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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.

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Question reference: S6W-13552

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13389 by Patrick Harvie on 21 December 2022, what discussions it has had with the private rented sector regarding rent cap provisions under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, and whether it is its intention to expire the rent cap provision in the private sector in March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-13130

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to expand the C Card scheme to all NHS boards.

There are currently no plans to implement the C:Card scheme across all NHS Boards in Scotland, however free condoms are available through a number of initiatives and can be accessed across the country.

All NHS Boards in Scotland offer free condoms, but the way in which this service is provided varies. Most NHS Boards offer free condoms by post to anyone living within the Board area, as well as making them available to pick up at various NHS facilities and other locations including some schools. Third sector organisations, such as Waverley Care and the Terrence Higgins Trust, also provide free condoms.

The Scottish Government are currently developing a refreshed Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework. As part of this work, the provision of contraception will be considered, and any learning from the C:Card scheme will be taken into account.

Question reference: S6W-12892

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown of the number of (a) dentists and (b) dental care professionals registered as (i) UK, (ii) EU, and (iii) overseas domiciled, in each year since 2015.

Question reference: S6W-13288

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received heart screening in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-13201

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding M&Co entering administration, and what support will be offered to any staff who lose their jobs.

To Date the Scottish Government has had no contact with the UK Government regarding M&Co entering administration.

The Scottish Government will do everything in its power to help those affected by any possible forthcoming redundancies through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE). Our PACE team contacted the administrators for M&Co immediately to offer support for any individuals affected by redundancy.

I have also contacted the administrators at Teneo directly and offered to speak with them to discuss the situation.

Question reference: S6W-13168

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the total cost has been, in terms of public expenditure, for public bodies to deal with “chemical incidents” as defined by Public Health Scotland (a) from 12 May 1999 to 5 May 2021 and (b) since 6 May 2021.

Question reference: S6W-13217

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) airports it expects will be impacted by the planned strike action on 19 and 22 December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-13148

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many industrial units for SMEs have been built in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-12614

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many socially rented homes have reported damp and mould in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government does not have a reporting system in place to track instances of damp and mould in all socially rented homes.

Data on the presence of mould and damp is collected through the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS), including from a sample of about 700 social rented homes each year.

Survey results from the SHCS provide an indication of the prevalence of mould and damp in social rented housing. These results are expressed in the following table as percentages of homes with and without mould and damp.

It should be noted that as these results are based on a sample survey, the level of accuracy on the results can vary between +/-1% and +/-3%, as shown in the table. This means that the changes between years in prevalence in mould and damp estimated from the SHCS may not be statistically significant as they are within the margins of error of the survey estimates.

Table 1: Percentage of social sector dwellings with presence of mould and (any rising or penetrating) damp, SHCS 2012 to 2019

Year	No mould or damp (Accuracy +/- 3%)	Any mould or damp (Accuracy +/- 3%)	Both mould and damp (Accuracy +/- 1%)	Only mould (Accuracy +/- 3%)	Only damp (Accuracy +/- 1%)
2012	82%	18%	2%	14%	2%
2013	85%	15%	1%	11%	2%
2014	85%	15%	2%	12%	1%
2015	88%	12%	2%	9%	1%
2016	87%	13%	1%	11%	1%
2017	88%	12%	1%	10%	1%
2018	84%	16%	1%	14%	1%
2019	86%	14%	1%	13%	1%

Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Accuracy based on the margin of error associated with 95% Confidence Intervals.

To derive the corresponding number of homes with and without mould and damp, the percentage estimates from the SHCS can be applied to the social rented housing stock figures published by Scottish Government (SG).

It should be noted that as these results are based on a sample survey, the level of accuracy on the results can vary between +/-10,000 and +/-20,000 dwellings, as shown in the following table. This means that the changes between years in estimated numbers of dwellings with mould and damp estimated from the SHCS may not be statistically significant as they are within the margins of error of the survey estimates.

Table 2: Estimated number of social sector dwellings with presence of mould and (any rising or penetrating) damp, SHCS 2012 to 2019 and SG social rented housing stock figures 2012 to 2019.

Year	No mould or damp (Accuracy +/- 20,000)	Any mould or damp (Accuracy +/- 20,000)	Both mould and damp (Accuracy +/- 10,000)	Only mould (Accuracy +/- 20,000)	Only damp (Accuracy +/- 10,000)	SG Social Rented Stock Total
2012	490,000	110,000	10,000	80,000	10,000	597,000
2013	510,000	90,000	< 10,000	70,000	10,000	596,000
2014	500,000	90,000	10,000	70,000	< 10,000	594,000
2015	520,000	70,000	10,000	50,000	< 10,000	595,000
2016	520,000	80,000	< 10,000	60,000	< 10,000	595,000
2017	520,000	70,000	< 10,000	60,000	< 10,000	594,000
2018	500,000	100,000	< 10,000	80,000	< 10,000	595,000
2019	510,000	90,000	< 10,000	80,000	< 10,000	600,000

Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10,000. ‘<10,000’ denotes any estimates below 10,000. Total Social Rented Stock figures rounded to the nearest 1,000. Accuracy based on the margin of error associated with 95% Confidence Intervals.

In 2019, 86% or 510,000 social sector dwellings were free from any damp or mould.

Though any mould or damp was present in 14% of or 90,000 social sector dwellings in 2019, it is important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that its presence was extensive or a serious problem in all dwellings. For example, in 94% of social sector dwellings where mould was present, its extent throughout the whole dwelling was found to be less than 2%, assessed on an area basis on wall and ceilings.

Data from the SHCS on the presence of damp and mould was readily available for 2012-19. For 2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2007 to 2011 the information was collected as part of the survey but is not in a readily analysable form. We have answered this question using readily available information.

Due to enforced changes in response to Covid-19 restrictions the 2020 SHCS was not completed and it was not possible to collect this data as part of the 2021 SHCS. This data is being collected as part of the 2022 SHCS and we expect to publish this data in late 2023 / early 2024.

Question reference: S6W-13107

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to any claims by members of the cross party groups on chronic pain, long COVID, and arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions that it did not notify them about its proposed timing of the debate on chronic pain on 16 November 2022, and that this prevented them from informing large numbers of patients with chronic pain about the debate.

Details of Parliamentary business, including motions for debate, are published in the Business Bulletin when the Parliament is in session. This includes details of current and future business of the Parliament and the business motion setting out the date for the debate on ‘Improving care and services for people with chronic pain’ was proposed and agreed by MSPs on Tuesday 8 November 2022. This is available to view on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/votes-and-motions/S6M-06687

In advance of this, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care met with the convenors of the Cross Party Group on Chronic Pain (CPGCP) on 7 November 2022 to inform them that the debate was imminent and wrote to them on the 11 November 2022 once the date had been confirmed. We will continue to seek to work in a collaborative and constructive manner with the CPGCP and other stakeholders as we implement the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery.