Chamber and committees

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-12939

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons why the intervention by the Scottish Information Commissioner into its performance regarding Freedom of Information requests is still ongoing after five years.

The Scottish Government’s response to the Commissioner’s intervention is documented by the three progress reports which the Commissioner has produced during the intervention. These set out the progress which has been made and the areas in which the Scottish Government still requires to make further improvement. The Scottish Government published its Improvement Plan 2022-23 in July setting out its action plan to address these areas of improvement.

As the member is aware, the Government pivoted to respond to the Covid pandemic in early 2020, and the subsequent redeployment of staff to critical areas, has affected the delivery of improvements. As the Civil Service itself recovers from the pandemic, we are taking the time to ensure that we embed continuous improvement in the structures which facilitate and deliver information access to ensure sustained improvement.

The Government’s ‘on time’ response rate over several months remains comparable with the wider public sector in Scotland. This performance has been sustained despite higher year on year request volumes (as at the end of October 2022, requests are up 48% on the previous three years), and increasing complexity of cases. The Government is committed to achieving the 95% target set by the Information Commissioner.

Question reference: S6W-12942

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the legal and commercial arrangements for the Ardrossan Harbour upgrade project.

Question reference: S6W-13006

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many active working groups there are that fall under the remit of (a) justice and (b) community safety, and whether it will provide a list of these groups.

The Scottish Government works collaboratively with Justice and other stakeholders in taking forward a significant programme of legislative, policy and delivery commitments, consistent with the Vision for Justice in Scotland.

There are currently 13 active working groups which fall under the remit of (a) Justice and (b) Community Safety.

For completeness, there are further boards, taskforces and advisory panels that fall under the remit of justice and community safety which have also been included in the following table.

Justice

British Sign Language Justice Advisory Group

Implementation Group on the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) National Strategic Group

MAPPA Development Group

MAPPA Coordinators Group

Electronic Monitoring of Bail Operational Implementation Group

Electronic Monitoring Management Forum

Scottish Advisory Panel on Offender Rehabilitation

Caledonian Oversight Group

Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LSCMI) Change Board

LSCMI Working Group

Moving Forward: Making Changes (MF:MC) Programme Oversight Board

Moving Forward 2 Change (MF2C) National Advisory Board

MF2C Steering Group

MF:MC/MF2C National Training Group

MF2C Pilot Treatment Manager Delivery Group

MF2C Design Group

National Care Service – Justice Reference Group

Alternatives to Remand Reference Group

Deaths in Prison Custody Action Group (DiPCAG)

Deaths in Prison Custody: Key Recommendation Working Group

Deaths in Prison Custody: Understanding and Preventing Deaths Working Group

Deaths in Prison Custody: Family Reference Group

Scottish Government – Scottish Prison Service Major Project Board

Prison Visitor Centre Funding Advisory Group

Community Justice Funding Review Group

Review of National Guidance – Court Based Social Work Services and Criminal Justice Social Work

National Guidance: Throughcare for Justice Social Work Reference Group

Community Justice Governance Group

Women in Leadership Group

Domestic Homicide Review Taskforce

Ministerial Roundtable on Spiking

Victims Taskforce

Lady Dorrian Review Governance Group

Restorative Justice Stakeholder Group

Domestic Abuse Protection Act 2021 Implementation Advisory Board

Fixed Penalty Notice Implementation Group

Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019 Implementation Group

Human Trafficking Strategy Governance Structure (Strategic Oversight Group, Strategy Implementation Group and 4 Action Area Implementation Groups)

Short Life Working Group – ‘Dog Control – Review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991’

Short Life Working Group – ‘Review Taxi and Private Hire Car Licensing Best Practice Guidance’

Short Life Working Group – ‘Review Travelling Funfairs Guidance’

Victims Advisory Board

Victim Centred Approach Fund Call

Appropriate Adults National Oversight Group

National Joint Investigative Interview Governance Group

Justice Board for Scotland

Criminal Justice Board for Scotland

Justice Board Sub-Group on Resilience

Senior Responsible Owner Group

Justice Board Equality & Diversity Sub-Group

Cross Justice Working Group on Race Data & Evidence

Community Safety

Missing People Working Group

Ministerial Roundtable on Water Safety

OPSS-led Button Battery Working Group

Scottish Firearms Licensing Practitioners

Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT)

SOCT Steering Group

SOCT Communications Group

SOCT Divert

SOCT Deter

Proceeds of Crime Act Improvement Group

Cybercrime Working Group

Divert 1 Serious Organised Crime working group

Digital Economy Skills Group

CyberScotland Partnership

Police Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct: Ministerial Group

Police Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct: Strategic Oversight Group

Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct: Practitioner Working Group

Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety

National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board

Question reference: S6W-12220

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11723 by Jenny Gilruth on 10 November 2022, whether it will list the regulatory requirements that it was concerned the catamaran vessel would not meet.

Question reference: S6T-01004

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle cancer inequalities.

Question reference: S6W-11981

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last communicated with the UK Government regarding the roll-out of autumn or winter 2022 COVID-19 vaccinations, and what was discussed.

As in all previous phases of the pandemic, Scottish Government officials continue to meet with and communicate with their UK Government and other Four Nations counterparts almost daily, on a range of different areas of work related to COVID-19 vaccination.

Regular topics of discussions include security and supply, communications and marketing approaches, data collection and analysis, COVID-19 policy and planning, the progress of our respective winter COVID-19 vaccination programmes across the Four Nations and to share learning and best practice.

Question reference: S6W-11979

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is assessing the success of its winter 2022-23 COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, compared with the rest of the UK.

Scotland is making excellent progress in the winter vaccination programme, when compared to the other UK nations. The latest published figures show that, as at 6 th November, Scotland has provided 87.8% of older adult care home residents and 55.7% of those aged 50 and over with a winter COVID-19 vaccine.

While differences in the way statistics are collected means that the figures are not always directly comparable, England has reported an uptake of 58.0% among older adult care home residents, and 53.5% among those aged 50 and over as at 6 th November.

Scotland’s winter vaccination programme also compares favourably to that of Wales, where, according to the latest data, 80.4% of older adult care home residents and 53.0% of those aged 50 and over have taken up the offer of a winter COVID-19 vaccination.

Question reference: S6W-12144

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11720 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2022, which (a) ferries and (b) routes in the west of Scotland were used by CMAL and the University of Strathclyde in the UK Government-funded feasibility study for Scottish Enterprise of the technical and commercial possibilities of using hydrogen in zero-emission ferries, and whether the findings of this study have been published.

Question reference: S6O-01586

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance ministers have had with ministerial colleagues regarding any plans to investigate the feasibility of a land value tax.

Question reference: S6W-11980

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is reviewing whether to incorporate provision for “low-noise” or “silent” fireworks into the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 via regulation.

During the development of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 (“the Act”) the possibility of exempting “silent” or “low noise” fireworks from the provisions which aim to address the noise and disturbance associated with fireworks was considered. However engagement with a range of stakeholders, including industry experts, has confirmed that at present there is no recognised standard or specification for identifying, and therefore distinguishing, such fireworks. It is therefore not possible to exempt “low noise” fireworks from provisions within the Act at this time.

The Act does, however, include a regulation making power to enable this to be amended in future should such standards or specifications make this possible. We are continuing to engage with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the results of noise level testing undertaken on common firework products. This will improve our understanding of whether any common firework products can be considered as low noise fireworks, as well as the scope to move towards such recognised standards or specifications.