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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-11426

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the opening of the short-term let licensing scheme on 1 October 2022, how many local authorities have not met this deadline for the scheme opening.

Question reference: S6W-11425

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, what is meant by “their duty to establish short-term let licensing schemes by 1 October 2022”, and whether this constitutes a statutory obligation on local authorities to have their scheme opened by 1 October 2022.

The effect of the provisions in The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 are that new hosts cannot operate without a licence after 1 October 2022. The effect of this is that it placed a statutory duty on local authorities to have licence schemes opened in their areas by 1 October.

As set out in my letter to local authorities, dated 21 September, I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

Question reference: S6W-11192

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase dentist capacity in the South Scotland region.

We have recently updated the Recruitment and Retention Allowance payments to independent dental contractors providing NHS General Dental Services.

This means that newly qualified dentists that have completed their vocational training and are applying to join the dental list for the first time may qualify for a payment of £25,000 over a two-year period.

We have also extended the allowance to include vocational trainees who may qualify for a payment of £12,500 payable over a one-year period.

The qualifying areas to obtain this allowance includes certain areas within NHS Borders and all of NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Question reference: S6W-11419

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to attract new businesses to locate at the site of the former Longannet Power Station in Fife.

Question reference: S6W-11302

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, and in light of Aberdeenshire Council’s short-term lets licensing consultation ending on 7 October 2022, after the deadline for establishing local schemes, what discussions have been held with Aberdeenshire Council regarding the timeline for implementation of such licensing; and what the repercussions are for any local authority that did not have its short-term lets licensing scheme established by 1 October 2022.

I wrote to all local authorities on 21 September reminding them of the importance of establishing licensing schemes in their area by 1 October. In that letter I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

My officials spoke with Aberdeenshire Council on 26 September to understand the timeline for consideration of consultation responses and sign-off of its draft policy. These have been tabled for consideration by council sub-committees ahead of a full council meeting later this year. Prior to 1 October 2022, Aberdeenshire Council ensured its websites had information about its licensing scheme including its draft policy, a draft application form, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

Question reference: S6W-11283

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06933 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 March 2022, whether it will provide updated figures of how many of the (a) laptops and (b) tablets due to be provided to school pupils in (i) South Ayrshire and (ii) East Ayrshire are yet to be delivered.

I refer the member to answer to question S6W-08832 on 7 June 2022. 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

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-11301

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 by Shona Robison on 21 September 2022, how many local authorities have indicated that they were not in a position to establish their short-term lets licensing scheme by 1 October 2022.

Since the answers to S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 on‎ 21 September 2022 were published, a small number of local authorities informed us that their elected members would not be able to meet to ratify their draft short-term let policies until after 1 October 2022. In these cases local authorities have ensured their websites have supported prospective applicants by having information about their licensing scheme including the draft policy, draft application forms, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

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-11191

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current dentist capacity is in the South Scotland region.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally, however each NHS Board will hold information on dental capacity for their respective areas.

We remain in a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity in Scotland, with 59 dentists per 100,000 of the population providing NHS dental services, compared with 43 per 100,000 in England. Dental registrations project a similar picture, with a record number of people registered with a NHS dentist, more than 95% of the population of Scotland.

Further information on dental statistics, including NHS dental registration numbers broken down by NHS Board, can be found on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) website, at: Dental Statistics (publichealthscotland.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-11190

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support communities that are currently without a local dentist surgery to obtain one.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to NHS dental services, which is why we have included several areas in the Scottish Dental Access Initiative grant (SDAI). This financial grant enables dentists to open a new or expand an existing dental practice in areas where there is a particular and protracted problem with patient access to NHS dental services.

The areas currently included in the grant are:

Dalmellington and Patna within NHS Ayrshire and Arran;
Kelso and Berwickshire (exc. Eyemouth) within NHS Borders;
NHS Dumfries and Galloway;
Auchtermuchty within NHS Fife;
Banff, Fraserburgh, Huntly and Moray within NHS Grampian;
Isle of Bute, Islay and Jura, Lochgilphead, Mull and Iona, and Tarbert within NHS Highland;
NHS Orkney;
NHS Shetland;
NHS Western Isles.

Officials are in regular contact with NHS Boards about areas which may benefit from having the SDAI and the areas can be updated as and when required.

Question reference: S6W-11485

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to introduce the Scottish National Party 2021 manifesto commitment for a Percentage for the Arts scheme.