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-18388

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will expand the scope of the PickupMyPeriod app to give non-public authority facilities that offer free period products, such as restaurants and bars, the option to be added to the map.

The Scottish Government encourages wide use of the PickUpMyPeriod app to highlight where free period products are available both within and outwith the scope of the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021.

Any organisation that offers publicly accessible free period product pick-up points can request, through the app or myperiod.org.uk website, to be listed as a location. This includes non-public authority facilities, a number of which are already included as locations on the map.

Question reference: S6W-18302

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help local authorities tackle council tax debt, following reports from Citizen's Advice Scotland that council tax debt is worsening.

Council tax is a local tax and responsibility for collection and enforcement rests with individual local authorities. Ministers are encouraging local government to adopt the best practice in debt assistance and collection identified in the Collaborative Council Tax Collection Guide, published jointly by Stepchange and The Improvement Service, whilst the Council Tax Reduction Scheme means nobody should have to meet a council tax liability they cannot be expected to afford.

Question reference: S6W-18395

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Educational Institute of Scotland Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) was made aware of the recently announced £46 million reduction in funding for colleges and universities.

Question reference: S6W-18365

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many A&E departments there are; what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals, and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in A&E departments have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in A&E departments, as of 1 May 2023.

The A&E departments across NHS Scotland currently include:

30 large consultant-led Emergency Departments; and
60 minor injuries units and community units.

At the end of the Action 15 commitment of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, an additional 179.2 whole-time equivalent mental health professionals were recruited to A&E settings.

The Scottish Government does not currently collect the requested data on the total number of mental health professionals based in A&E departments. While data regarding the number of staff in post is available for specific mental health professional groups in NHS Scotland, this cannot be broken down by settings such as A&E.

Question reference: S6W-18185

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the reported 84% increase in the number of Scottish applicants refused a place at Scottish universities since 2006.

The 84% quoted by the journalist is not correct. UCAS data is not comparable back to 2006 due to changes in the main UCAS cycle including the introduction of Nursing in 2010 and Teacher Training in 2015. As such, comparisons are only appropriate between 2015 and 2022.

For comparable data, between 2015 and 2022, there has been an 8% increase in Scottish domiciled applicants accepted to Scottish providers. The number of unplaced applicants over the same time period has decreased from 17,155 to 13,930, a 19% decrease.

There could be multiple reasons for applicants not securing a place. They might have accepted a place at a provider in the rest of the UK, or a Higher Education course at a Scottish College or decided to pursue a Graduate or Modern Apprenticeship, neither of which go through UCAS.

Question reference: S6W-18320

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17663 by Lorna Slater on 23 May 2023, whether it will provide an answer to the question that was asked about which (a) businesses and (b) trade associations have confirmed to the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity that their “number one concern” is uncertainty created specifically by the UK Government not issuing an exclusion to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020.

As set out in the response to S6W-17663, the Scottish Government and delivery partners such as Circularity Scotland, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland continue to regularly engage directly with businesses to ensure all involved are ready for successful launch of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Any decision by an individual business or a specific trade association to make public their priorities is a matter for them. It is not appropriate for Scottish Government to do so.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-18353

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-18209

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any guidance is being developed for local authorities on the implementation of bus stop bypasses, also known as "floating" bus stops, and, if not, whether it plans to initiate any such work.

The updated ‘Cycling by Design’ document was published in 2021 and provides guidance for cycling infrastructure design on all roads, streets and paths in Scotland. It includes design guidance for incorporating cycle facilities past bus stops, with bus stop bypasses as one option. A series of training sessions on the guidance has been undertaken throughout 2022 and early 2023, with attendance by the majority of local authorities.

To inform the design guidance further, Transport Scotland commissioned Living Streets in 2021 to investigate issues of inclusion where bus stop bypasses have been introduced, primarily to accommodate cycle facilities. The study is due to report late summer 2023.

Question reference: S6W-18139

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported student petitions protesting cuts to further and higher education budgets.

We currently face the most difficult public spending environment since devolution and as a government have had to make tough decisions. However, despite the unprecedented fiscal challenge, we have maintained college and university resource budgets at last year’s levels and our 2023/24 budget allocates nearly £2bn to Scotland’s universities and colleges, demonstrating our continuing commitment to tertiary education.

The Scottish Government recognises that students are being adversely affected by the current industrial action in sector and I urge all involved to quickly resolve this dispute so that students get the due reward for all their hard work

However, while the Scottish Government is not directly involved in the national collective bargaining process, I expect management and unions to make every effort to reach a settlement that is fair and affordable. I have reflected this expectation during my meetings with both sides, in recent weeks.

Question reference: S6W-18168

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) total area in km2 and (b) percentage of the continental shelf area adjacent to Scotland, as designated in the Continental Shelf (Designation of Areas) Order 2013, is covered by the Marine Protected Area network, after all overlapping designations have been taken into account.

The total area of the Marine Protected Area network designated in the Scottish continental shelf area adjacent to Scotland, as designated in the Continental Shelf (Designation of Areas) Order 2013 is (a) 228,118 square kilometres and (b) 37%.

These figures take into account all overlapping designations and capture:

Special Areas of Conservation
Special Protection Areas
Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas
Ramsar sites for wetlands of international importance.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

These figures do not include Historic Marine Protected Areas, Other Area Based Measures, or the Demonstration and Research Marine Protected Area.