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-21676

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 in each of the last 10 years.

The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2020-21 and is provided in the following table.

Number of people convicted under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, where main crime, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
6,999	9,915	11,661	13,503	14,220	13,602	12,168	10,868	10,400	6,655

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be reflective of long term trend.

Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published on 24 October 2023.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/

Question reference: S6W-21680

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been in Scotland under section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-21560

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update good practice guidance, as a result of previously updated NICE guidelines on myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Question reference: S6W-21559

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are currently living with (a) myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), (b) fibromyalgia and (c) long COVID/post-exertional malaise.

a) Neurological Conditions: estimating the prevalence in Scotland of selected conditions using GP and Hospital Admissions datasets , a Scottish Government experimental statistics report published in December 2022, contains estimated prevalence of selected neurological conditions in Scotland, including ME/CFS.

b) We do not hold data on the prevalence of people living with fibromyalgia in Scotland.

c) Until March 2023, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported monthly on responses to long COVID questions in the COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS) . This reporting provided prevalence estimates of self-reported long COVID by duration and associated activity limitations, with data available at Scotland level.

Question reference: S6W-21424

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it anticipates that the next iteration of the longitudinal Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research will report.

Question reference: S6W-21629

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many public sector grants have been awarded since 1 July 2023 that require recipients to both pay the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective worker voice, broken down by the value of each grant.

As Mr Johnson notes, the new requirement on grants has been in place since July this year. We are currently focussed on supporting all government portfolios and public bodies across Scotland to implement the new conditions.

Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where exceptions to the mandatory grant requirements are applied, grant managers are asked to record these. This information will be requested and collated at the end of the financial year.

Question reference: S6W-21677

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been in Scotland under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 in each of the last 10 years.

The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2020-21 and is provided in the following table.

Number of people convicted under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, where main crime, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
760	837	974	918	901	721	574	511	496	363

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be reflective of long term trend.

Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published on 24 October 2023.

Question reference: S6W-21672

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which minister will have responsibility for its Green Industrial Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-21459

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that misinformation on social media about hormonal contraception is encouraging women to move away from using traditional contraceptives.

The Scottish Government is aware of concerns raised by clinicians about the impact of social media on women’s contraceptive choices, and we are grateful to them for raising awareness of this important issue. We would always encourage women to seek advice from NHS professionals on their contraception options and the benefits and risks, rather than social media.

We are committed to ensuring that all women can access accurate information regarding contraception and are able to access services in a timely and convenient manner. This is something we continue to work towards improving through the Women’s Health Plan and the forthcoming Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Action Plan 2023-26

To support this aim, the Scottish Government has funded a project to develop a new sexual and reproductive health website on the NHS Inform platform, featuring a range of interactive, quality assured sexual health and contraception information.

Question reference: S6W-21472

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20817 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023, whether any minister has met with original equipment manufacturers of electric vehicles in the past three years.