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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-22806

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts have been made to improve the process of collecting supporting information for Child Disability Payment applications.

The way Social Security Scotland delivers disability benefits is fundamentally different to the UK – people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

A significant change is that Social Security Scotland will collect information to support someone's application if needed. Under the DWP, people are forced to do this themselves.

To support faster decision making on applications, listening to feedback from clients and third parties, improvements include

improved wording on the application to help clients understand what supporting information to supply,
early phone engagement with clients who have submitted applications without supporting information to establish if they have readily available information to allow a decision to be made,
improved communication with health and social care professionals and introducing a payment to support third sector organisations who provide supporting information at the agency’s request.

Question reference: S6W-22807

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to maximise the number of children and young people with cancer and their families accessing the Young Patients Family Fund by targeting those who are eligible for, but not currently accessing, the Fund.

The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) is designed to support the families of all babies, children and young people from birth to age 18 who require inpatient care in Scotland. Posters and leaflets to promote the Fund are available in every Health Board and we continue to work with all Boards to maximise awareness and promotion of the scheme.

The Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC) is currently reviewing its website and has confirmed that it intends to signpost to the YPFF in its update.

Question reference: S6W-22562

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it provides to local authorities to help support care experienced young people.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards spending by local authorities is to allow them the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, most funding is provided by means of a block grant.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their own budgets and allocating the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, which includes the needs of care experienced children and young people; having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government recognises the financial challenges that local government are facing and that local authorities and their employees play a crucial role in our communities. In the most challenging budget settlement from the UK Government since devolution, the Scottish Government is providing nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement. Since the flat-cash position set out in the 2022 Resource Spending Review, the Scottish Government listened to local authorities and has already increased the resources available to Local Government this year by over £793 million.

Funding is also provided to local authorities through targeted initiatives. For example, the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund has provided £60m to local authorities to help support the attainment and wellbeing of care experienced children and young people. The funding benefits a wide group, with care experienced children and young people from birth to the age of 26 being eligible for support through the fund.

The Scottish Government is currently considering the support offer available to care experienced children and young people, and to young people moving on from care into adulthood. Work is progressing to engage with delivery partners to understand how we can better target holistic support for the care experienced population to help improve outcomes and empower children, young people and families to thrive.

Question reference: S6O-02699

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to third sector organisations in Dumfriesshire to tackle inequalities and support disabled people and people with additional support needs, including supporting them into the workplace.

Question reference: S6W-21982

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place between Scottish Forestry and Scottish Woodlands Ltd regarding new planting in the Canonbie/Langholm area, and how many hectares of planting have been discussed in principle across all planned projects in this area.

Scottish Forestry follows the published Woodland Creation Application Guidance process when dealing with forestry agents and applicants. In line with this process, Scottish Forestry has held pre-application discussions with Scottish Woodlands in relation to proposals in the Canonbie/Langholm area. These discussions have been focused on identifying and addressing potential environmental sensitivities that will need to be taken into account as the woodland designs are being developed.

Since 2016, across all planned projects in this area, 4522 ha of initial new planting proposals have been discussed in principle.

Question reference: S6W-21983

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding changes in land use from farmland to commercial forestry, and how many hectares of farmland have changed their use to commercial forestry in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government’s policy and approach regarding woodland planting on agricultural land is based on the findings and recommendations of the Woodland Expansion Advisory Group, which were accepted by Ministers in 2013.

This policy is reflected in published “Guidance about Woodland Creation on Agricultural Land”. This guidance applies to applications to the Forestry Grant Scheme and is published on the Woodland Creation pages of the rural payments website under “Further information and technical guidance”.

30,995 hectares of land with a capability for agriculture classification (LCA) 2-7 has been converted to commercial forestry in the last five years (there is no classification 1 land in Scotland). The breakdown by year was as follows:

Year	Hectares
2018	6,233
2019	6,057
2020	7,356
2021	6,182
2022	5,167

Of the 30,995 total, 561 hectares was on prime arable land (LCA classes 2-3.1) and 6,713 hectares was on non-prime arable land (LCA classes 3.2 and 4.1).

Question reference: S6W-21746

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support Transport Scotland is giving to the community of Langholm to improve road signage and specifically to (a) help drivers find Langholm and (b) ensure that the A7 and Scottish destinations are adequately signposted from the M6.

Transport Scotland has recently met with MPs and MSPs, and the Langholm Alliance to discuss signing to Langholm on the Scottish and English trunk road networks. Following these discussions, Transport Scotland has been reviewing potential changes on routes within Scotland leading to the A7. It has been documented that for the A7 trunk road itself, Langholm currently features on all appropriate route confirmatory signs northbound and southbound within Scotland.

In relation to the A7 and other Scottish destinations being adequately signposted from the M6, Transport Scotland continues to engage with MPs and officials at the Department for Transport, National Highways and Cumberland Council to discuss the continuity of signing to Langholm on both sides of the border.

Question reference: S6W-20877

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the discharge of sewage in water courses in Dumfriesshire.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-20317 on 15 August 2023 for information on the approach taken across Scotland.

Scottish Water publishes details of individual projects on its website. Examples of investment in Dumfriesshire include https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/Kippford-Wastewater-Upgrades and https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/Gatehouse-of-Fleet-Sewer-Upgrade .

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-21536

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any difference in electric vehicle charging prices across the country.

Working with Transport Scotland, Scottish Futures Trust published a market insights report looking at electric vehicle (EV) tariffs on its website in November 2022. This report highlights significant opportunities to harness private sector investment to support the continued development of Scotland’s EV charging network.

The pace and scale of investment in the public network will increase over the coming years; and our Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund aims to leverage £60 million of public and private investment to increase the size of the network to 6,000 charge points by 2026.

Question reference: S6W-21560

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update good practice guidance, as a result of previously updated NICE guidelines on myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).