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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-22824

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which private sector companies are strategic partners of Scottish Water, and what the monetary value has been of the contract for each such partner in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-22816

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scottish Water is reportedly not prepared to separate negotiations on a revised pay and grading structure from the pay offer for 2023.

Question reference: S6W-22821

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish Water negotiations with trade unions, which are being facilitated by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, regarding pay.

Question reference: S6W-22820

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what sites are currently identified by the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland as being of potential concern and requiring sampling by Scottish Water.

The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland’s active and past Enforcement Notices are published on www.dwqr.scot/regulator-activity/enforcement/ . Monitoring requirements for Scottish Water are set out in The Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2014. Some additional sampling is specified as a requirement of Enforcement Notices, and Scottish Water is expected to undertake additional operational sampling based on its assessment of risk.

The Drinking Water Quality Regulator’s annual reports summarise data on water quality in public and private supplies across Scotland, as well as covering water quality events and incidents and consumer contacts to Scottish Water. They are available at www.dwqr.scot/information/annual-report/ .

Question reference: S6W-22814

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the trade unions involved in the planned industrial action at Scottish Water.

Question reference: S6W-22819

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much Scottish Water has paid to private sector contractors in each year since 2007, expressed both in monetary terms and as a percentage of overall spend.

Question reference: S6W-22823

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the monetary value is of the Scottish Water contract with Clancy for (a) the current financial year and (b) each of the last 10 financial years, broken down by the area of business.

Scottish Water holds information for seven years, in line with HMRC guidance. The following information has been provided for the last seven years across water and waste water. A new framework was put in place in 2021-22.

		Numbers in £
Area of Business	Contractor	FY16-17	FY17-18	FY18-19	FY19-20	FY20-21	FY21-22	FY22-23	FY23-24 (forecast)
Waste Water	Kier	16.6M	17.7M	19.0M	19.7M	20.2M	13.2M	0M	0M
Waste Water	Clancy	0M	0M	0M	0M	0M	9M	14.5M	15.8M
Water	Clancy	10.1M	12.8M	16.1M	13.8M	12.7M	11.5M	21.8M	17.5M

Total		26.7M	30.5M	35.1M	33.5M	32.9M	33.7M	36.3M	33.3M

Question reference: S6W-22817

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what amount of Scottish Water’s (a) construction projects and (b) maintenance, operation and repairs have been delivered (i) in-house and (ii) by external contractors, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-22825

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether an equality impact assessment was carried out by Scottish Water regarding its recent job evaluation proposals.

Question reference: S6W-22578

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve working conditions for social care and childcare workers.

From April 2024, social care workers in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors in a direct care role, and those working in the PVI sector to deliver funded early learning and childcare will see their pay increase to at least £12 per hour. This will mean an increase that could be worth up to £2,000 per year for those on full-time contracts. This uplift recognises the financial pressures of those working in these sectors, and will help to address issues with recruitment and retention.

Across both the adult social care and child care sector, we are also working closely with partners, including COSLA and individual Local Authorities, to understand and address workforce challenges.

We are committed to improving fair work practices across the adult social sector and, through the Fair Work in Social Care Group (FWISCG), we are taking action to improve the experiences of the workforce. Alongside a workstream on pay, the Group is focused on establishing a set of minimum standards for terms and conditions, developing a framework to embed the principles of effective voice in social care, and advancing sectoral bargaining arrangements.

We are working with partners and staff from across the childcare sector to develop a Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Early Learning and School Age Childcare Profession. The framework will set out the priorities for the profession now and in the coming years, as well as actions we will take to support a sustainable, diverse and thriving profession. We have also implemented a Protection of Vulnerable Groups fee waiver for childcare workers until March 2024 to help support workers with the cost of living.