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-16449

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Age Scotland’s Annual Impact Report 2022, which was published in March 2023, and when it next plans to meet with Age Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16081

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15289 by Jenny Gilruth on 16 March 2023, whether it will list the 56 railway stations equipped with defibrillators, and what plans it has to increase the number of defibrillators in public spaces.

Stations fitted with defibrillators to date are:

• Aberdeen	• Croy	• Insch	• Morar
• Airdrie	• Dalmarnock	• Inverkeithing	• Motherwell
• Alexandria	• Dalry	• Inverness	• Mount Florida
• Alloa	• Dingwall	• Kilwinning	• Newton
• Arbroath	• Drumry	• Kings Park	• Newton grange
• Ardlui	• Dundee	• Kintore	• North Queensferry
• Ardrossan South Beach	• Edinburgh Waverley	• Kirkcaldy	• Oban
• Argyle Street	• Exhibition Centre	• Kyle of Lochalsh	• Paisley Gilmour Street
• Aviemore	• Falkirk Grahamston	• Larbert	• Perth
• Ayr	• Fort William	• Largs	• Port Glasgow
• Bathgate	• Glasgow Central (HL)	• Leuchars	• Queen Street
• Bishopbriggs	• Gleneagles	• Linlithgow	• Rutherglen
• Charing Cross	• Haymarket	• Livingston South	• Stirling
• Corrour	• Helensburgh Central	• Mallaig	• Yoker

Plans for the further installation of devices across the network are currently being developed.

Question reference: S6W-16646

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on repairs and maintenance, as outlined in the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service 2022-23 maintenance project list, to (a) Greenock Sheriff Court, including (i) door soundproofing, (ii) court room redecoration and (iii) boiler replacement, (b) roof access and bird netting at Ayr Sheriff Court and (c) Paisley Sheriff Court, including (A) car park relining and (B) the court room fan.

Question reference: S6W-16215

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any indication of the number of people who have self-assessed that they are eligible for a pardon under the Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act 2022.

The pardon provided for under the Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act 2022 recognises the disproportionate impact felt by former miners and those closest to them, as a result of taking part in the strike. The purpose of the pardon is to remove the stigma of a conviction, to restore dignity, and to help the mining communities heal old wounds. Due to the lack of surviving records, it was not feasible to require people to formally apply for the pardon. That is why the pardon was designed to be collective and automatic for those who consider that the qualifying criteria set out under the 2022 Act are met. This is a pardon for people to own for themselves or for their loved ones.

Given that there is no application process nor any requirement on an individual to notify the Scottish Government that they have successfully met the criteria, the Scottish Government has no information as to how many people have undertaken a self-assessment. However, it should be noted that data published at Westminster after the strike had ended indicates that 720 people were convicted in Scotland in respect of 993 offences relating to the strike.

The Scottish Government has produced guidance to assist people to self-assess whether they are eligible. The guidance is available at www.gov.scot/publications/miners-strike-pardons-scotland-act-2022-pardon-eligibility-self-assessment-guide/ and confirms the types of offences included in the pardon and who may be eligible.

Question reference: S6W-16156

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15763 by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023, in light of the reported increase in vaping-related illnesses and disorders among young people, whether it will consider recording and holding the data that was requested.

Parliamentary question S6W-15763 asked “how many patients under 18 have been admitted to an NHS facility for vaping-related illnesses or disorders in each year since 2019”. At that time (March 2023) Public Health Scotland (PHS) responded that these data were not currently held. However, PHS are now carrying out work to identify the number of individuals with vaping related illness in Scotland and will publish figures in July 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16219

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans (a) last visited a police station, and where that police station was, and (b) next plans to visit (i) a police station and (ii) Police Scotland's headquarters.

Question reference: S6W-16049

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many trees, that have been planted by its agencies or through publicly-funded tree-planting initiatives, it estimates have died before reaching maturity, in each year for which data is available.

The Scottish Government does not produce estimates or collect data on the number of trees that have died and the age when this occurs.

All forests once established will experience some mortality and natural thinning through competition between individual trees. This will vary according to the planting density, management regimes, effects of pests and diseases, woodland type and location, and is an understood and accepted part of sustainable forest management.

However, any woodland creation that is publicly funded through the Forestry Grant Scheme is required to attain a specified stocking density when established, normally by year five, as set out in published guidance on the Rural Payments website at https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/woodland-creation/

Forest Research publishes data on forest yields and management information on the patterns of tree growth that can be expected in forests of different tree species, with varying growth rates, and when managed in different ways. This can be found at https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/publications/forest-yield/ . These data, which factor in mortality rates, provide forecasts for the number of live tree over time and are used for example to estimate timber yields, forest biomass and carbon stocks, and the modelling of forest greenhouse gas balances.

Question reference: S6W-16614

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties inspected by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) were found not to have met the repairing standard, broken down by local authority area, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-16170

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on (a) what the average wait time was for customers calling Scottish Water’s customer helpline and (b) how many calls were handled, in each year since 2016.

The Scottish Government is not required to hold this information. As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Douglas Millican, Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

The average wait time for customers calling Scottish Water’s customer helpline between 1st April 2022 and 1st April 2023 was 19 seconds. The chart below provides information about how many calls were handled by Scottish Water in each year since 2016.

2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
291,453	302,925	307,146	300,825	176,176	324,939	320,906

Question reference: S6W-16209

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the cost of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry in each financial year since the Inquiry was established.

The Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry publishes its expenditure on a quarterly basis on its website: http://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/inquiry-costs

The latest published figures show that the Inquiry has spent £10.4m since its setting-up date on 30 November 2020 until 31 December 2022:

Financial Year	Expenditure
30 November 2020 – 31 March 2021	£0.8M
1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022	£5.1M
1 April 2022 - 31 December 2022	£4.5M
Total	£10.4M

It is for the independent Chair to direct how the Inquiry operates whilst fulfilling his duty to avoid any unnecessary costs.