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-14699

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13965 by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2023, whether it will release the information that it holds on this matter.

Question reference: S6W-14569

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what modifications it has made to the PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 standards to take account of Scottish climate, housing stock and energy efficiency requirements.

Question reference: S6W-14566

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) PAS 2030 and (b) PAS 2035 qualified energy efficiency and retrofit professionals there currently are in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-14568

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how long it takes to obtain (a) PAS 2030 and (b) PAS 2035 certification, and what the estimated cost is of doing so.

Question reference: S6W-14941

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government from which existing portfolios it has funded the Family Wellbeing Fund in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

The Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) requires a collaborative approach. A cross portfolio ministerial group oversees the programme at a high level, whilst Governance is provided by the Programme Board which consists of Directors from across the relevant portfolios as well as key external stakeholders.

WFWF is funded by the Education and Justice portfolio for financial year 2022-23 and will again be funded through this portfolio in the financial year 2023-24 as set out in the Scottish Budget.

Question reference: S6W-14538

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, before an order was placed for Hull 802, whether an alternative option of ordering two smaller vessels to serve on the Uig to Lochmaddy and Uig to Tarbert ferry routes was considered, and, if it was the case, for what reason any such alternative option was rejected, and, if it was not the case, for what reason such an alternative option was not considered.

The proposal for the procurement of what became vessels 801 and 802 was set out in the Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan (VRDP) Annual Report 2014 vrdp-annual-report-2014.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

The recently published Ferries Plan 2013-2022 had concluded that the level of services then in place on the Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy routes met identified community needs. Vessel 802 was earmarked for initial deployment to those services, to bring additional vehicle deck capacity; noting that the deployment plan would be reviewed prior to delivery.

Question reference: S6W-15359

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have had legal action taken against them in relation to non-payment of social care charges in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-15358

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many people have defaulted on payment of social care charges in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

This information is not held centrally. Local authorities and integrated health & social care partnerships are responsible for commissioning services for people in their area.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including any public funding for care homes, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S6W-15164

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of upskirting were received by Police Scotland in the most recent year for which data is available, broken down by the number that (a) were investigated, (b) resulted in prosecution and (c) resulted in conviction.

The amendment to Section 9 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 provided for offences of 'upskirting' to be prosecuted under subsections (4A) and (4B). The Scottish Government does not hold information on investigations (question (a)). The answer to questions (b) and (c) is provided in the following table.

Please note that the latest available data is for the financial year 2020-21. Data for 2021-22 are expected in Summer 2023 following publication of the 'Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2021-22' statistical bulletin.

Table 1. People prosecuted and convicted in Scottish courts under Section 9(4A) and (4B) of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, where main charge, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

Financial year	People prosecuted	People convicted
2011-12	2	2
2012-13	2	2
2013-14	4	4
2014-15	1	1
2015-16	4	4
2016-17	3	3
2017-18	3	3
2018-19	4	4
2019-20	4	4
2020-21	5	4

Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be reflective of long term trend.

Source: Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S6W-15143

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the February 2023 Literature Alliance Scotland publication, Freelance Report, The experience of being a freelancer in the Scottish literature, languages and publishing sector.

The Scottish Government recognises the substantial challenges that Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost crisis have presented to self-employed people and freelancers in the creative industries, including the literature, languages and publishing sectors.

The Scottish Government’s vision is for Scotland to be a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025. We want fair work to be the norm for workers and employers in workplaces across Scotland – in all types and sizes of organisation and in all locations.

The Scottish Government will consider the report in parallel with the Culture Radar review of Fair Work within the sector, commissioned by Creative Scotland on behalf of Scottish Government. This review has now concluded and Scottish Government is currently considering the recommendations. We will also review the findings of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s recently published ‘Good Work Review’, an independent review of working conditions in the creative sector.

Officials continue to meet regularly with the STUC and affiliate unions representatives of the cultural sector to discuss key issues impacting workers in the culture sector, including issues around freelancers and Fair Work.