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-10190

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, how many buildings (a) have provided consent and details (i) by and (ii) on or since 20 July 2022 and (b) it requires to provide consent and detail before it will move to the contracting process; what the estimated timescales are for the contracting process; and, when contracting, what it plans to propose as a lead time for surveyors and fire engineers to be on site.

We have confirmed consent from 26 buildings. We have consent in principle from the homeowners from 29 additional buildings since we invited new buildings into the programme in May 2022. The timescale for the contracting process follows the standard Scottish Government procurement rules. We are aware of the supply chain constraints in this field, which is why are working closely with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Fire Engineers to ensure an appropriate stream of qualified assessors. Time scales for the completion of Single Building Assessments are driven by the complexity of the building and are agreed as part of the normal contracting process.

Question reference: S6W-10193

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the single building assessment is designed to take account of any risk of electric vehicle fires, whether any specific assessment protocols are included in the assessment to respond to any such risks and, if this is the case, whether it will provide the details of any such protocols.

Question reference: S6W-10593

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on establishing design groups to develop a new of model care for adult dentistry, including a long-term replacement for the Statement of Dental Remuneration, as part of the implementation of its Oral Health Improvement Plan.

We are committed to engaging with the profession on a reform programme for NHS dental services. As part of that commitment we have recently issued a profession-wide survey asking for comments on a list of possible treatment items for inclusion in a future NHS model.

We have also asked for nominees for a NHS dental reform advisory group to the Chief Dental Officer. NHS Boards are currently reviewing the nominations and will put forward the nominees for each Board area in due course.

Question reference: S6W-10352

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether companies contracted under ScotWind development projects are required to recognise collective bargaining arrangements, and, if they are not, whether it will commit to encouraging such companies to implement fair work practices.

ScotWind leasing is administered by Crown Estate Scotland who have confirmed that all companies that have a ScotWind seabed agreement with Crown Estate Scotland are required to comply with all applicable laws including meeting their obligations under employment legislation. Therefore, if those companies have a statutorily recognised trade union, they would be required to comply with their legal requirements in respect of collective bargaining arrangements.

Question reference: S6W-10246

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will involve those with lived experience of care in its work to improve Scotland's care system.

The Scottish Government remains committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030, working in partnership with Local Authorities, The Promise Scotland, third sector, health boards and importantly the care community.

On 30 March 2022 the Scottish Government published the Keeping The Promise Implementation Plan , setting out how it will Keep The Promise by 2030. The Plan contains over 80 actions which span over a range of areas including education, health, justice and child poverty.

The Plan sets out how we will work with care experienced people in our design, delivery and evaluation of Keeping The Promise. We will continue work with stakeholders and care experienced people on our journey to Keeping The Promise by 2030.

Question reference: S6W-10214

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to prepare a national framework for social prescribing, to facilitate a consistent, effective and high-quality approach.

Question reference: S6W-10383

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how many individuals who died from liver disease in the past three years lived in (a) the 20% most deprived data zones in Scotland and (b) the 20% least deprived data zones in Scotland according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Table 1 – deaths from liver disease (K70 – K77) by SIMD Quintile 2019-2021

		2019	2020	2021
Scotland	ASMR	18.4	20.7	21.8
	ASMR lower CI	17.3	19.5	20.6
	ASMR upper CI	19.6	21.9	23.0
	Number of deaths	1013	1144	1203
Quintile 1 (most deprived)	ASMR	35.3	36.8	39.9
	ASMR lower CI	31.5	33.0	35.9
	ASMR upper CI	39.0	40.7	43.8
	Number of deaths	343	355	387
Quintile 2	ASMR	23.6	26.3	28.9
	ASMR lower CI	20.6	23.2	25.6
	ASMR upper CI	26.5	29.4	32.2
	Number of deaths	246	277	301
Quintile 3	ASMR	16.0	19.8	19.9
	ASMR lower CI	13.6	17.2	17.3
	ASMR upper CI	18.3	22.4	22.5
	Number of deaths	181	228	228
Quintile 4	ASMR	13.3	12.8	14.1
	ASMR lower CI	11.3	10.8	12.0
	ASMR upper CI	15.4	14.8	16.2
	Number of deaths	159	154	169
Quintile 5 (least deprived)	ASMR	7.3	11.0	10.0
	ASMR lower CI	5.8	9.1	8.2
	ASMR upper CI	8.9	12.9	11.9
	Number of deaths	84	130	118

ASMR – Age standardised mortality rate

Lower CI – 95% lower confidence interval

Upper CI – 95% upper confidence interval

Source: National Records of Scotland

Causes of death categorised using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, 10 th Edition (ICD-10). Liver disease classified as ICD-10 codes K70-K77. Note that this is a wider definition than alcohol liver disease (code K70). For comparing SIMD quintiles, ASMRs are advised rather than number of deaths due to differing sizes and structures if the population across SIMD quintiles. Age-standardised mortality rates are presented per 100,000 people and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population; upper and lower confidence intervals show the likely range of variation.

Question reference: S6W-10364

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a regulatory body in Scotland that provides guidelines to the operators and/or owners of retirement villages.

Question reference: S6W-10209

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09548 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, how much the administrators have been paid to date to administer the loan.

Question reference: S6W-10192

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, what pre-contracting activity it has undertaken to establish (a) how many contractors will be required to deliver assessments for all 29 buildings, (b) the (i) availability and (ii) capacity of surveyors and fire engineers to carry out the contract, and, in the event that any such pre-contracting assessments have identified an insufficient supply of contractors, what it anticipates the likely training needs will be to meet any identified requirements.

Every building must gain the consent of homeowners in order to begin the contract process. Every building will require a qualified Fire Assessor to spend typically a number of weeks on and off-site to gather sufficient data and evidence to conduct a competent Single Building Assessment.

We are aware of the supply chain constraints in this field which is why we are working closely with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Fire Engineers to ensure an appropriate stream of qualified assessors.