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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-22182

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is currently running any marketing or recruitment campaigns to encourage more GPs to work in NHS boards in predominantly rural areas such as the Scottish Borders and the Highlands.

We launched a GP recruitment campaign in June 2022, as part of our commitment to increase the number of GPs in Scotland. The campaign seeks to encourage GPs from the rest of the UK to relocate to Scotland, highlighting the flexible, supportive, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary working environment.

We also fund ScotGEM, a four-year graduate-entry medical degree with a focus on remote and rural medicine. The programme is delivered through a collaborative partnership between the universities of St Andrew and Dundee, in collaboration with NHS Fife, NHS Tayside, NHS Highland, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and the University of Highlands and Islands.

The first Cohort of 52 students form the University of Dundee graduated on 17 June 2022. Places have now increased to 70 per cohort.

The Scottish Government will develop a Remote and Rural workforce recruitment strategy by the end of 2024. This will support employers (either Boards or General Practices) to ensure that the Health and Social Care needs of people who live in remote and rural communities are met.

Question reference: S6W-22282

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05058 by Lorna Slater on 21 December 2021, whether it will provide an updated list setting out the level of local authority readiness to comply with the delayed ban on waste to landfill.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on their readiness to comply with the ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill in 2025.

We continue to provide procurement support to help local authorities that need it to secure contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. As part of this support, Zero Waste Scotland is working with local authorities to provide technical, legal and procurement advice on their contracts.

Through this support, we understand that 22 local authorities have contracts in place for 2025 that comply with the landfill ban, these are: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, City of Edinburgh, City of Glasgow, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland, and South Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S6W-22201

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20954 by Jenny Gilruth on 19 September 2023, whether it or local authorities will meet the cost to "update when necessary" the laptops, Chromebooks and tablets that are given to school children in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-22320

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are available to support demonstrator projects for sustainable fibre production, and how much funding has been granted to such projects in the last five years, broken down by project.

Question reference: S6W-22280

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is allocated to craft and making opportunities in schools to ensure that every child and young person has the opportunity to engage with 10 hours of these activities as part of their learning.

Core funding to support the delivery of school-age education, including the technologies curriculum (which includes craft and making), is provided via the block grant to local authorities. In addition, the Scottish Government supports the removal of core curriculum charges for all primary and secondary pupils. The Government has committed £8 million to this policy in this financial year, helping to ensure that families do not have to meet the costs of resources and materials for practical lessons, including for all art materials.

Curriculum for Excellence provides a broad framework within which schools can deliver teaching and learning which best meets the needs of their pupils, and therefore there are no plans to specify time allocations on craft making. The Government recognises the significance of learning craft skills as part of the wider technologies curriculum, with “craft, design, engineering and graphics” referenced as one of six key “organisers” in the technologies Experience and Outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-22322

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress Zero Waste Scotland has made on working with the textiles industry to encourage the use of natively grown sustainable fibres.

Question reference: S6T-01635

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it being three weeks since Storm Babet, whether it will provide an update on the support that it is making available to the affected communities in Angus, Aberdeenshire and Dundee.

Question reference: S6T-01631

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a Unison survey that reportedly shows a 31% increase in the number of violent incidents against public sector workers in the last year.

Question reference: S6F-02550

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the impact of the Low Emission Zone in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6F-02538

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the First Minister what immediate action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported crisis in social care, in light of the letter from the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland stating that the social care pay uplift is insufficient.