- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many sachets of (a) sauce and (b) salt and pepper (i) it and (ii) its suppliers have procured, and what the average cost was for each item, in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
Our catering services contractor holds data from 2015 onwards:
| Salt & Pepper sachets | Quantity | Average value |
| 2015 | 60,000 | 0.00341p |
| 2016 | 62,000 | 0.0034p |
| 2017 | 62,000 | 0.0036p |
| 2018 | 58,000 | 0.003595p |
| 2019 | 64,000 | 0.0036p |
| 2020 | 24,000 | 0.0036p |
| 2021 | 22,000 | 0.0037p |
| 2022 | 38,000 | 0.003677p |
| 2023 | 58,000 | 0.00409p |
| 2024 | 62,000 | 0.00292p |
| 2025 | 8,000 | 0.00292p |
| Sauce sachets | Purchased | Average value |
| 2015 | 39,600 | 0.0228p |
| 2016 | 40,200 | 0.024p |
| 2017 | 19,600 | 0.02625p |
| 2018 | 16,200 | 0.032p |
| 2019 | 9,000 | 0.0329p |
| 2020 | 10,800 | 0.0319p |
| 2021 | 13,400 | 0.0337p |
| 2022 | 14,800 | 0.0236p |
| 2023 | 16,400 | 0.0236p |
| 2024 | 18,200 | 0.0376p |
| 2025 | 1,000 | 0.0348p |
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Dorothy Bain on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many speeding offences on trunk roads the procurator fiscal decided to take no further action in relation to, in each year since 2018, broken down by the (a) reason for the decision and (b) trunk road.
Answer
As referenced in the answer to S6W-34140 on 20 February 2025, the format in which locus information is recorded and in particular whether the locus for each case is a trunk road or otherwise would require a manual check of each case. This question cannot be readily answered by COPFS.
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
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many (a) plastic, (b) paper, (c) metal and (d) glass straws (i) it and (ii) its suppliers have procured, and what the average cost of each straw was, in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
Our catering services contractor does not hold data on straws that were purchased prior to 2022. We do not procure plastic straws for use in the catering services, the table below shows the data held for paper and metal straws.
| Paper straws | Metal straws |
| Year | Straws purchased | Average price | Straws purchased | Average price |
| 2022 | 250 | 0.005p | 0 | n/a |
| 2023 | 500 | 0.005p | 20 | 0.78p |
| 2024 | 500 | 0.005p | 0 | n/a |
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many Parliament passes have been reported lost or stolen in each of the last five years.
Answer
The total number of Parliament passes that have been reported as lost or stolen for the last five calendar years are set out below:
- 2020 – 14
- 2021 – 12
- 2022 – 15
- 2023 – 20
- 2024 – 21
These numbers do not include passes that were reported as lost or stolen but were subsequently found.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on legal advice and representation for current and former ministers in relation to public inquiries in the last 10 years, broken down by inquiry.
Answer
There are at present five ongoing Scottish statutory public inquiries, and a number of UK statutory inquires which could seek evidence from ministers in Scotland. The Edinburgh Trams Inquiry reported in September 2023 following hearings in 2017-2018 and the Penrose Inquiry reported in 2015, albeit from the records available we do not believe that external legal advice was taken in connection with those inquiries which falls within the scope of this question. The amount spent by the Scottish Government on external legal advice, including representation for current and former ministers, in relation to public inquiries is as follows:
The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry | £1,191,298 inclusive of VAT |
The Sheku Bayoh Inquiry | £20,160 inclusive of VAT |
The Covid-19 Inquiries | There have been no legal costs for current or former ministers for the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry. For the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, we do not hold a breakdown of legal costs per witness. £2,123,692 inclusive of VAT |
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry | £673,942 inclusive of VAT |
The Eljamel Inquiry | No such costs have been incurred to date. |
Infected Blood Inquiry | £432,045 inclusive of VAT between 2018/19 and 2024/25[1] |
To note, we are unable to cost the Government’s internal legal advice provided by the Scottish Government Legal Directorate.
[1] These figures are for overall legal advice or support for the Scottish Government and former staff or Ministers, and include some travel and accommodation costs for travel to hearings in London.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Dorothy Bain on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of speeding were submitted to the procurator fiscal by Police Scotland in each year since 2018, broken down by trunk road.
Answer
The following table shows the overall speeding numbers grouped by financial year reported. Charges have been identified using the Scottish Government classification of level 2 of speeding. The format in which locus information is recorded and in particular whether the locus for each case is a trunk road or otherwise would require a manual check of each case. This information is not readily available.
All charges reported to COPFS under:- | | | | |
Scottish government classification level two - 45.Speeding | | |
- count is by charge and grouped by financial year reported | | | |
*year to date 5 February 2025 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | Financial year reported | | |
Offences | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25* |
Speeding offences | 15,940 | 18,127 | 13,306 | 15,580 | 12,382 | 14,872 | 13,461 |
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it will conduct its review of the package of student financial support available for nursing and midwifery studies, and whether, as part of that review, it will explore any changes to reflect those who choose rural and remote work.
Answer
The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery (PNM) student financial support review is currently ongoing. The review aims to ensure that all PNM students are adequately supported to complete their studies, this includes students from remote and rural locations. A key aspect of the work associated with the review is to hear directly from PNM students about their experiences and opinions on financial support during their studies.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how often it meets the National Specialist Services Committee; when it last met the committee, and what was discussed.
Answer
The Scottish Government attend the National Specialist Services Committee (NSSC) who meet quarterly. Apologies were provided for the most recent meeting on 25 November 2024.
Discussions at the 25 November meeting included:
- Finance Update
- Requests for New Designations
- Approved Designations
- De-designations
- Designated Services – Assurance Reporting
- Hyperbaric Medicine
- New Commissions/ Business Cases for Prioritisation - Overview of Business Cases & Scoring Process
- National Planning and Networks Update
- Reviews update
- NSD Highlight Report
- Any Other Business:
- Planning Process
- Implications to new NSSC Governance
- New Governance process for SLAs
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in the North Lot area have been connected to superfast broadband through the R100 build scheme since it was established, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The following table sets out the total number of premises currently contracted to receive connections through the R100 North contract by 2028, the number of premises connected as of 13 January 2025 and the number of premises yet to be connected as of the same date.
Openreach are also delivering a number of additional connections to premises that were not in the contracts, but have been connected as a result of nearby R100 contract build. This is known as overspill. The number of such connections delivered are also provided in the following table.
It should also be noted that our demand-led R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) remains available for those not expected to benefit from superfast broadband through R100 contract or commercial build plans.
Local Authority | R100 Contractual Premises | Premises Delivered | Premises Remaining | Overspill Premises Delivered |
Aberdeen City | 622 | 170 | 452 | 61 |
Aberdeenshire | 16,049 | 5,856 | 10,193 | 1,211 |
Angus | 6,635 | 708 | 5,927 | 100 |
Argyll and Bute* | 7,191 | 2,408 | 4,783 | 573 |
Dundee City | 124 | 0 | 124 | 0 |
Highland | 12,768 | 2,852 | 9,916 | 1,038 |
Moray | 4,888 | 1,446 | 3,442 | 361 |
Na h-Eileanan an Iar | 2,206 | 0 | 2,206 | 0 |
North Ayrshire* | 232 | 0 | 232 | 269 |
Orkney Islands | 3,320 | 1,563 | 1,757 | 539 |
Perth and Kinross* | 4,031 | 1,164 | 2,867 | 722 |
Shetland Islands | 2,424 | 1,181 | 1,243 | 79 |
Stirling* | 274 | 0 | 274 | 486 |
Total | 60,764 | 17,348 | 43,416 | 5,439 |
*Please note that the figures for Argyll & Bute, North Ayrshire, Perth & Kinross and Stirling only represent connections delivered through the R100 North contract. These Local Authorities are also receiving connections through the R100 Central contract.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason no financial provision was made in its draft Budget 2025-26 for the new national treatment centre in Aberdeen, in light of the increase in capital funding and the Finance and Public Administration Committee's call on it to "ensure it’s in the best possible position to ‘hit the ground running’ with infrastructure projects from the start of the next financial year."
Answer
As had been made clear, there remains challenge and uncertainty in the capital funding position.
All due consideration will be given as to which projects are affordable and deliverable and can be included within our revised infrastructure investment plan pipeline, following the outcome of the UK Government’s spending review and clarity on our longer-term capital funding position.
To this end, we are working with all health boards to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan which will reflect needs across Scotland and support continued safe operation of existing facilities, as well as determination of longer term investment priorities.