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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-06454

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will encourage rail operators in Scotland to make use of new media tools such as WhatsApp to enable widening accessibility within the rail network, such as the service that has been introduced by TransPennine Express.

Yes, we will continue to encourage rail operators in their use of new media tools to improve levels of customer service. Since ScotRail launched their Whatsapp facility in September 2019, they have received approximately 45,000 messages via WhatsApp.

ScotRail advise that messages concerning ticket buying accounted for around 20 per cent of all messages. 134 messages in total related to accessibility. WhatsApp remains the least used of ScotRail’s three main channels, with incoming messages on Twitter for the same period at around 438,000, and Facebook at 80,000.

Caledonian Sleeper is introducing a Live Chat facility. While being rolled out on a ‘soft launch’ basis it is already receiving 50+ messages a day, and it is planned that this will be adopted on a formal basis in the coming months.

Caledonian Sleeper has the facility to text all of its guests and also regularly messages them on social media as requested.

Question reference: S6W-06859

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the public transport workforce is disabled, also broken down by (a) ferry, (b) rail and (c) bus operators.

The Scottish Government does not collect demographic data specifically on the public transport workforce nor does it do so for each mode of public transportation. If collected, this data will be held by public transport operating organisations.

Data from the Annual Population Survey over the period Jan-Dec 2020 provides breakdowns on employment by industry sector which includes the category “Transport and Storage”. It shows that 4% of all those aged over 16 in employment were working in Transport and Storage.

Of those employed in transport and storage industries, 13% are disabled. This compares to a figure of 13% also for those employed in all industries who are disabled.

Question reference: S6W-06689

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration is given to vessel procurement policy in its Market Assessment of all routes on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network.

Question reference: S6W-06648

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to gather data on the number of people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) who receive the Young Carer's Grant.

Question reference: S6W-07074

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that it has only delivered approximately one in 20 of the offshore wind jobs that it forecast.

We are fully committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2045 and transforming Scotland in to a fairer, greener and more prosperous country, that is why we have committed £2 billion in low carbon funding to invest in new measures to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change and create green jobs. Creating, supporting and monitoring green jobs through initiatives like the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray and the Green Jobs Fund will be vital in helping Scotland to secure a truly just transition to net zero, with no person or region left behind.

These statistics, published by ONS annually, relate to what may be considered a narrower definition of direct jobs in the UK low carbon and renewable energy economy, including the offshore wind sector. Work is ongoing within the Scottish Government to establish a broader measure of green jobs. ScotWind puts Scotland at the forefront of the global development of offshore wind and represents a huge step forward in our just transition to net zero. I welcome the commitments from the winning consortia to invest at least £1 billion, on average, in Scotland's supply chain for every gigawatt of capacity generated. This will generate thousands of new jobs and provide opportunities for diversification and skills transfer from existing sectors such as oil and gas.

Question reference: S6W-06826

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the legislation that governs the appointment of Lord Provosts and Bailies.

Question reference: S6W-06852

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government where the equalities impact assessment of the ScotRail proposals to reduce station ticket office staffing levels and opening hours is published.

Question reference: S6W-06930

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much COVID-19-related funding from the UK Government it (a) received in 2020-21 and (b) has received in 2021-22, broken down by how much (i) has been allocated to (A) COVID-19-specific spending, (B) non-COVID-19-specific spending and (ii) remains unallocated.

The Scottish Government has received £14.564 billion in Covid-19 related funding from the UK Government. Amounts received for 2020-21 were £9.752 billion and for 2021-22 are £4.812 billion. Details of the timing and split of funding received are included in the following table:

UK Government COVID Allocations to Scottish Government (£m)	Resource	Capital & FTs	Total
2020-21 Funding allocated by UK Government - Barnett Guarantee	8,600		8,600
2020-21 Funding allocated by UK Government - Supplementary Estimates	874	278	1,152
2021-22 Funding allocated by UK Government - UK Spending Review 2020	1,328		1,328
2021-22 Funding allocated by UK Government - Budget	1,206		1,206
2021-22 Funding allocated by UK Government - Main Estimates	1,000		1,000
2021-22 Funding allocated by UK Government - UK Spending Review 2021	516		516
2021-22 Funding allocated by UK Government - Supplementary Estimates	707	55	762
Total	14,231	333	14,564

Following completion of the 2021-22 Spring Budget Revision exercise total Covid-19 funding allocations are £14.855 billion, £291 million more than the total UK funding received.

The timeline and split of Scottish Government Covid-19 funding allocations is detailed in the table below. Note that the £1.152 billion received at Supplementary Estimate 2020-21 was deferred into 2021-22.

Deployment of funds to support Covid response by Scottish Government (£m)	Resource	Capital & FTs	Total
2020-21 Budget Revisions	8,677	11	8,688
2021-22 Scottish Budget Bill as Amended	3,593	278	3,871
2021-22 Autumn Budget Revision	1,050		1,050
2021-22 Spring Budget Revision	1,162	84	1,246
Total	14,482	373	14,855

There are challenges when attempting to directly compare funding received and Scottish Government deployment on Covid 19. For example the £707 million received at 2021-22 Supplementary Estimates includes £143 million of "Budget Cover transfers" in relation to Test and Trace/vaccination. The UK Government does not classify this as a Covid-19 Barnett Consequential but has been included in the total Covid-19 funding received.

Despite the complications with timing, classification and judgement, the Scottish Government has deployed all of the Covid-19 funding it has received over the course of the pandemic to directly support Covid-19 response measures.

Question reference: S6W-06686

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the status is of collective bargaining agreements in the Market Assessment of all routes on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network.

Question reference: S6W-06944

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is offering to the people of Ukraine through its Humanitarian Emergency Fund.

While the Scottish Government's £1 million per year Humanitarian Emergency Fund is fully committed for 2021-22, we have made an additional £4 million in humanitarian funding available to support the people of Ukraine.

As part of this £4 million commitment, we have awarded £2 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. We have also awarded £500,000 each to both the British Red Cross and SCIAF for their respective Ukraine appeals.

We have also provided £1 million to UNICEF's appeal to help children and families affected by the conflict.

We are also working with the Ukrainian Government to provide medical supplies from stocks we hold, worth around £2.9 million, and are coordinating with other UK nations to ensure that these supplies get to where they are needed as quickly as possible; a total of three donations of medical equipment, valued at approximately £1.6 million has shipped to date.