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-02113

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2023

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the work of the Scottish Government to address potentially dangerous cladding on residential properties.

Question reference: S6F-02111

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02112

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-17596

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the development and implementation of training that is based on the NICE 2021 guideline on myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), in light of its commitment to implement the guideline.

Our Neurological Care and Support Framework 2020-25 sets out our vision to ensure everyone with a neurological condition, including ME/CFS, can access the care and support they need to live well.

Through the Framework we have funded Action for ME and partners to disseminate an online learning module on ME/CFS for GPs and health professionals, authored by Dr Nina Muirhead, which aims to support person-centred care, informed by good practice and current research.

In addition to Scottish Government activities, we understand that NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are currently finalising a Practice Based Small Group Learning (PBSGL) CPD module for GPs, Pharmacist and Nurses working in General Practice/Primary Care.

Question reference: S6W-17625

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to increase the number of people from the most deprived areas in Ayrshire and Arran to attend their breast screening, in light of recent evidence suggesting that they are less likely than those in the least deprived areas to attend a screening.

The Scottish Government welcomes the increase in uptake of breast screening, set out in the latest available data published by Public Health Scotland. However, we recognise that work is required to address the inequalities arising those from more deprived areas being less likely to attend for screening.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s Public Health Team are currently examining the available data to establish areas where there are potential inequalities present that could reduce access to the Breast Screening Programme. This is likely to highlight areas of social and financial deprivation, and geographical isolation, which will allow for more targeted approaches to increasing uptake to take place.

The South West breast screening programme has an active social media campaign to raise awareness of the breast screening programme. In addition, appointments are available in the morning and evenings during the week to help accommodate access to screening. Alongside this, the Breast Screening Modernisation Programme and Equity in Screening strategy will consider inequality in uptake in the programme more generally.

Question reference: S6W-17623

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to offer schools in order to provide swimming lessons.

The Scottish Government have been working with Scottish Swimming, Education Scotland, sport scotland and Scottish Water to develop interventions and approaches to provide opportunities for children to become confident, safer and competent swimmers.

sport scotland’s investment into Scottish Swimming includes support to enable delivery of 4 school swimming pilot projects for evaluation and to develop a School Swimming Framework that can be used by partners.

The Delivery Model Pilots will take place across 2022-23 to support schools to understand and consider different approaches and models of delivery to help educate and provide opportunities for children across Scotland to experience the water in a fun, safe and inclusive approach. This reflects the many different scenarios faced by schools when deciding how best to support young people to access school swimming.

Active Schools has a key role to play in complementing PE in schools by developing opportunities for physical activity and sport. Specific activities, such as swimming, provided through Active Schools is at the discretion of each local authority/Active Schools team.

In addition Active Schools plays a role in supporting local swimming clubs to link to schools, making pupils aware of the opportunities that exist to participate in swimming in the club setting, and we would encourage local authorities to provide Active Schools activity free of charge to ensure activity is accessible to all.

Question reference: S6W-17626

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to help increase the number of people attending their breast screening in Ayrshire and Arran.

Question reference: S6W-17607

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to updating guidance on exclusion zones around onshore wind turbines, in light of any increase in the size and potential danger of turbines.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) signals a turning point for planning, placing climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and making clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies. NPF4 policy 11 makes clear that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors remain important considerations in the decision-making process. All applications are already, and will continue to be, subject to site-specific assessments.

Technical requirements for assessing potential wind turbine impacts such as noise, or interactions with aviation or defence interests, are set out in topic specific guidance and more general information on the status of these issues can be found in our Onshore Wind Policy Statement (Dec 2022), Chapters 6&7.

Question reference: S6W-17066

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis it determined that the £25 million investment for the north east, which was announced on 4 April 2023, was the amount that should be allocated from the existing Just Transition Fund for that purpose; whether it will provide its (a) written analysis and (b) evidential basis for that decision; and what preparatory work had been done to ensure sufficient detail and planning to enable the announcement to be made on 4 April 2023.

The £25 million which has been allocated to the Scottish National Investment Bank for 2023-24, is part of the ten year, £500 million Just Transition Fund. It will be invested on a commercial basis in line with the Bank's Investment Strategy.

Officials and the former Minister for Just Transition engaged with a range of stakeholders from the region, including Enterprise Agencies, to inform the decision to allocate funding to the Bank.

Question reference: S6W-17732

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an updated list of the names of the (a) charities, (b) groups, (c) individuals and (d) office bearers appointed to the Third Sector Interface (TSI) Scotland Network.

The TSI Scotland Network is not a formally constituted group; it is a grouping of organisations with a shared purpose namely the TSIs. It does not have Office Bearers.

Some TSIs are partnerships where the role is shared across two or more organisations, others are single entities. Most of the organisations which form TSIs are registered charities, and often they are also registered companies. More information about the Network can be found at www.tsi.scot .

A list of the organisations which make up the TSI Network is given in the following table.

TSI locality	Type	CO Name	TSI legal name	Charity number
Aberdeen	Single	Maggie Hepburn	Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations (ACVO)	SC036845
Aberdeenshire	Single	Dan Shaw	Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action (AVA)	SC014223
Angus	Single	Hayley Mearns	Voluntary Action Angus	SC032830
Argyll and Bute	Single	Takki Sulaiman	Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface	SC029947
Clackmannanshire	Single	Anthea Coulter	Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface Ltd	SC042543
Dumfries and Galloway	Single	Norma Austin Hart	Dumfries and Galloway Third Sector Interface	SC043832
Dundee	Partnership	Christina Cooper	Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action	SC000487
		Fergus Storrier	Dundee Social Enterprise Network	SC043943
East Ayrshire	Single	Fiona Fawdry	Council Of Voluntary Organisations (East Ayrshire)	SC024931
East Dunbartonshire	Single	Anne Innes	East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action	SC042983
East Lothian	Partnership	Maureen Allan	Volunteer Development, East Lothian	SC029045
		Maureen Allan	Volunteer Centre East Lothian	SC029045
East Renfrewshire	Single	Ruth Gallagher	Voluntary Action East Renfrewshire SCIO	SC028103
Edinburgh	Partnership	Bridie Ashrowan	Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council	SC009944
		Claire Patullo	Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network	SC044030
		Paul Wilson	Volunteer Edinburgh	SC029681
Falkirk	Single	Victoria McRae	CVS Falkirk & District	SC000312
Fife	Single	Kenny Murphy	Fife Voluntary Action	SC028457
Glasgow	Partnership	Ian Bruce	Glasgow Council For The Voluntary Sector	SC006923
		Jennifer Robertson	Glasgow Social Enterprise Network	SC047282
		David Maxwell	Volunteer Glasgow	SC005462
Highland	Single	Mhairi Wylie	Highland Third Sector Interface	SC043521
Inverclyde	Single	Charlene Elliot	CVS Inverclyde	SC024376
Midlothian	Partnership	Lesley Kelly	Midlothian Voluntary Action	SC008286
		Lesley Kelly	Volunteer Centre Midlothian	SC027578
		n/a	The Social Enterprise Alliance for Midlothian	n/a
Moray	Single	Fabio Villani and Jackie McLaren	Third Sector Interface Moray	SC042954
North Ayrshire	Partnership	Vicki Yuill	Arran Community And Voluntary Service	SC004057
		Kaileigh Brown	The Ayrshire Community Trust	SC028874
North Lanarkshire	Single	Maddy Halliday	Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire	SC041224
Orkney	Single	Morven Brooks	Voluntary Action Orkney	SC010691
Perth	Single	Caroline McKenna (interim)	Perth And Kinross Association Of Voluntary Service Limited	SC005561
Renfrewshire	Single	Alan McNiven	Engage Renfrewshire	SC018453
Scottish Borders	Single	Juliana Amaral	Borders Third Sector Interface known as Borders Community Action	New organisation seeking charitable status. Company number is SC758752
Shetland	Single	Lynn Tulloch	Voluntary Action Shetland	SC017286
South Ayrshire	Single	Marie Oliver	Voluntary Action South Ayrshire	SC028234
South Lanarkshire	Single	Steven Sweeney	Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire	SC037696
Stirling	Single	Natalie Masterson	Stirlingshire Voluntary Enterprise Ltd	SC041875
West Dunbartonshire	Single		West Dunbartonshire Council For Voluntary Services	SC032003
Western Isles	Partnership	Contact for TSI WI is Eoin MacNeil	Third Sector Interface Western Isles C/O Volunteer Centre Western Isles	Volunteer Centre Western Isles, SC027472
			Voluntary Action Barra & Vatersay	SC015602
			UCVO known as Uist Council of Voluntary Organisations	SC045715
			Volunteering Hebrides	SC041459
			Harris Voluntary Service	SC000788
			Outer Hebrides Social Economy Partnership CIC	Company number SC380816
West Lothian	Single	Alan McCloskey	Voluntary Sector Gateway West Lothian	SC027612

The lead organisation for partnership TSIs is highlighted.