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: S6F-01795

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2023

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on the hospitality and tourism sectors of a ban on advertising alcohol products.

Question reference: S6W-14261

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13722 by Jenny Gilruth on 23 January 2023, how much budget is allocated to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion roles; how many staff work in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, and whether it will provide a list of the job titles of the people in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.

ScotRail Trains Ltd. has two full time equivalent roles within its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team; an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager and an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor. Scottish Rail Holdings also has a dedicated People and Culture role within the organisation.

Transport Scotland is not in a position disclose any individual’s personal salary data other than those that would be published as part of end of year financial statements and accounts.

Question reference: S6W-14299

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans Transport Scotland has to include any road traffic accidents that are caused by wild deer in its annual statistics.

Statistical information about injury road accidents is collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Government using the GB-wide "STATS 19" returns.

At the moment, the only information available from STATS-19 is accidents involving an animal in the carriageway and we cannot determine from the database, what type of animal.

Transport Scotland have no plans to seek to include accidents that are caused by deer in STATS-19. You may be interested to refer to the last review of the database here: Road accidents and safety statistics: user engagement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

Question reference: S6W-14256

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) eBay, (b) Amazon, (c) other retailers and (d) the UK Government regarding the marketing and sale of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes.

At this time Nitrous Oxide is not covered under the Misuse of Drugs Act, rather it is currently an offence under the reserved Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 to supply nitrous oxide if a person knows, or is reckless as to whether, it will be used for its psychoactive effect. Given the reserved nature of this legislation, the Scottish Government has not had any discussions with eBay, Amazon or any other retailer about the marketing or sale of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes. However, we have engaged heavily with the National Crime Agency and UK Government about the need for tackling the ease through which certain products can be bought online and used for criminal activity and will be responding to their current consultation about developing a new criminal offence around the supply or possession of articles used for serious crime, particularly pill presses. We would plan to engage with retailers about the impact of any new legislation.

The UK Government have requested that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs conduct an updated assessment of the health and social harms of nitrous oxide and, following that assessment, provide advice on whether nitrous oxide should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Scottish Government officials are engaging with the ACMD around this review and have provided information to them in relation to it. The ACMD will explore, amongst other elements of Nitrous Oxide use, whether current regulations are having the desired effect of preventing the marketing and sale of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes and whether or not such an effect might be achieved by listing it under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Question reference: S6W-14101

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to statistics showing that just 37.7% of trains arriving on time at Girvan Station between 11 December 2022 and 7 January 2023.

Question reference: S6W-14015

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of provisions in the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 that would allow social landlords to evict a perpetrator of domestic abuse.

We are firmly committed to implementing the social housing tenancy related provisions at Part 2 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 (the 2021 Act).

Work on the wide range of tasks necessary to commence Part 2 of the 2021 Act is progressing as a priority. This includes secondary legislation, changes to court rules and forms, model tenancy agreements and the development of statutory guidance in consultation with stakeholders.

We aim to bring Part 2 of the 2021 Act into force by early 2024, subject to the necessary rules and forms of court also being in place.

Question reference: S6W-14282

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to involve the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on (a) Chronic Pain, (b) Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions, (c) Long Covid and (d) Women's Health in the work of bodies that have a chronic pain remit, including the National Care Service Lived Experience Experts Panel.

The primary purpose of Cross Party Groups is to provide Members with a forum to consider matters of public interest, normally involving people from outwith the parliament to provide expert or stakeholder input to discussions. Cross Party Groups are welcome to request factual briefings on Scottish Government policy positions. It is expected that officials will meet with the Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain in the coming weeks to provide an update on work to progress the actions set out in the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan.

Question reference: S6W-14255

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) number of deaths as a result of the recreational use of nitrous oxide in each year for which data is available, also broken down by age group and (b) cost to the NHS of treating patients as a result of harm or injuries sustained through the recreational use of nitrous oxide, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the types of injuries that have been sustained through the recreational use of nitrous oxide.

As Nitrous Oxide is not classed as a controlled substance under the reserved Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, it is not routinely screened for in toxicology testing.

The National Records of Scotland do publish ‘Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances’, but do not provide specific substance breakdowns.

Analysis of hospital admissions in relation to Nitrous Oxide would be limited by use of the ICD-10 diagnostic coding system. Nitrous Oxide use is coded within the ‘inhalant’ or ‘volatile substance’ category (F18), but this also contains other substances such as butane and glue, so it isn’t possible to narrow it down to the admissions specific to nitrous. There is also no mention of intentionality (i.e. recreational use) within these data.

Question reference: S6W-14249

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which railway lines will not be included in its six-month pilot of suspending peak fares, as announced in its Budget statement on 15 December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-14029

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many fatalities were recorded on the A9 between Perth and Inverness in each year from 2012 up to and including 2022.

Year	Number of fatal casualties
2012	8
2013	6
2014	3
2015	5
2016	4
2017	4
2018	5
2019	1
2020	1
2021	1
2022	13