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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-18742

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many seasonal rangers have been employed by Forestry and Land Scotland in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-18641

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress on its plan to provide free bikes for all children of school age who cannot afford them, and how many bikes have been purchased for school children in each year since 2021.

The pilot period for the commitment ran from August 2021 to August 2022, and a final evaluation report has been published on the Transport Scotland website . Support was provided to delivery organisations to continue activities until 31 March 2023.

The total number of bikes issued during the pilot period was 2600, the total figure until March 2023 was 3800 and the final figure is due to be calculated next month.

Cycling Scotland, in collaboration with a number of community cycling organisations and national charities representing young people, have developed a programme for 2023/24 that has received £900,000 to continue offering cycles to young people facing financial barriers. As part of this years programme, they will work with Circular Communities Scotland to continue refining the model for delivery to ensure we can make the most out of reconditioned and recycled bikes and ensure as little waste as possible.

Question reference: S6W-18615

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue the Scottish Prison Service has received through charging inmates for access to telephones or telephone usage in each year for which data is available.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following table provides detail on the revenue generated from telephone usage over the last 10 years within public prisons, measured against the expenditure associated with operating the prisoner PIN telephone system which is inclusive of contracted maintenance costs, line rental and call charges across all 13 public sector prisons. The detail below does not include any costs for prisoner mobile phones.

Year	Revenue	Expenditure	Contribution
2022-23	£437,236.41	£505,530.80	-£68,294.39
2021-22	£509,405.02	£516,412.59	-£7,007.57
2020-21	£844,075.00	£561,838.50	£282,236.50
2019-20	£1,097,852.35	£578,160.04	£519,692.31
2018-19	£1,104,825.69	£556,613.13	£548,212.56
2017-18	£1,146,572.54	£522,903.03	£623,669.51
2016-17	£1,152,647.55	£584,778.16	£567,869.39
2015-16	£1,177,615.60	£588,928.21	£588,687.39
2014-15	£1,131,496.42	£570,991.50	£560,504.92
2013-14	£1,113,667.12	£581,483.14	£532,183.98
2012-13	£1,089,660.33	£552,194.44	£537,465.89

Question reference: S6W-18622

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue ScotRail has received from charging fees for returning recovered lost and found items in each year for which data is available, and how many lost items have been returned in the same period.

Question reference: S6W-18685

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of incidents responded to and attended by Police Scotland in each year since 2012-13 resulted in a crime being recorded, and, for the same period, what the estimated proportion was of all police responses that were not related to a criminal or public safety incident and were attributable to non-policing matters, including any related to an immediate mental or social health situation.

Question reference: S6W-18690

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many visits the Health and Safety Executive has made to rural primary schools in Scotland to educate children about health and safety on farms, crofts and small holdings, in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-18630

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what emotional and psychological support ScotRail makes available for train drivers, and other rail staff, who experience a traumatic event whilst performing their duties, such as a collision with a member of the public.

Question reference: S6W-18629

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government in how many instances A8 compensation has been awarded to ScotRail passengers in each year for which data is available, as per ScotRail’s Accessible Travel Policy document.

Question reference: S6W-18614

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17942 by Shona Robison on 30 May 2023, whether the 17 buildings on the Scottish Government Core Estate will meet an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least band C by 2028, as will be required by all properties actively rented in the private sector, and, if not, what its position is on whether it is fair to impose energy standards on the private rented sector that the Scottish Government will not meet in its own buildings.

The Heat in Building Strategy (October 2021) states that we will build on existing regulations to require existing non-domestic buildings to reduce demand for heat where appropriate, and install a zero emissions heating supply, within the extent of our powers. The Scottish Government is committed to working with commercial and public sector organisations across Scotland to develop the regulatory and support framework that will enable all non-domestic buildings to reduce their direct greenhouse gas emissions. We will consult on primary legislative powers in the coming months. However, we have not, to date, made any proposals around requiring non-domestic rented properties to achieve EPC C by 2028.

The rating on a non-domestic EPC cannot be compared with the relative rating used on domestic EPCs. This is because non-domestic EPCs use fundamentally different calculation methodologies and rating scales. Domestic EPC ratings are currently based on calculated running costs for a dwelling. Non-domestic EPC ratings are based on calculated direct and indirect emissions from the building and estimate a building’s absolute energy demand. We recognise the need for reform of EPCs and first consulted on proposals in 2021. We will consult on finalised proposals later in 2023.

The range of non-domestic EPC ratings for buildings within the Scottish Government Estate reflect their varied use as greenhouses, laboratories, storage units and offices. The variety of activities and building types in the non-domestic built environment will require many different options for decarbonisation - reflecting, for example, the difference between an office in Edinburgh and a laboratory in Aberdeen. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the public sector playing its part and the Bute House Agreement includes a commitment to develop and agree a series of phased targets for all publicly-owned buildings to meet zero emission heating requirements, with a backstop of 2038.

An Estate Strategy for SG Core buildings is under development to support our asset planning and the future investment decisions required to deliver the Heat in Building Strategy and Net Zero targets.

Question reference: S6W-18627

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many downloads there have been of the ScotRail app since 2019, and whether it can provide statistics on usage data for the app, such as the average time spent on the app.

The current ScotRail mobile app went live on 1 July 2019 and the following data, as provided by ScotRail, is relevant from that date until the present day:-

- App downloads: 1.4 million (this figure includes re-installs which ScotRail is unable to differentiate)

- Average users per month: 619,000 (average across last three months)

- Average sessions per user per month: six (average across last three months)

- Average session length: one minute, five seconds (average across last three months)

Year	Number of Seasonal Rangers
2021	26
2022	32
2023	24