Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-01006

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is regarding the impact on Scotland of recent reports that the UK Government’s Animals Abroad Bill is no longer likely to be introduced.

Question reference: S6O-01004

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to help people experiencing fuel poverty as a result of increased energy bills.

Question reference: S6O-00996

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across government will support young people living in Glasgow to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-07741

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what further steps will be taken to support schools in tackling bullying, in light of recent reports regarding the experience of primary school pupils in Dundee and Tayside.

The Scottish Government is clear that bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly whenever it arises.

Each local authority is responsible for the care, safety and welfare of pupils in school in the authority area. All adults who work in schools have a responsibility to ensure the mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing of the children and young people in their care.

Headteachers, teachers, other school staff and local authorities are best placed to decide how to address bullying in their schools. Individual schools know their context and children and young people best and so it is essential they are able to implement their own anti-bullying policy, specific to the local needs and circumstances of the children and young people in their area.

Our national guidance ‘Respect for All’ provides the overarching framework for all adults working with children and young people to address all types of bullying. It makes clear that bullying is not just the responsibility of schools but all adults involved in the lives of children and young people who have a role in preventing and responding to bullying.

We continue to fully fund respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively, aligned to ‘Respect for All’.

Question reference: S6W-07607

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what biodiversity goals it is considering in advance of the UN Biodiversity Conference in April 2022.

Our new biodiversity strategy will be published in October 2022. This will set out how we will achieve our goal of preventing further extinctions of wildlife and halting declines by 2030, and making significant progress in restoring Scotland's natural environment by 2045. We will publish a consultation on the strategy in May 2022.

COP 15 in Kunming provides a major opportunity for the world to commit to bold action to restore our natural environment, and, through the Edinburgh Process and Edinburgh Declaration, which is now supported by 235 administrations around the world, we are doing what we can to secure a strong outcome.

Question reference: S6W-07592

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is responsible for issuing any licences or registrations required by P&O Ferries to operate to or from Scottish ports.

Question reference: S6W-07593

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what funding, if any, it provides to P&O Ferries to operate services to or from Scottish ports.

Question reference: S6W-07253

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the running cost was for each of its directorates in each of the last five years.

For financial years up to and including 2018-19, the Administration Portfolio budget covered the costs of the core administration, including staffing, required to support the Scottish Government.

From financial year 2019-20, operating costs were aligned with the Portfolio budgets that they support and the Administration Portfolio was removed from the Scottish Budget. The new approach replaced the dual system of Administration and portfolio budgets both funding operating costs. As a result, Scottish Government operating costs are more transparent.

The increase in total operating cost of the Scottish Government in recent years reflects additional responsibilities taken on from the UK Government. The Scottish Government has taken on significant new powers, both raising its own revenues through devolved taxes and delivering public services such as social security and significant numbers of additional staff have been recruited to support these new responsibilities.

The change to reporting of operating costs means that we are unable to provide comparable information over the last five years. We can provide Directorate-level detail for the last three year financial years. However, there have been organisational changes each year, meaning that Directorates are not necessarily comparable year on year.

The Administration Portfolio outturn for 2017-18 and 2018-19 and the Operating Cost model introduced from 2019-20 are set out in the 2019-20 Budget Bill, Annex G, Table G.02. Annex G - Scottish Budget 2019-2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The following tables show the final outturn for 2019-20, 2020-21 and the 2021-22 budget for Operating Costs. The 2021-22 actuals will be available in mid-June, when Provisional Outturn is reported to Parliament.

Operating Costs by Directorate	2019-20 Outturn	2020-21 Outturn
	£k	£k
DG Communities	59,679	77,990
Directorate of Equality Inclusion & Human Rights	0	1
Housing and Social Justice	17,369	17,040
Local Government & Communities	14,055	15,871
Social Security	28,256	45,078
DG Constitution and External Affairs	21,283	25,090
Constitution and Cabinet	6,607	7,251
Directorate for Covid Co-ordination	0	1,281
EU Directorate	2,013	2,334
External Affairs	9,244	8,201
Organisational Readiness Directorate	1,376	3,707
Parliamentary Counsel Office	2,043	2,317
DG Corporate	138,464	161,696
Commercial and Procurement	20,376	21,864
Communications, Ministerial Support & Facilities Directorate	48,831	51,105
Directorate for Digital	24,884	38,119
Directorate for People	19,254	21,167
Financial Management	9,784	11,109
Legal Services (Solicitor to the Scottish Government)	12,538	15,386
Planning and Environmental Appeals	2,797	2,947
DG Economy	156,755	162,376
Chief Economist	5,314	5,789
Covid Business Resilience and Support	0	2,111
Directorate for Agriculture & Rural Delivery	57,782	56,344
Directorate for Culture, Tourism & Major Events	3,410	3,789
Directorate for Economic Development	11,217	9,905
Directorate for Energy & Climate Change	10,356	12,313
Directorate for Environment and Forestry	6,906	7,785
Directorate for Fair Work, Employability & Skills	8,315	9,327
Directorate for International Trade and Investment	5,027	5,559
Directorate for Marine Scotland	40,874	40,677
Directorate for Sustainable Land Use & Rural Policy	4,103	4,869
Ferguson Marine	339	1,096
Scottish National Investment Bank	3,112	2,810
DG Education and Justice	60,261	62,964
Advanced Learning & Science Directorate	4,395	4,052
Children and Families	13,214	14,365
Directorate for Early Learning & Childcare Programme	2,762	2,664
HM Inspectorate of Prisons	941	908
Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland	328	322
Justice Directorate	12,385	12,262
Learning	10,419	11,154
Safer Communities	15,816	17,237
DG Health and Social Care	50,353	71,561
Directorate for Chief Medical Officer	4,097	6,066
Directorate for Chief Nursing Officer	3,895	5,237
Directorate for COVID Public Health	2,172	7,308
Directorate for Digital Reform & Service Engagement	1,930	3,926
Directorate for Health Finance, Corporate Governance & Value	2,852	3,244
Directorate for Health Workforce	4,648	6,815
Directorate for Healthcare Quality & Improvement	3,987	4,793
Directorate for Mental Health and Social Care	9,556	14,704
Directorate for Performance & Delivery	6,792	8,309
Directorate for Population Health	7,332	7,522
Directorate for Primary Care	3,094	3,637
DG Scottish Exchequer	9,031	9,488
Budget & Sustainability	2,200	2,306
Internal Audit	2,718	2,654
Performance & Strategic Outcomes	1,818	2,135
Tax	2,295	2,393

Operating costs not attributable to a specific Directorate*	3,336	15,397
Grand Total	499,162	586,562

* These include Employee Benefits and income from Scottish Parliament in relation to Ministerial pay.

Some costs borne by Directorates include central costs, such as those relating to systems.

Operating Costs by Directorate	2021-22 Budgets post Spring Budget Revision £k
Communities	73,020
Directorate for Equality Inclusion and Human Rights	5,665
Directorate for Housing and Social Justice	16,605
Directorate for Local Government and Communities	12,107
Directorate for Social Security	38,643
Corporate	205,265
Corporate Transformation and Workplace Directorate	36,266
Directorate for Communication and Ministerial Support	26,950
Directorate for Digital	45,414
Directorate for Financial Management	12,050
Directorate for Legal Services (Solicitor to the Scottish Government)	18,997
Directorate for People	29,523
Directorate for Propriety and Ethics	1,000
Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate	35,065
Economy	30,732
Directorate for Chief Economist	5,388
Directorate for Covid Business Resilience and Support	2,326
Directorate for Economic Development	8,509
Directorate for Fair Work Employability and Skills	8,081
Directorate for International Trade and Investment	6,428
Education and Justice	56,693
Directorate for Advanced Learning and Science	5,478
Directorate for Children and Families	15,826
Directorate for Early Learning and Childcare Programme	3,324
Directorate for Justice	7,854
Directorate for Learning	11,591
Directorate for Safer Communities	12,620
Health and Social Care	95,439
Directorate for Chief Medical Officer	7,963
Directorate for Chief Nursing Officer	5,028
Directorate for Children and Families	1,860
Directorate for Primary Care	4,264
Directorate for Digital Reform & Service Engagement	3,979
Directorate for Health Finance, Corporate Governance and Value	4,284
Directorate for Health Performance and Delivery	8,025
Directorate for Health Workforce, Leadership and Service Reform	9,300
Directorate for Healthcare Quality and Improvement	5,671
Directorate for Mental Health & Social Care Support	17,981
Directorate for Population Health	10,280
Directorate for Covid Response	12,174
Directorate for Vaccines Policy and Strategy	4,630
Net Zero	144,210
Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Economy	73,250
Directorate for Energy and Climate Change	15,641
Directorate for Environment and Forestry	9,303
Directorate for Marine Scotland	46,016
Scottish Exchequer	10,757
Directorate for Budget and Public Spending	2,461
Directorate for Internal Audit and Assurance	3,212
Directorate for Performance and Strategic Outcomes	2,625
Directorate for Tax and Fiscal Sustainability	2,459
Strategy and External Affairs	39,894
Directorate for Constitution and Cabinet	8,555
Directorate for COVID Co-ordination	4,579
Directorate for Culture and Major Events	2,883
Directorate for External Affairs	9,939
Directorate for Organisational Readiness	10,171
EU Directorate	1,748
Parliamentary Counsel Office	2,019
Grand Total	656,010

Question reference: S6W-07943

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have died from thrombosis-related conditions in each year since 2008.

Table 1 – deaths from thrombosis-related conditions, 2008-2020

Cause	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Coronary thrombosis - all due to (1)	4,997	4,682	4,577	4,266	4,073	3,827	3,497	3,538	3,629	3,887	4,023	4,034	4,173
Coronary thrombosis - many due to (2)	3,625	3,334	3,266	3,293	3,366	3,325	3,254	3,499	2,943	2,751	2,527	2,455	2,494
Cerebral thrombosis (venous and arterial) – all due to (3)	20	23	26	19	5	18	14	21	24	15	23	24	23
Cerebral thrombosis (venous and arterial) - many due to (4)	2,799	2,490	2,382	2,294	2,248	2,247	2,073	2,097	1,965	2,018	1,978	1,932	2,039
Peripheral arterial thrombosis - many due to (5)	315	335	291	335	334	345	362	350	296	325	340	331	320
Venous thrombosis at various sites - all due to (6)	2	5	1	3	1	3	2	11	6	6	5	4	5
Venous thrombosis at various sites – many due to (7)	133	132	137	147	126	139	151	142	136	152	111	133	148
Other conditions caused by thrombosis – all due to (8)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	8	7	4
Other conditions caused by thrombosis - many due to (9)	9	8	12	13	7	9	12	10	13	17	16	9	6

ICD-10 codes used in each of the above categories

(1) - ICD-10 codes I21, I22, I23.6, I24.0. Includes, for example, ICD-10 code I21.9, which covers "acute myocardial infarction, unspecified".

(2) - ICD-10 code I25, which covers "chronic ischaemic heart disease".

(3) - ICD-10 codes I63.0, I63.3, I63.6, I67.6, O22.5, O87.3. Includes, for example, ICD-10 code I63.3, which covers "cerebral infarction due to thrombosis of cerebral arteries".

(4) - ICD-10 codes G08, I63.2, I63.5, I63.8, I63.9, I64, I65, I66, I67.2, I67.8, I69.3, I69.4. Includes, for example, ICD-10 code I64, which covers "stroke, not specified as haemorrhage or infarction".

(5) - ICD-10 codes I74, K55.0, K55.1, K55.9. Includes, for example, ICD-10 code I74.9, which covers "embolism and thrombosis of unspecified artery".

(6) - ICD-10 codes H34.8, I81, O22.2, O22.3, O87.1

(7) - ICD-10 codes I80, O22.9, O87.0, O87.9. Includes, for example, ICD-10 code I80.2, which covers "phlebitis and thrombophlebitis of other deep vessels of lower extremities".

(8) - ICD-10 code I51.3

(9) - ICD-10 codes O69.5, D73.5, G95.1, H34.2, I82, N28.0, N48.8, N50.1

Source: National Records of Scotland

Question reference: S6W-07591

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether social care workers are subsidising the cost of travel as a result of the rise in cost of petrol and diesel.

With regards to this specific question, we do not currently hold this information, this would be a matter for individuals based on a range of factors about their own working lives. Employers are able to claim up to 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter, as per the current rates set by UK Government.

We are engaging with stakeholders to better understand the scope and nature of the pressures facing the social care workers, who provide an invaluable service to the people of Scotland.

Chamber and committees