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-15297

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many STEM teacher education bursaries were awarded in each academic year since 2018-19, broken down by teaching subject area.

7 March 2023

Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many STEM teacher education bursaries were awarded in each academic year since 2018-19, broken down by teaching subject area.

S6W-15297

Shirley-Anne Somerville:

Year	Maths	Physics	Chemistry	Computing	Teach Ed	HE	Dual maths/Physics	Dual Chemistry/ biology	Dual Tech Ed/ Physics	Dual Maths/biology	Total
2018	38	17	19	11	20	Not offered in 2018	1	1	0	0	107
2019	29	12	27	14	18	9	2	0	0	0	111
2020	31	25	31	12	24	18	5	3	0	0	150
2021	38	18	31	14	20	11	3	1	1	0	137
2022	32	11	5	8	7	13	6	1	0	1	84

Question reference: S6W-15249

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to piloting opt-out HIV testing in NHS emergency departments in areas of highest prevalence, as has been done in other parts of the UK.

We know that opt-out testing in emergency departments in areas of high prevalence in other parts of the UK has worked well. However, it is important to evaluate the learning from this to understand both how it might apply in a Scottish context. Specifically how it compares to other interventions recommended by the HIV Transmission Elimination Oversight Group in their HIV Elimination Proposal which was published in December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15113

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) much has been paid out and (b) many households have received funding from the Fuel Insecurity Fund since it was established.

Since being established in the winter of 2020, as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, a total of £33.595 million in support has been distributed from the Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) through our third sector delivery partners, namely Advice Direct Scotland, the Fuel Bank Foundation and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. This includes the full £20 million budgeted for in 2022-23, all of which has been drawn down by delivery partners.

We have agreed an approach to monitoring and evaluation of support provided by delivery partners which seeks to avoid excessive demands for data gathering and reporting, in order to ensure the FIF can be distributed to those most in need. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold this information, although we are aware of the unprecedented demand for support from the Fuel Insecurity Fund, which our partners are providing to households. Based on evaluation reports received to date and ongoing monitoring, we estimate over 100,000 households will have received some form of support.

Further information, including FIF partner publications and evaluations, can be accessed directly on their respective websites linked to below.

The Fuel Bank Foundation - Fuel-Bank-Fuel-Crisis-Report-2023.pdf (fuelbankfoundation.org)

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations – 92717.pdf (sfha.co.uk)

Advice Direct Scotland - Publications – Advice Direct Scotland

Question reference: S6W-14996

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether time-booking practices are used in the development of policy and strategy, to provide an understanding of the number of staff and associated costs, in terms of staff time and salaries, of any particular project, support delivery, and help ensure transparency and accountability for public funds, and whether such practices were employed in the development of the latest draft Biodiversity Strategy.

Time booking practices are not widely used in the Scottish Government and were not used in the preparation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Costs associated with the development of the strategy mainly relate to staffing. Given the wide range of policy areas which have an impact on biodiversity, a large number of staff will have contributed sometimes quite small amounts of time to developing the strategy, in addition to the small core team for whom the development of the strategy was a primary objective. There were also some direct costs associated with the development of the strategy, including consultation analysis, strategic impact assessment and the design/publication of the draft strategy, all of which have been subject to standard government procurement procedures.

Question reference: S6W-14993

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group has met since June 2022, and, if so, for what reasons the minutes and agendas of any such meetings have not been published.

Question reference: S6W-15623

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6T-01244

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Loganair and Highlands and Islands Airports regarding the suspension of many island flights from 17 March.

Question reference: S6T-01236

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent comments by the Chief Executive of CalMac, what action it is taking to prevent island residents being impacted by any reliability issues affecting their ferry services over the next two years.

Question reference: S6T-01225

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that small shops in Scotland fear they cannot survive because of the costs and impacts of the Deposit Return Scheme, what its position is on Circularity Scotland’s confirmation on 1 March that retailers who use Reverse Vending Machines would have to wait one month for payment for returned bottles, rather than the previously expected seven days.

Question reference: S6F-01899

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2023

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the Scottish Government's progress towards reducing the number of people on hospital waiting lists and ending long waits for NHS treatment.