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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-22728

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when its Knowledge and Information Management Branch is next set to review its (a) Records Management Plan and (b) mobile messaging policy.

Question reference: S6W-22957

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what investigations Consumer Scotland (a) has conducted since it was established and (b) plans to conduct.

Question reference: S6W-22883

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19399 by Jenni Minto on 11 July 2023, whether it will provide details of how the National Service Division’s National Specialist Services Committee is engaging with clinicians in Dundee and colleagues in NHS Scotland to determine how magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment might be made more widely available.

Officials are engaging with NHS National Services Division (NSD) regularly on the national commissioning of this treatment.

An outline application for the commissioning of a national MRI guided Focussed Ultrasound Service was received from NHS Tayside in March 2023. Subsequent correspondence with NHS Tayside indicated the board was supportive in principle in moving forward with the more detailed planning required to develop a formal specification and proposal.

NHS NSD have encouraged the MRgFUS team in NHS Tayside to submit a formal application for national designation of the MRgFUS service in Dundee, supported by the health board’s Executive Leadership Team, for consideration and scrutiny. NSD hopes to receive such an application from NHS Tayside for 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-22906

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it plans to undertake a full review of the Young Patients Family Fund, including its eligibility criteria, to assess its impact to date.

Question reference: S6W-22777

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is, regarding any potential implications for the competitive position of the steel plants at Clydebridge in Cambuslang and Dalzell in Motherwell, to the reported proposal by British Steel to invest £1.25 billion, with the support of the UK Government, in two electric arc furnaces at its headquarters in Scunthorpe and its manufacturing site in Teesside.

I refer to recent answers regarding Liberty Steel in Scotland, in particular my answers to written questions S6W-17169 on 4 May 2023 , S6W-17708 on 16 May 2023 and S6W-21489 on 26 September 2023.

Scottish Government maintain an open dialogue with Liberty Steel and have a number of regular meetings with them.

The question of whether or not to install additional equipment at the Dalzell is an operational matter for Liberty Steel. I understand from the business that there are currently no plans to install an Electric Arc Furnace at Dalzell.

The Clydebridge site is not currently operational and no staff are currently employed at the site. The future of the site is an operational matter for Liberty Steel.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-22869

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to SMEs to help and encourage them to employ BSL users.

In November 2023 the Scottish Government launched the British Sign Language National Plan which contains 45 actions focused on addressing the barriers faced by BSL users in their daily lives.

The Scottish Government has since 2020 provided around £1,000,000 funding to Apt-PSP to enable employers to better attract, recruit, and retain disabled people. Since the outset, Apt-PSP has included representation from organisations that focus on British Sign Language users, and this has included support for employers, including micro, small and medium sized employers assist them in supporting them in BSL related issues.

Question reference: S6W-22846

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has made of the effectiveness of the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains in reducing instances of antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S6W-22835

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the implementation timetable is for the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, and on what date the licensing scheme provided for in the Act will come into effect.

Four of the six key provisions in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 have been implemented to date.

The prohibition on supply to children came into effect on 10 October 2022 alongside the aggravation of offences for emergency workers. New offences relating to pyrotechnic articles in public places and at designated venues and events came into force on 6 June 2023, and firework control zones provisions commenced on 22 June 2023. For the remaining measures:

Our ambition is to have the firework licensing scheme operational ahead of Bonfire Night next year. A specific date has not yet been identified for this.
The implementation of the restricted days of supply and use provisions is paused to a future financial year. This includes the compensation regulation making power, which is attached specifically to restricted days of supply.

Question reference: S6W-22830

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability to be rolled out.

Question reference: S6W-22832

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the full implementation costs will be of the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability.