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-19114

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its new strategy for palliative care.

Question reference: S6W-18871

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of its Expert Reference Group on Digital Assets.

The Expert Reference Group (ERG) on Digital Assets was established to provide legal clarification on accommodation of digital assets within Scots private law. The ERG is currently drafting a response to the Law Commission for England and Wales’ (LCEW) Consultation Paper on Digital Assets. The response will take into account any areas of divergence between Scots law and English law but will also confirm those areas where alignment might be of benefit.

Question reference: S6W-18904

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £800,000, which was allocated for media campaigns in 2021 and 2022 on the use of naloxone, has been fully spent.

Question reference: S6W-18853

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the R100 programme to date.

The R100 programme is one of the most ambitious public investment programmes anywhere in the UK – with the Scottish Government investing over £600 million targeted at homes and businesses with the slowest broadband speeds.

As of 8 June 2023, £122.4 million has been paid to Openreach for delivery of the R100 contracts. Payments are made in arrears upon completion of build.

A further £5.4 million has been paid to a range of suppliers in the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-18826

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what public consultation was undertaken on the NatureScot private finance investment pilot, and which stakeholders were engaged with.

The project partners have not started the public consultation and engagement stage of the project yet and are working to secure resource to do this for the local pilot projects. They will engage with communities as soon as resource is in place for the engagement activities in order to shape the pilots and identify how best to deliver community benefits. The project team are currently working to design the engagement process.

Question reference: S6W-18930

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of delays to the R100 programme on access to digital healthcare services for remote and rural patients.

Our investment through the R100 programme will be transformational for many of Scotland’s most rural communities and is providing a full fibre backbone that will enable reliable connectivity services to be delivered.

An individual’s ability to access digital healthcare can be impacted by a number of factors, not just their rurality and the availability of digital infrastructure in their area.

That is why, while recognising the importance of access to digital healthcare, it should be promoted as one choice for patients but not the only available option. Digital healthcare programmes are subject to Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs) to assess the impact of accessibility.

Question reference: S6W-18825

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the ethical framework for the NatureScot private finance investment pilot will be enforceable, and, if so, who by, and under what powers.

The ethical framework will be used to deliver investment which meets the aims of the Scottish Government’s Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital. Adherence to these principles is set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the project partners and the framework will be secured through the terms of the MoU. If the principles are not adhered to, NatureScot and the Project Board will work to address this and, if necessary, NatureScot will withdraw from the partnership if the investment does not deliver against the principles in the way intended.

Question reference: S6W-18885

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18028 by Kevin Stewart on 30 May 2023, how many of the 26 new buses that have space for transporting bikes, purchased with support from the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme and the Scottish Zero Emission Challenge Fund, will operate on routes in Aberdeenshire.

Question reference: S6W-18869

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing mandatory additional support needs training for (a) teachers, (b) visiting specialists and (c) pupil support assistants.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. It is for individual authorities to determine the training required for all staff to ensure pupils reach their full potential.

All initial teacher education programmes must align with the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s Standard for Provisional Registration. The Standard sets out that student teachers are required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of additional support needs and to take account of learners with such needs.

The Scottish Government is working closely with local government partners to improve the experience of children and young people with additional support needs at school, implementing the recommendations of the 2020 additional support for learning review, including those relating to the professional learning of school staff. In November 2022, we published an updated action plan and a second progress report . A further update is due to be published in May 2024.

Question reference: S6W-18894

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the Scottish Drug Deaths Task Force in each year since 2019.