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-16082

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which schools will be part of the proposed pilot scheme as part of the roll-out of free school meals in secondary schools.

Question reference: S6W-16200

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on, or estimates it has made of, the number of people who have been employed at Liberty Steel Dalzell in each year since 2016, including 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16314

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided to (a) Historic Scotland and (b) Historic Environment Scotland in each year since 2007.

Details of Scottish Government funding for Historic Scotland, from 2007-08 until it became part of Historic Environment Scotland, can be found in the following table. These figures come from the annual Scottish Budget publication.

Year	Historic Scotland Funding £m
2007-08	47.7
2008-09	51.7
2009-10	49.3
2010-11	49.8
2011-12	47.0
2012-13	45.3
2013-14	43.6
2014-15	37.8
2015-16	40.1

Details of the Scottish Government funding for provided Historic Environment Scotland since 2016-17, the first full year of its accounts, can be found in the following table. These figures come from the annual Scottish Budget publication with the exception of the revised budget in 2020-21 which took account of the effect of pandemic closures on its commercial income.

Year	Historic Environment Scotland Funding £m
2016-17	45.0
2017-18	45.5
2018-19	41.1
2019-20	39.8
2020-21 (pre-pandemic)	42.8
2020-21 (revised)	80.4
2021-22	75.9 (including £20m in COVID consequentials)
2022-23	70.1
2023-24	72.7

Question reference: S6W-16157

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 what plans it is considering to reduce teenage vaping, in light of the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021-22 finding that one in 10 school pupils in S4 regularly vape.

The results of the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021-22, and reports from schools and parents about young people vaping, are of great concern to the Scottish Government.

Vapes are an age restricted product and should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18. In October 2022 we wrote to all registered retailers of these products to remind them of their duty of sale and we regularly meet with Trading Standards on enforcement.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products and we are aiming to bring forward new regulations in 2023. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

We will publish our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan this year, which will include actions to reduce vaping among young people.

We are reviewing vaping education for young people in schools and have also funded ASH Scotland to work with a range of youth organisations on the risks associated with vaping.

Question reference: S6W-16206

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many sea bass licences have been granted in each of the last five years, broken down by location.

Question reference: S6W-16224

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Police Scotland has recorded substandard road conditions as a contributory factor in road traffic accidents in the Highlands and Islands in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by command area.

The following table shows the number of contributory factors in injury road accidents where road surface was poor or defective in Highlands and Islands police division, broken down by council area. In addition to the Highlands and Islands, the North command area also covers Grampian and Tayside. These areas have therefore not been included.

Contributory factors in injury road accidents where road surface was poor or defective in Highlands and Islands police division by council area

	Eilean Siar	Highland	Orkney Islands	Shetland Islands	Total
2012	1	14	0	2	17
2013	2	13	1	1	17
2014	0	11	0	0	11
2015	1	13	1	0	15
2016	0	3	0	0	3
2017	0	7	0	1	8
2018	0	5	0	0	5
2019	0	2	0	0	2
2020	0	2	0	0	2
2021	0	4	0	1	5

Question reference: S6W-16124

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14445 by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023, what discussions it has had with officials at Aberdeen City Council to try and maintain the six libraries scheduled for closure at the end of March 2023, and what its position is on how any such closures would impact Aberdeen City Council's ability to fulfil its statutory duty to secure the provision of adequate library facilities for all persons resident in its area.

Library policy is devolved to local authorities, who have a statutory duty to ensure there is adequate provision of library services for their residents.

Scottish Government officials work closely with the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), which provides leadership and advice to Scottish Ministers, local authorities, and the wider libraries sector. SLIC is in ongoing conversations with Aberdeen Council on this issue.

Any decision around public libraries must be considered extremely carefully and we would encourage local authorities to work in partnership with communities to explore ways of delivering services, based on need.

Question reference: S6W-16116

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15621 by Maree Todd on 21 March 2023, for what reasons the percentage of children participating in the General Dental Service fell from 97% in September 2007 to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level of 84.2% in September 2019.

The total number of children who have participated in NHS GDS has increased by 17.6%, from 693,307 in 2007 to 815,317 in 2019.

However, the participation rate is the proportion of the registered population who have seen a dentist in the last two years. The participation rate is therefore also influenced by the number of people who are registered for NHS dental services. The number of children that were registered for NHS dental services between 2007 and 2019 has increased by 35.4%

Question reference: S6W-16065

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of cuckooing have been (a) reported to and (b) identified by Police Scotland in each year since 2017 and what steps it is taking to tackle this activity.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling serious and organised crime and strongly condemns the illegal practice of ‘cuckooing’ and the subsequent misery it causes victims.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the operational intelligence on incidents involving cuckooing. This information should be requested from Police Scotland directly.

The Scottish Government is working with partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to disrupt cuckooing and County Lines networks.

Question reference: S6W-17153

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angus Robertson on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to engage with the Scottish Connections international community and expand its work with Scottish diaspora networks.

Scotland is an open, connected and outward-looking country with a long and proud history of intellectual, cultural and economic exchange.

The Programme for Government 2021-22 set out plans to “engage with our Scottish Connections international community and expand on our work with Scottish diaspora networks across the world”. This commitment was reiterated in our Global Affairs Framework, published May 2022.

The Scottish Government’s first Scottish Connections Framework is published on 11 April 2023.

https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805256939

This is the first time that work across the Scottish Government and partners has been brought together into a cohesive and cross-cutting approach to diaspora engagement.

Recognising and engaging our diaspora is an objective in itself – not a means to an end. Scotland’s diaspora and our Scottish Connections are an extension of Scotland itself – our living bridge with people, organisations and communities around the world.

The Framework outlines a series of commitments and ambitions to strengthen and expand our relationships with, and between, Scotland’s international communities.

Taking a broad definition of diaspora, we want to strengthen and expand Scotland’s links and networks with Scottish people living elsewhere in the world; those with Scottish heritage; people who have previously lived in Scotland, including alumni; and those with a professional, business, cultural or other links to Scotland.

The Scottish Connections Framework will add value to our diaspora engagement by bringing together the experiences, skills and connections of our existing networks, including GlobalScot and alumni.

We will build on existing work with our established networks, including our own international offices, GlobalScots, alumni groups, heritage diaspora organisations and other public sector partners.