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: S6F-02458

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-22082

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland are currently registered as being qualified to assess whether reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is present in buildings.

Question reference: S6W-22081

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what training a person needs to be able to identify reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and assess whether it is present in a building.

Question reference: S6W-22084

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been contacted by any organisations or local authorities about any issues in relation to finding people qualified to assess buildings for the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Issues of RAAC competence and capacity building were discussed at the RAAC Cross-Sector Working Group meeting of 22 September. Minutes from that meeting are published on The Scottish Government Website at: Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC): Cross Sector Working Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Out with Working Group engagement, officials have reported no specific queries from organisations or local authorities on the cited topic.

Question reference: S6W-22083

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland have undertaken any training necessary to be able to assess whether reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is present in buildings.

Question reference: S6W-21941

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water has an estimate of the true volume of sewage that has been discharged into Scotland's waterways in each of the last five years.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked its Chief Executive to respond. His response is as follows:

"Typically, monitors are designed to measure the duration of spills and not flow or volume. Scottish Water is not required to measure the volume of spills other than in a specific limited number of locations where specific equipment is in place to do this. Where Scottish Water is required to measure this, it provides data to SEPA on an annual basis.

The new Event Duration Monitors that are being installed under the improving urban waters routemap will give spill numbers and durations, and not flows or volumes."

However, it should be noted that volume data is not always meaningful as spills are dependent on factors beyond Scottish Water’s control, most notably the weather. The more important metrics are the quality of water in receiving water bodies and as the member is aware, comprehensive monitoring of water bodies is already undertaken by SEPA to assess water quality, water resources, physical condition and aquatic ecology which are combined to produce an overall classification of the water environment. 87% of Scotland’s entire water environment is assessed by SEPA as having a ‘high’ or ‘good’ classification for water quality and Scotland’s River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) have measures in place to achieve 92% ‘good’ water quality by 2027.

Question reference: S6W-22080

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many qualified engineers and assessors there currently are in Scotland who are able to ascertain whether reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is present in a building, and whether it is able to determine how high the demand for these engineers and assessors currently is.

There is no specific qualification required to investigate and confirm the presence of RAAC in a building. The Institution of Structural Engineers note on their website that: “Identification can be undertaken by an experienced estate/ maintenance manager/ or building owner”.

It is recommended that the investigation and assessment of RAAC, once identified, should be undertaken by a suitably competent structural engineer.

Issues of RAAC competence and capacity building were discussed at the Cross-Sector Working Group meeting of 22 September. Minutes from that meeting are published on The Scottish Government Website at: Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC): Cross Sector Working Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-21883

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the meeting of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Cross Sector Working Group on 14 August 2023, what action it has taken to “signpost and share information which supports effective assessment and reporting on RAAC as a potential building defect”.

The Cross-Sector Working Group on RAAC remains our main forum for engagement with public sector partners and key stakeholders in the private sector. Meetings provide updates on sector progress, recent UK information and topics of interest such as RAAC identification and assessment process and a presentation and Q&A with IStructE. The minutes of the meetings of that group are published on The Scottish Government Website.

Outwith those meetings, officials will also continue to engage with sector organisations on a one-to-one basis.

Question reference: S6W-21937

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make it easier for beaches to qualify for bathing water status.

The Bathing Water Directive is implemented in Scotland by the Bathing Waters (Scotland) Regulations 2008. Under these Regulations Scottish Ministers designate bathing waters where they expect a large number of people to bathe, having regard to past trends and infrastructure and facilities provided, or other measures taken to promote bathing. We have set this figure at around 150 bathers. Across Europe large numbers of bathers can range up to 300 bathers per day.

We have taken a proportionate approach to designating bathing waters and there are no plans to change it. 2023 not only sees the highest number of bathing waters ever in Scotland, but the highest number rated excellent for water quality – and a total of 98% of locations achieving a classification of sufficient or better.

Question reference: S6W-21882

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that the key stakeholders in the private sector are aware of the issue of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and know where to go for advice, as referenced in the minutes of the meeting of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Cross Sector Working Group on 14 August 2023.