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-18730

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) staff are currently on the SCTS Carer register, including as a proportion of the total SCTS workforce.

Question reference: S6W-18731

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many interest-free loans, up to a maximum of £5,000, have been used by Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff for the purchase of specialised equipment through the SCTS Respite Care Scheme, and whether it will outline the total value of any such loans, broken down by each year in which the scheme has been active.

Question reference: S6W-18727

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14445 by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023, whether it will provide an updated table, including data for (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2022-23.

According to data acquired directly from the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), in March 2023 Aberdeen City Council closed 6 libraries, Cornhill, Cults, Northfield, Ferryhill, Woodside and Kamhill. No other Scottish Libraries have permanently closed in the last 3 reporting years.

The Scottish Government do not hold information on numbers of libraries dating back to 2007-8. The earliest information on library numbers that SLIC are able to acquire from Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability (CIPFA) begins from 2009-10.

Question reference: S6W-18733

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed in the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service's Equality and Diversity team, broken down by job title, and what the total value is of their combined salaries.

Question reference: S6W-18732

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Equality Advisory Group last met, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-18714

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional advanced nurse practitioners, which were announced in April 2018, have been trained to date.

Question reference: S6W-18679

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) claims have received an on-farm inspection since 2016, and in how many instances a breach of the terms of the scheme has been identified.

Question reference: S6W-18698

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what actions its Working Group on Missing People has taken to support the delivery of the National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland.

The Working Group for Missing People continues to support the implementation of the National Missing Persons Framework across Scotland.

Key actions taken forward by the Framework so far include a standardisation of the national definition of missing persons; a standardised approach to risk assessment; and the development and delivery of return discussion training to ensure more consistency across the country. Building on this work, the Group will continue work with National Co-ordinators to engage with and support multi-agency partners in areas across Scotland to limit the likelihood of people going missing.

A comprehensive update on the Group’s work was published in 2020 – Working Group for Missing People in Scotland: National Framework for Missing Persons - implementation report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . A further update will be part of a refreshed Framework later this year.

Question reference: S6W-18705

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 58,000 additional outpatient activity 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 have seen an increase in the level of activity for new outpatients in the latest quarter (May 2023), which was at the highest level of activity in any quarter since the start of the pandemic.

Last year there were over 1.2 million patients seen for an outpatient appointment, an increase of 8% compared to 2021, when over 1.1 million outpatients were seen.

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-18656

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 action it is taking to raise awareness that, according to Citizens Advice Scotland, "Council Tax debt collection is much harsher and faster compared to commercial debt collection".

Council tax is a local tax, set and collected by each local authority, with every council financially and administratively accountable to their electorate. Council Tax Debt was discussed at the last meeting of the Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform on 22 March 2023. It is important that local authorities retain the tools to enforce the payment of council tax by those who have the means to pay but choose not to do so, whilst the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, promoted as part of the Scottish Government funded Citizens Advice Scotland's Money Talk Team, as well as by local authorities and the DWP, means nobody should have to meet a council tax liability they cannot be expected to afford.