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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-10522

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the standard payment to private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers of early learning and childcare, per eligible child, at each age range for each local authority.

Childcare providers in the private, third and childminding sectors who deliver funded early learning and childcare (ELC) receive a sustainable rate from their local authority for the delivery of these hours.

There is no standard payment and local authorities set sustainable rates for providers in their area in-line with the joint Scottish Government and COSLA guidance .

The Scottish Government is committed to collecting data annually on the sustainable rates set by each local authority. This includes information on any variations in the rates paid to children in different age groups.

We published data on sustainable rates for 2021-22 in ‘ Overview of local authority funding and support for early learning and childcare providers’. Data on sustainable rates for 2022-23 will be published in the Autumn.

Question reference: S6W-10517

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent analysis it has undertaken of local authority capacity to scrutinise and process large-scale windfarm proposals.

Scottish Ministers determine windfarm proposals exceeding 50 megawatts under the Electricity Act (1989) which is reserved to UK Government.

Local planning authorities are statutory consultees under the Electricity Act and their capacity to scrutinise large scale windfarm proposals varies across planning authorities. The Scottish Government is working with planning authorities to understand where capacity needs to be bolstered and is supporting planning authorities to increase capacity where it is needed most. As such, there has been no formal analysis of capacity across all planning authorities.

Question reference: S6W-10705

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the use of drones to spray Asulox on inaccessible ground, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The authorisation of plant protection products (PPPs) is an area devolved to the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers have arranged for functions related to regulating PPPs to be exercised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on our behalf. Whilst Asulox does not currently hold a full approval for use, the Scottish Government carefully considered and consented to, the HSE’s recommendation to authorise limited and controlled emergency use of Asulox for bracken management during 2022.

Delivery of PPPs by drone falls under the HSE regulations covering aerial spraying. To ensure safety on the ground and in the air both the HSE and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are involved in considering any such applications. Scottish Ministers encourage our regulator and stakeholders to look to solutions that decrease risks to human and environmental health.

Question reference: S6W-10897

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its declaration of a climate emergency in 2019, along with a policy of encouraging more renewable electricity generation, whether an expansion of low-cost wind energy generation in Scotland will result in lower electricity bills.

The Scottish Government does not have powers to act in this area (as the generation, transportation and supply of electricity is reserved to the UK Government).

Electricity is a commodity traded on the wholesale energy market across GB, the price of which is set by the last (or marginal) unit, which in GB is typically gas.

New renewable electricity capacity that is supported by the Contract for Difference (CfD) framework will help to decouple the price of renewable electricity from the price of gas by setting a fixed ‘strike price’ for the sale of every MWh over a 15-year period.

Question reference: S6W-10895

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce any reliance on agency nurses in the NHS.

The Scottish Government is taking appropriate steps to ensure we have the necessary staffing in place to support our NHS services. Over the lifetime of this parliament we are committed to investing more than £11 million in further domestic and international recruitment to support NHS staffing levels.

Student nurses and midwives entering funded degree programmes will increase in 2022-23 to a total recommended intake of 4,837. This will be the tenth successive increase, doubling the number of students who were funded in the last decade.

To ensure appropriate shift cover where there is increased demand the majority [54.9%] of temporary staffing cost comes from the NHS Staff Bank. Bank staff are NHS staff, on NHS contracts at NHS rates of pay.

The usage of bank and agency staff was vital during the height of the pandemic, the most pressured time our NHS has ever seen. The use of short term staff in an organisation as large and complex as the NHS is inevitable and is not related to one specific issue.

Their use helps ensure service continuity during times of planned and unplanned staffing gaps including sickness absence and leave. Boards receive monthly agency spend reports and each Board has identified an Executive Lead to take overall responsibility for this area.

Question reference: S6W-10896

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the average hourly rate of pay is for a nurse employed through an agency, and how this compares with the rate of pay for a nurse employed directly by the NHS.

Question reference: S6W-10524

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09811 by Lorna Slater on 16 August 2022, whether it will provide a list of the stakeholders who are being engaged in the discussions.

Officials from all four UK administrations are engaging on the issue of sustainable long-term alternatives to the control of bracken. At this time, plans for stakeholder engagement have not been finalised. Initial talks with the Bracken Control Group have taken place and their advice on other interested parties will be considered. Those involved will include representatives from farming, environment and wildlife.

Question reference: S6W-10516

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place to cover any financial costs and loss of earnings of community representatives who take part in planning enquiries.

In planning proceedings the parties are normally expected to meet their own expenses and expenses are only awarded on grounds of unreasonable behaviour.

Unreasonable behaviour would be deemed if another party to the appeal has acted unreasonably and this caused the party making the claim to incur unnecessary expense, either because it should not have been necessary for the case to come before Scottish Ministers or because of the manner in which the party against whom the claim is made, has conducted their part of the proceedings.

Question reference: S6W-10523

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to ensure that bus services are accessible to disabled people.

The legislation governing disabled access and vehicle construction is reserved to the UK Government. Since 1 January 2020 all coaches, single and double decker buses have had to be fully accessible.

However, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that transport is accessible for all. Scottish Ministers' have made clear their expectations that Scotland's transport providers and public services will continually improve their performance to help disabled people make better journeys. That is why the Scottish Government launched in 2016 Scotland's Accessible Travel Framework, which is shaped by disabled people to improve the overall journey experience and remove the barriers which prevent them travelling. The Framework sets out a 10 year plan in which 48 actions are to be delivered over the 10 year period. These include:

Scottish Government provided £35,000 to Neatebox who have developed and trialled an app focusing on bus travel for disabled users with the primary focus on wheelchair users who require use of particular designated space when using the bus, and
In March 2021, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation that extends the National Concessionary Travel Card to eligible disabled children under the age of five, allowing free bus travel to accompanying companion using the National Entitlement Card. This will give around 4,000 eligible disabled children across Scotland access to the same benefits as those aged five and over, helping to reduce household costs for their families.

Question reference: S6O-01346

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports property purchases, direct payments to property owners and the use of non-disclosure agreements as a means of removing objections to large-scale windfarm applications.