (MA) is the key pathway for young people into the heating and plumbing industry. The Scottish Government provides a contribution towards training for Modern Apprenticeships through Skills Development Scotland. The public funded training contribution is structured by age and level, and prioritised to support outcomes within the Scottish Government’s skills and economic strategies.

In addition to the apprenticeship pathway, our National Transition Training Fund aims to tackle the rise in unemployment caused by Covid-19 by offering short sharp training opportunities for people to learn in-demand skills. Projects this year include funding for Historic Environment Scotland, which will deliver training on retrofitting pre-1919 buildings, while the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) will support the delivery of training on Passivhaus construction and retro-fit.

Cost and support to Local Authorities:

Local Authorities do not have a specific role in the provision of training through the modern apprenticeship framework. However, we are keen for Local Authorities to play a constructive role in supporting the supply chain growth required to deliver our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

We will work with Local Authorities in the development of our Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan, to be published next Summer, and consider any role they might have in supporting training provision as part of this work.

Question reference: S6W-03770

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it decided to outsource the design of the National Care Service on a procurement framework that had few or no organisations with expertise in the delivery of social care, and, if so, for what reason.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on proposals for the National Care Service to ensure a wide range of views are heard and understood. Co-design with people using services and delivering services is a foundational principle in the National Care Service programme. The scope of external involvement is for the setup of the Design Authority programme management structure which will support the introduction of a National Care Service pending the outcome of consultation responses.

Additional external expertise and specialisms are required to ensure safe and robust governance for programme development. Ensuring our design processes are robust, take account of the views of people, promote system clarity and improved outcomes for people is paramount. Having external expertise to support major transformation is essential to ensure robust design process.

Question reference: S6W-03767

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many grant or reimbursement applications for eBikes through the Low Emission Zone Support Fund’s Travel Better scheme have been (a) received and (b) approved to date.

Through the LEZ support fund, eligible households disposing of a non-LEZ compliant car can claim a cash grant, plus up to £500 per adult in ‘Travel Better’ vouchers towards the cost of a range of travel options such as rail pass, bus pass, bike, car hire, or bike hire.

As eBikes are more expensive than the £500 ‘Travel Better’ grant, applicants can use the 'Travel Better' grant to part-fund the cost of an eBike and pay the additional costs themselves.

We have received 63 applications for part-funding purchases of eBikes and 63 grants have been approved as of 21 October 2021. A further 3 ‘Travel better’ grants have been also been given towards the cost of recycled/repurposed eBikes.

Applications for part-funding of eBikes represent 17% of all ‘travel better’ grants approved.

Question reference: S6W-03769

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations approved to be on the Crown Commercial Service framework agreement, RM6008, in the Management Consultancy Framework Two, it considers have expertise in the delivery of social care.

The Framework represents a range of skills required for major transformation programme support including programme management and governance setup as opposed to social care delivery experience. The Framework was established specifically in recognition of the need for such services on an occasional basis and is available for use by all UK public bodies. It sought to address the understandable lack of such specialist internal resources due to the temporary nature of such a requirement. Calling off from the Framework provides access to a range of skill sets, and levels and areas of specialism drawn from a team of resources as opposed to reliance on single individuals.