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-12327

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will clarify the role of Zero Waste Scotland in the governance structure of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

The Scottish Government has established the National Strategy for Economic Transformation Delivery Board to oversee the successful implementation of our economic strategy. As part of the Delivery Board’s work, it will engage with key delivery partners like Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) in driving a ‘Team Scotland’ approach to transforming the Scottish economy. A recent example is the involvement of ZWS in the Delivery Board’s Green Economy Jobs deep dive with delivery partners to explore what is being done to secure green jobs in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12208

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that in Dumfries and Galloway some dentists have advised constituents that if parents/guardians register as private patients then their children will be registered as NHS patients in the same practice.

Question reference: S6W-12228

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on smoking cessation promotional campaigns via (a) media and (b) social media each year since 2017-18.

The Scottish Government publishes an annual report on marketing spend in each financial year, which can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ .

The Scottish Government ran a smoking cessation campaign in 2017-2018. The costs for this campaign totalled £370,978.50. The total media spend for this campaign was £253,352.78 across TV, radio, digital and outdoor advertising. The digital advertising included £23,252 on Facebook advertising in support of the campaign. No other social media advertising was used as part of the campaign.

Question reference: S6W-12227

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on tobacco control overall in each year since 2017-18.

Local Authorities undertake tobacco control through tobacco sales enforcement and tobacco and electronic cigarette control.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on tobacco control, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government has increased local government funding by over £1 billion in 2022-23, a real terms increase of 6.3 per cent, despite a 5.2 per cent real terms reduction in the overall Scottish Budget.

Question reference: S6W-12435

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £830.6 million allocated to the additional support for Social Care in its 2022-23 budget, which was announced on 9 December 2021, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

All of the £830.6 million allocated to Additional Support for Social Care in the 2022-23 budget has been included in the block grant allocation provided to local authorities. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently and the information requested on spend would therefore require to be requested from local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-12599

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have not been complied with in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-12468

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential long-term impact of the pay, terms and conditions of staff at Lochbroom House, Ullapool, in the event that it is taken over by a private provider.

Question reference: S6W-12467

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the potential sale of Lochbroom House, Ullapool, to Parklands Care Homes.

Question reference: S6W-12269

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a way of monitoring and recording how many schools utilise education resources on the Holocaust.

A wide range of resources are available for schools to promote learning and teaching about, and remembrance of, the Holocaust. These resources focus on the Holocaust but also promote awareness of Jewish people, culture and their contribution to society and address the issue of antisemitism in the world today. Professional learning to support teachers to embed Holocaust education across secondary schools in Scotland is also available, including a subsidised standalone Masters module on Citizenship and Holocaust Education.

While some of these resources are funded by the Scottish Government, it does not monitor or record how many schools utilise education resources on the Holocaust overall. The Curriculum for Excellence enables teachers to tailor the content of lessons to best suit learners in their particular circumstances. Within the broad general education there is the opportunity to teach the Holocaust, not only within social studies, but across the wider curriculum. There is also an opportunity to teach the Holocaust within the History qualifications in the senior phase.

Question reference: S6W-12309

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will restructure and integrate Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited under the tripartite agreement between Transport Scotland, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited and CalMac Ferries Limited in order for it to be able to directly award future public sector shipbuilding contracts to any Scottish shipbuilding facility owned by it, on a similar basis to the operation of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole and Inshore Lifeboat Centre in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

The scope for the Project Neptune report published on 8 September 2022, which examined the governance arrangements of the existing tripartite arrangements, specifically excluded Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited. Further consultation regarding the future options will be commencing shortly and we will carefully consider the responses.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to restructure and integrate Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited under the tripartite agreement between Transport Scotland, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited and CalMac Ferries Limited.