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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 48497 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6F-00576

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00575

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-04736

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards delivering road equivalent tariff (RET) on Pentland Firth routes, and what the timeframe for implementing this is.

Question reference: S6W-04716

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed governance structure for when the ScotRail franchise is managed by the Operator of Last Resort from March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-04733

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable for introducing Anne’s Law is.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to strengthening residents’ rights in adult care homes through the introduction of ‘Anne’s Law’. This will give people who live in adult care homes the right to see and spend time with those who are important to them. Our public consultations on Anne’s Law and the strengthening of health and social care standards closed in early November 2021. We have received a considerable number of responses which will be used to inform work to implement Anne’s Law. It is important that we carefully consider the views from the public and stakeholders that took the time to submit a response to our consultations. We intend, where permission has been given, to publish the consultation responses and a report summarising the consultation responses to Anne’s Law and the strengthening of health and social care standards will be published in early 2022.

Question reference: S6W-04698

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the introduction of the named person scheme.

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) lies at the heart of Scottish Government policies and the services that are available to support children, young people and families. For over a decade, GIRFEC has shaped the way children’s services are planned and delivered in Scotland, and it is well-embedded in policy and practice.

One of the core components of Getting it right for every child is a named person or equivalent role, who is a clear point of contact for children, young people and parents to go to for initial support and advice. Children and families should be made aware of the help and support that is available, including named person, however there is no requirement to accept the help offered.

Whilst there is an intention to repeal Parts 4 and 5 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, on named person and child’s plans (which were never implemented and are therefore not currently in force), the commitment remains to deliver these core components of GIRFEC within existing law.

Question reference: S6W-03148

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many GP appointments in each month since March 2020 have taken place (a) face to face, (b) over the telephone and (c) virtually, broken down by NHS board.

(a) & (b) We collect high quality data from across the health system, and are working with stakeholders to improve the quality of data we can collect from GP practices to ensure it is comparable and robust. There is no obligation on practices or health boards to report data on activity to Scottish Government, therefore we don’t have a robust time series of data covering the full time period asked for at health board level.

GP practices have remained open, accessible and at the forefront of our community services to deal with non-COVID-19 medical care throughout the pandemic.

We have continued to meet routinely with GPs and their representatives, and hear regularly from patients, to help build intelligence around appointments and pressures in GP practices throughout the pandemic, and are currently working together with NSS and PHS on a more advanced digital solution for capturing this information moving forward.

(c)In relation to virtual appointments, the table placed in the Scottish Parliament Information centre under bib number 62934, shows the number of face to face appointments being undertaken using the video consulting platform Near Me, but would not fully cover the various digital means of engaging with the Health Board - for example to feed in blood pressure readings and receive feedback through a managed service.

Question reference: S6W-04826

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs were created as a result of the 2020 round of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.

Question reference: S6W-04758

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish an evaluation of its pilot of the Child Disability Payment.

As noted in the answer to question S6W-04597 on 6 December 2021, the next set of Child Disability Payment statistics are due to be published in January 2022, covering the period of the pilot from 26 July to 21 November 2021. The Scottish Government will also publish feedback from clients and stakeholders to learn from their experience during the pilot in Spring 2022.

The purpose of the Child Disability Payment pilot was to ensure that Social Security Scotland could safely deliver a service for disabled children and young people, by ensuring that systems and processes work for them. It was not intended to evaluate the wider policy changes being made by the Scottish Government to disability assistance, which will instead be considered as part of the Devolution of disability benefits: evaluation strategy .

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-04837

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many care homes in NHS Highland are allowing new admissions.