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-03273

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme.

Question reference: S6W-03051

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that 9.9% of children starting treatment within child and adolescent mental health services between April and June 2021 had experienced a waiting time of more than 53 weeks, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

It is encouraging to see a record number of new patients – including those who have waited longest – starting treatment in CAMHS in the last quarter, as our NHS continues to remobilise.

Long waits are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of children and young people begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

Over the last 6 months Scottish Government officials provided enhanced improvement support to Boards with unacceptable backlogs to increase CAMHS capacity and reduce waiting lists. £4.25m of the Renewal Fund has been allocated to all Boards to reduce backlogs this year.

Question reference: S6W-03000

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its position stated in the procurement notice issued to local government in 2014 that it "strongly discourages trade with illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories", whether this remains its position.

Question reference: S6W-02955

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by each local authority in each year since 1999 on energy efficiency for homes.

Question reference: S6W-02966

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Spaces for People scheme, which temporary installations have been removed or reversed; which of the infrastructure is scheduled to be removed or reversed; how much it will cost to remove or reverse this infrastructure, and what the original cost was of each project.

Spaces for People (SfP) schemes are the responsibility of individual local authorities. It is therefore for local authorities to determine the length of time SfP measures should remain in place and to take decisions on their removal. Sustrans has provided support and advice to local authorities intending to make SfP infrastructure permanent.

The Spaces for People programme provided local authorities with funding to deliver temporary active travel infrastructure. As local authorities are fully responsible for the delivery of SfP measures, they hold information on installation and removal costs for individual interventions.

A total of £38.9 million was awarded to local authorities, Regional Transport Partnership (RTPs), the National Health Service (NHS) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) via Spaces for People as set out in the following table:

Partners	Funding award
Aberdeen City Council	£ 1,760,000
Aberdeenshire Council	£ 310,000
Angus Council	£ 788,958
Argyll & Bute Council	£ 915,000
City of Edinburgh Council	£ 5,000,000
Clackmannanshire Council	£ 367,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)	£ 128,850
Dumfries and Galloway Council	£ 595,000
Dundee City Council	£ 2,460,000
East Ayrshire Council	£ 555,000
East Lothian Council	£ 1,400,000
East Renfrewshire Council	£ 1,030,000
Falkirk Council	£ 190,000
Fife Council	£ 2,420,000
Glasgow City Council	£ 7,500,000
Inverclyde Council	£ 585,000
Midlothian Council	£ 191,962
Moray Council	£ 778,800
NHS Grampian	£ 817,500
NHS Lanarkshire	£ 210,000
NHS Lothian	£ 90,000
North Ayrshire Council	£ 400,000
North Lanarkshire Council	£ 1,066,978
Perth and Kinross Council	£ 1,353,000
Renfrewshire Council	£ 695,000
Scottish Borders Council	£ 1,200,000
Scottish Environment Protection Agency	£ 120,000
South Ayrshire Council	£ 510,000
South Lanarkshire Council	£ 1,200,000
Stirling Council	£ 513,000
TACTRAN	£ 250,000
The Highland Council	£ 1,968,560
West Dunbartonshire Council	£ 740,000
West Lothian Council	£ 641,500
ZetTrans	£ 200,000

Question reference: S6W-02883

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government where the Equality Impact Assessment for the proposals set out in the ScotRail consultation, Fit for the Future, is published.

ScotRail has commenced the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and the timetable consultation process will contribute to this assessment. The purpose of the consultation is to enable passengers and stakeholders to provide specific feedback on how the proposals impact their journey compared to ScotRail’s current timetable and will allow completion of the EIA prior to finalising the timetable from May 2022 onwards.

Following the completion of the timetable consultation, a copy of the EIA document would be available directly from ScotRail.

Question reference: S6W-02602

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many social workers have been employed by each local authority in each year since 1999.

The information requested by Mr Briggs MSP is readily available on the SSSC website, and a detailed breakdown by local authority can be obtained directly from the official source.

Every year in August, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) publishes the ‘Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2020 Workforce Data’. This year's edition was the 10th set of official statistics. Official figures, therefore, only go back to 2011.

According to the most recent data, published in August this year, as of December 2020, there were 6,049 social workers employed in local authorities, the highest number recorded, representing a 1.5% increase since the previous year, 2019, or a 6% increase since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-02507

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding changing the eligibility criteria to access adult disability payment from the current criteria in personal independence payment.

Scottish Government officials hold regular discussions with Department for Work and Pensions officials on a range of matters including eligibility criteria for Adult Disability Payment. During these discussions, our overriding commitment is to ensure processes are in place for the safe and secure transfer of clients to Adult Disability Payment. It is essential clients continue to receive the payments they rely on. Moreover, we have made changes to how clients will experience accessing disability assistance in Scotland, such as replacing assessments with person centred consultations. Also the reliability criteria, used to determine eligibility, will be enshrined more fully in legislation for Adult Disability Payment.

Question reference: S6W-02886

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place for the rail network to ensure that additional measures will be taken to tackle women's reported concerns about safety in stations and on trains.

Safety of passengers on our railway is paramount and the British Transport Police (BTP) is accountable to the Scottish Government through the Scottish Railway Policing Committee.

I recently met with Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi of the BTP and the topic of women’s safety on the rail network was discussed. The Chief Constable highlighted to me the campaigns currently running across the rail network to promote the reporting of unwanted sexual behaviour and a campaign against sexual harassment on the network.

More information on the campaigns can be accessed via:-

Campaigns | British Transport Police (btp.police.uk)

Question reference: S6W-02850

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to advise drivers of the roll-out of lower-emissions E10 petrol.

Policy on transport fuels is reserved to the UK Government and the roll-out of the E10 petrol grade is an initiative led on by the UK Department for Transport (DfT).

DfT's "Know Your Fuel" campaign has run across Scotland to inform motorists of the change and also offers an online vehicle compatibility checking tool. The Scottish Government's Traffic Scotland information service recently released tweets alerting motorists to the E10 introduction and provided links to DfT's online information resources."