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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-14356

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) commissioners and (b) ombudsmen for which it is responsible there are; how (i) much funding and (ii) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

There are 7 commissioners and ombudsmen. The following table with commissioners and ombudsmen contains year of establishment, funding and staff numbers.

In the case of Commissioners and Ombudsmen they are classed as Parliamentary Bodies and as such, are accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament with the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body conducting a sponsorship function.

Public Body	Year of establishment	Funding 2022-23	Staff numbers Q3 2022
Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life	2013	£0	11
Scottish Biometrics Commissioner	2021	£400,000	3
Scotland's Commissioner For Children and Young People	2004	£0	15
Scottish Human Rights Commission	2008	£65,000	12
Scottish Information Commissioner	2005	£0	20
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman	2002	£0	84
Standards Commission for Scotland	2000	£0	4

Question reference: S6W-14357

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations there are that aim to safeguard, maintain and improve the quality of care provision, and how (a) much funding and (b) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

From Scottish Government’s (SG) perspective, there are four organisations that aim to safeguard, maintain and improve the quality of care provision.

The specific details you have requested in relation to these organisations for the year 2022-23 are listed in the following table:

Organisation	Year Established	SG Funding in 2022-23 (£)	Number of Staff in 2022-23 (FTE)
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS)*	2011	38,300,000	600
Mental Welfare Commission (MWC)	1962	6,086,000	47
Care Inspectorate (CI)	2011	28,705,000	648
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)	2002	NIL	85

It is worth highlighting that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) and Scottish Police Authority (SPA) are not included in the above table because these organisations conduct reviews of health care in custody settings in partnership with the inspectorates above.

* HIS was established by the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, taking over the work of QIS and the regulatory functions in regard to independent healthcare provision. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) was established on 1 January 2003 as a special health board with a remit to improve the quality of healthcare in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-14565

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed reduction in the Major Public Transport Projects budget for 2023-24 will have any impact on jobs and staffing across Network Rail Scotland, contractors and the wider supply chain.

Network Rail is ultimately accountable to the UK Government, however, Scottish Ministers have made it clear that any decisions it makes in relation to staffing and staffing levels must be in line with the Scottish Government’s Fair Work principles.

The security offered by the Scottish Government’s continued funding of Scotland’s Railway will assist with Network Rail’s future planning and work-banks for the supply sector.

Question reference: S6W-14354

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many other agencies, organisations and public bodies there are that it is responsible for which are not public corporations, non-departmental bodies, executive agencies or tribunals; how (a) much funding and (b) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

There are 18 other significant public bodies. The following table for other significant public bodies contains year of establishment, funding and staff numbers.

Public Body	Year of Establishment	Funding 2022-23	Staff numbers Q3 2022-23
Audit Scotland	2000	£11,600,000	330
Convener of School Closure Review Panels	2010	less than £400,000	0
Court of Lord Lyon	1867	£100,000	0
Drinking Water Quality Regulator	2002	£963,000	12
HM Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland	2012	£1,798,000	0
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland	1981	£1,035,000	0
HM Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland	2003	£425,000	0
HM Fire Service Inspectorate in Scotland	2013	£732,000	0
Justices of the Peace Advisory Committee (6 bodies, the breakdown is the following):	administered by the Local Authority
Glasgow and Strathkelvin		£0	0
Grampian, Highlands and Islands		£0	2
Lothian and Borders		£0	2
North Strathclyde		£0	2
South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway		£0	0
Tayside, Central and Fife		£0	2
Office of the King’s Printer for Scotland	1998	£116,000	0
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service	2013	£326,707,000	4,633
Scottish Police Authority	2013	£1,291,282,000	6,163
Scottish Road Works Commissioner	2007	£300,000	6

Question reference: S6W-14554

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact Low Emission Zones have had on air quality in Scotland’s cities, in light of reported figures published by Friends of the Earth Scotland.

I welcome these positive achievements on air quality, which show that our actions to tackle air pollution are delivering for the people of Scotland.

The modelling undertaken by each of the cities shows that the Scottish LEZs are capable of delivering significant improvements in air quality. LEZ enforcement will begin in June 2023 in Glasgow, it is therefore too early to say with any certainty what the impact of Low Emission Zones has been.

The four cities introducing LEZs are required to report on air quality annually, and specifically on the performance of the LEZs one year after enforcement starts. I look forward to reviewing these reports when available.

Question reference: S6W-14546

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Community Bus Fund will launch.

Question reference: S6W-14540

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost will be of the two vessels that CMAL has ordered from the Cemre Marin Endustri yard to serve on the Uig to Lochmaddy and Uig to Tarbert ferry routes.

Question reference: S6W-14534

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the two vessels which CMAL has ordered from the Cemre Marin Endustri yard to serve on the Uig to Lochmaddy and Uig to Tarbert ferry routes could have operated from ferry terminals at (a) Uig, (b) Lochmaddy and (c) Tarbert without the reconstruction and dredging operations being carried out at each terminal to allow their use by Hull 802.

Question reference: S6W-14539

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last received an update from CMAL on the progress of the two ferries that it has ordered from the Cemre Marin Endustri yard to serve on the Uig to Lochmaddy and Uig to Tarbert ferry routes.

Question reference: S6W-14591

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the forecast capacity requirements for elective treatment in NHS Lanarkshire are for the next 10 years, broken down by procedure, and how these requirements will be met in each case.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish government or PHS.

Operational planning and decision making with regards to capacity is the responsibility of individual NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Boards to maximise capacity and efficiency for planned care. NHSScotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), launched in 2021, plays a central role in working with health boards to ensure that they are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign. As well as creating additional capacity, the aim is to develop new pathways of care that are more efficient, enhance delivery of services in community settings, and reduce the variation and waiting times for planned care by adopting minimum standards to deliver higher volume activity.