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-14280

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans to alter or replace the Franchising Policy Statement, which was published by Transport Scotland in March 2021.

The current UK railway legislation, which the Scottish Ministers have no power to change, requires that the Scottish Ministers produce a Franchising Policy Statement. Delays to the reform of the UK railway legislation continue to cause uncertainty on the way in which the provision of passenger rail services will be arranged in the future.

At this time, the Scottish Ministers do not plan to amend or replace the current Franchising Policy Statement, which was published by Transport Scotland in March 2021.

Question reference: S6W-14282

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to involve the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on (a) Chronic Pain, (b) Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions, (c) Long Covid and (d) Women's Health in the work of bodies that have a chronic pain remit, including the National Care Service Lived Experience Experts Panel.

The primary purpose of Cross Party Groups is to provide Members with a forum to consider matters of public interest, normally involving people from outwith the parliament to provide expert or stakeholder input to discussions. Cross Party Groups are welcome to request factual briefings on Scottish Government policy positions. It is expected that officials will meet with the Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain in the coming weeks to provide an update on work to progress the actions set out in the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan.

Question reference: S6W-14261

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13722 by Jenny Gilruth on 23 January 2023, how much budget is allocated to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion roles; how many staff work in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, and whether it will provide a list of the job titles of the people in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.

ScotRail Trains Ltd. has two full time equivalent roles within its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team; an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager and an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor. Scottish Rail Holdings also has a dedicated People and Culture role within the organisation.

Transport Scotland is not in a position disclose any individual’s personal salary data other than those that would be published as part of end of year financial statements and accounts.

Question reference: S6W-14301

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it (a) monitors and (b) records road traffic accidents that are caused by wild deer.

Question reference: S6W-14458

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many new (a) social and (b) affordable homes it plans to build in the Highlands and Islands region by the end of the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government provides investment to assist housing partners to deliver social and affordable homes. Over £327 million has been made available to Local Authority areas in the Highlands and Islands for the current parliamentary term. Local Authorities, through Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs), identify their housing priorities and use the Scottish Government funding to address housing need. Figures on actual homes completed, in 2021-22 and to the end of September 2022, are available on our webpages Affordable Housing Supply Programme: quarterly updates on completions - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Planned homes, for years 2023-24 to 2025-26 within the Highland, Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney SHIPs exceed 1,800, but a split between social and affordable homes on some projects are unlikely to be determined, so accurate figures are not available. SHIPs are published documents and should be available on local authorities’ webpages.

Question reference: S6W-14495

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 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the total cost will be of closing any sites managed by Historic Environment Scotland as a result of the Public and Commercial Services Union industrial action on 1 February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-14420

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of diagnoses of diabetic ketoacidosis developed while in hospital, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-14502

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with adults with undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as part of its proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill, and when the findings of any engagement will be available.

Scoping work on the Bill took place between May and July 2022. As part of this, the Scottish Government ran a series of events to consider how people with lived experience view the Bill and to discuss potential key elements. We carried out 30 events with 18 different organisations.

Adults with undiagnosed ADHD, many of whom were in the process of undergoing the assessment process to confirm their diagnoses, contributed during several of these events.

We are in the process of establishing 3 panels to assist us in developing proposals for a public consultation in the second half of 2023. We are seeking people with lived experience of many conditions including ADHD for our lived experience panel.

The consultation will provide an opportunity for people across Scotland, including those with diagnosed and undiagnosed ADHD, to express their views on policy options that could be included in the draft Bill, as well as on whether the Bill should establish a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner.

Question reference: S6W-14422

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of staff in each NHS board have (a) undertaken and (b) completed the Diabetes - Think, Check, Act training modules.

Question reference: S6W-14428

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09982 by Jenny Gilruth on 16 August 2022, how much funding is currently available in the current financial year to help purchase (a) new and (b) used electric vehicles through interest-free loans.

The Scottish Government's Used Electric Vehicle Loan provides interest free loans to help individuals and businesses make the transition to electric vehicles. Energy Saving Trust deliver this scheme on behalf of Scottish Minister, and publish loan statistics on their website, details of which can be found here: Grants and loans to help you travel greener - Energy Saving Trust .

As of 12 January, Energy Savings Trust have issued 624 loans to a value of £15,763,144 and have also offered an additional 398 loans worth £10,623,147. This represents a total commitment of £26,376,291 from a £30m budget for the 2022-23 financial year.

In line with our commitment to widening access to electric vehicles, the loan supports the purchase of used electric vehicles. Sectors such as Taxis and Private Hire may access the loan to purchase new vehicles, but no specific loan funding is set aside for new vehicles.