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-14490

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the Public and Commercial Services Union industrial action, on 1 February 2023, on the work of Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Question reference: S6W-14241

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13542 by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2023, whether the e-learning module for non-executive board members on the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act is mandatory.

Question reference: S6W-14308

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure for the £1,067.300 million (fiscal resource) allocated to Social Care Support and NCS Delivery in the draft Scottish Budget 2023-24.

The 2023-24 budget confirms our ongoing commitment to invest in social care and increasing the sustainability of the sector ahead of implementation of the National Care Service.

The 2023-24 Stage 1 budget presented, at level 4, a total investment of £1.2 billion in Social Care support and National Care Service (NCS) delivery. This total represents a social care spending increase of over £800 million compared to 2021-22, demonstrating that we are well ahead of our trajectory to increase spending by 25% (£840 million) over the life of the Parliament.

The £1.1 billion expenditure line supports a number of areas including an additional £100 million for adult social care pay up to £10.90 per hour, £344 million of existing funding to support pay, £124 million for care at home investment, £60 million for the Carers Act and funding to support inflationary uplifts for Free Personal Nursing Care Rates. We note the Report on the Financial Memorandum published on 1 December by the Finance and Public Administration Committee and are currently revising the NCS Financial Memorandum. This will provide more detail on expected spend in 2023-24 and beyond.

Question reference: S6W-14311

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many potholes have been repaired in each of the last five years.

Transport Scotland, through its Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.

The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all potholes that present, or could present, an immediate hazard to trunk road users. These are defined as Category 1 defects within the term maintenance contract, which also sets out strict timescales for their repair. Following identification of Category 1 pothole defects, the Operating Companies are required to make the defect safe by 6am the following morning, preferably by completing a permanent repair. Where this is not possible then a temporary repair is required within the same timescale with permanent repairs required 28 days. The following table shows the number of Category 1 potholes identified and repaired in each of the last five whole years.

Financial Year	Number of Potholes
2017-2018	13,354
2018-2019	11,989
2019-2020	12,660
2020-2021	12,949
2021-2022	9,679

Question reference: S6W-14170

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has an assurance process to ensure that health and care digital innovations are developed in an ethical, standards-based way, and, if this is the case, how much was spent on creating it.

An Accelerated National Innovation Pathway has been established to standardise and facilitate the adoption of health and care innovations. The Scottish Health Technology Group also supports standardisation by providing robust governance and advice. Digital technologies are required to meet clinical safety standards such as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and compliance with MHRA regulations.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for health and social care will articulate further national principles and deliverables around the ethical use of data. The strategy is due for publication this year

Question reference: S6W-14323

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the next Climate Justice Fund independent evaluation will be conducted and concluded, and whether it will include analysis of (a) the £2 million loss and damage funding announced around COP26 and (b) the £5 million loss and damage funding announced at COP27.

The next evaluation is planned for the end of the current funding cycle (to March 31 2026) and will include all funding that has been allocated from within the Climate Justice Fund. The evaluation will cover whether or not the funding has achieved it’s strategic objectives, and whether the Fund as a whole is continuing to demonstrate best practice in delivering climate justice against the three pillars of justice that were adopted following the previous evaluation.

Question reference: S6W-14313

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13349 by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023, whether it is the case that it can now confirm how much funding will be allocated to the Climate Justice Fund in financial year 2023-24, and, if it is not the case, whether it will provide a draft figure, prior to final budget allocations being made, of how it expects to allocate for this purpose.

Question reference: S6W-14476

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any (a) grant funding and (b) loans provided by Architecture and Design Scotland for each year since 2007-08.

Architecture and Design Scotland works to help deliver Scottish Ministers’ policies and objectives for the built and natural environment by providing advice, resources and advocacy, and through a programme of projects and initiatives. It does not provide grants or loans to external organisations.

In 2014-15 Architecture and Design Scotland facilitated the Stalled Spaces Scotland project on behalf of Scottish Government which provided funding to local authorities to enable stalled space projects to be delivered with communities. The following table details the local authorities and amounts awarded. Those organisations were required to match fund the award.

Local Authority Area	Funding awarded (£)
Angus	10,000
Argyll and Bute	5,000
East Dunbartonshire	15,000
East Renfrewshire	10,000
Fife	12,000
North Ayrshire	15,000
Renfrewshire	10,000

Question reference: S6W-14489

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an estimate of how long it will take Registers of Scotland to clear any backlog of title holders who are awaiting copies of their title deeds.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). She advises me that, following the impact of the pandemic, RoS has stabilised and started to improve the position this year, in line with the strategy set out in their Corporate Plan .

RoS has committed to clearing the stock of older casework within the duration of the current Corporate Plan. RoS is in fact slightly ahead of target on their strategic objectives and the series of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used to measure progress. KPI statistics are published quarterly on the RoS website .

Question reference: S6W-14461

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider the findings and recommendations of the 2020 study, The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community, as part of its work on its proposed Scottish Languages Bill.

The Scottish Government carried out a consultation on the Future of Gaelic and Scots as part of the work to develop the proposed Scottish Languages Bill. As part of the consultation, the Gaelic and Scots Division undertook a variety of public engagement events to ensure views of local communities were reflected. This included attendance at conference run by the authors of the research, The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community. The responses to the consultation are now being analysed and will help shape any future legislation.