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-01310

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-10257

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend on marketing campaigns to encourage people to use public transport in the financial year 2022-23.

The Scottish Government will launch a national marketing campaign to promote the new Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme in the coming weeks. The Scottish Government has allocated £400,000 to promote this campaign during this financial year.

On promoting public transport more broadly, Transport Scotland continues to work with operating partners and stakeholders to encourage people to use public transport, as a sustainable way to access work, education and services.

Question reference: S6W-10373

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce legislation to appoint a commissioner for autism, learning disabilities and people with neurodivergence.

The Scottish Government wants to improve opportunities, outcomes and support for autistic people, people with learning disabilities, and neurodivergent people. To this end, we have committed to introducing a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill. This Bill will ensure that the rights of autistic people, people with learning disabilities, and neurodivergent people are respected and protected.

To help make sure the new legislation is championed when it is implemented, we intend to consult on the creation of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner through the new law.

Further details about the timing of the public consultation on the Bill will be announced in the Programme for Government in September 2022.

A decision on the timing of the Bill’s introduction to Parliament will be taken by Cabinet in the context of setting the content of future legislative programmes.

Question reference: S6W-10363

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the total number of women aged between 50 and 70 who have waited more than 36 months for their breast screening appointment in each of the last five years, broken down by breast screening centre.

Question reference: S6W-10410

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether current staffing levels at Home Energy Scotland are sufficient to handle the reported increasing demand on the service.

Demand for the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Advice service has risen significantly since the recent energy bill rises and other cost of living pressures have started to put pressure on households.

Earlier this year, we committed to expanding the HES service by 20% and this increase will be fully operational from October. HES capacity has increased in the last three years with the number of households targeted for advice and support rising from 77,000 in 2020-21 to 132,000 this year - an increase of 12,000 on 2021-22.

We recently allocated additional funding for energy advice services in the face of rising bills - £1.2 million to ensure households and businesses get support. This includes £280,000 to expand the Home Energy Scotland Advice Service and a further £198,000 for Home Energy Scotland to provide training to third sector organisations on energy efficiency.

We have also augmented the Home Energy Scotland Energy carer service which visits and supports extremely vulnerable households who would struggle to engage over the telephone or online. This type of work broadens and strengthens the capacity of the advice network but does not generate pro rata increases in numbers of households supported because the level of support required for these households is very intense.

We will continue to monitor demand for the Home Energy Scotland service to ensure it has the capacity to meet demand.

Question reference: S6W-10412

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current (a) average and (b) longest waiting time is for applications to be processed for a Home Energy Scotland Loan.

Question reference: S6W-10409

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of staff who are currently employed by Home Energy Scotland.

The total full time equivalent staff employed on Home Energy Scotland at the end of July is 208. This figure includes:

All staff within each Home Energy Scotland advice centre working on Home Energy Scotland activity, and teams and specialists managed directly by the Energy Savings Trust including the Extended Hours team, renewables specialists and private sector landlord advisors.
All staff within Energy Saving Trust who are covered by Home Energy Scotland funding.
Management time within the centres and Energy Saving Trust allocated to management of Home Energy Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-10408

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for a Home Energy Scotland Loan were (a) accepted and (b) rejected in (i) 2020-21 and (ii) 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-10413

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for a Home Energy Scotland Loan were received in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-10411

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for a Home Energy Scotland Loan are currently waiting to be processed.

Financial Year	Total Number of Loan Applications - Accepted	Total Number of Loan Applications - Rejected
2020 - 2021	2325	277
2021 - 2022	3731	166

Financial Year	Total Number of Loan Applications Received
2020 - 2021	2602
2021 - 2022	3897