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-18655

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to tackle the issue of council tax debt in its proposed new deal for local government.

The New Deal for Local Government reflects a desire of both partners to re-set the relationship between local and national government. The New Deal will provide greater flexibility over local funding, with clear accountability for delivery on shared priorities and outcomes. This will include considering further reforms for council tax in partnership with local government through the Joint Working Group on sources of local government funding.

Question reference: S6W-18645

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to the maintenance of Scotland's UNESCO World Heritage Sites in each year since 2007, broken down by site.

Scotland’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites are highly varied in their composition and management. As Historic Environment Scotland is a partner for all six sites, I have asked it to write to the member with the information on Historic Scotland funding from 2007-15, and Historic Environment Scotland funding since 2015 when it was formed.

Exceptionally, there has been some direct funding from the Scottish Government, for example in the light of lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic. The amounts provided from 2015 onwards can be found in the following table.

World Heritage Site	Year	Maintenance Funding
New Lanark	2020-21	£2,439,000
2021-22	£327,000
2022-23	£435,000

Question reference: S6W-18660

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much has been received in planning gain contributions by each local authority, in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-18706

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it met its target of 78,000 additional diagnostic procedures in 2022-23, as outlined in its NHS Recovery Plan.

Our £1 Billion backed NHS Recovery Plan aims to continually increase capacity for outpatients.

We are seeing improvements in diagnostic waiting times, and we continue to prioritise those referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer for scope-based diagnostic tests.

Further statistics on additional inpatient and day case activity in 2022-2023 will be released alongside the NHS Recovery Plan update this autumn.

Question reference: S6W-18651

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Understanding the Drivers Behind the Accrual of Council Tax Arrears, published by Citizens Advice Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18503

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with financial institutions across the UK to ensure that they recognise powers of attorney arranged in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG) who have responsibility for registering powers of attorney in Scotland to highlight the concerns about recognition of these with UK financial institutions.

OPG have engaged directly with UK financial organisations when they have been made aware of common or recurring issues that require attention and on a case by case basis when needed.

OPG are planning a series of information based events later in 2023, aimed specifically at staff in UK financial organisations, with the aim of raising awareness of OPG’s role and of the financial provisions of the Adults with Incapacity legislation. The feedback will be raised at a meeting OPG is attending with Scottish banking representatives in August 2023.

OPG is also currently working in collaboration with colleagues from OPG England and similar departments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the intention of delivering or preparing cross border training to highlight key differences in process and terminology across the jurisdictions as well as raising awareness of recognition issues. The aim of these efforts is to lead to a more cohesive and collaborative approach with the banks.

Question reference: S6W-18552

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to fund the cumulative pay uplift offered to junior doctors, and how much the proposed uplift will cost in total.

Question reference: S6W-18504

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support and remedies are available in Scotland for people who cannot get their powers of attorneys, that have been arranged in Scotland, recognised in other parts of the UK, and what additional steps the Scottish Government is taking to address this.

In Scotland the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) Scotland is responsible for registering all power of attorney documents. If an individual has experienced any issues involving the recognition of a Scottish power of attorney in other parts of the UK they can contact the OPG for assistance.

There is already legislation in place that provides recognition of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales. This is about ensuring that the institutions and organisations have awareness and are educated on the legal status of Scottish powers of attorney.

The Scottish Government will be working with third party organisations to raise awareness and publicity about the validity of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales.

Question reference: S6W-18561

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many doctors have qualified through the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme to date.

Question reference: S6W-18570

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) domestic and (b) third country vessels have been boarded in Scottish waters by Marine Scotland in each year since 2009.

The following table illustrates the number of boarding's in Scottish waters by Marine Scotland Vessels each year since 2009.

Year	Domestic (a)	Third Country 1 ( b)	Total
2009	446	122	568
2010	379	100	479
2011	264	54	318
2012	237	92	329
2013	187	99	288
2014	264	71	335
2015	216	95	311
2016	217	112	329
2017	302	122	424
2018	335	88	423
2019	377	156	533
2020	104	39	143
2021	302	116	418
2022	352	76	428
2023 2	198	33	231

1 For the response, Third Country Vessels are all non UK vessels.

2 As at 6 June 2023