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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-20050

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 1 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many Ukrainians, who received visas through the Super Sponsor Scheme, arrived in the UK but never came to Scotland or registered with a Scottish local authority.

The Scottish Government do not hold this information. Under the current constitutional arrangements in the United Kingdom immigration is fully reserved to the UK Government and is dealt with by the Home Office. If a displaced person from Ukraine has been issued a visa, they are free to travel anywhere within the UK or to leave and re-enter the UK when they wish, as long as they are meeting the conditions within their visa. The UK Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities publish data on arrivals in the UK, with a Scottish Sponsor Visa: Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme: Visa data by country, upper and lower tier local authority - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Scottish Government publish the latest Scotland-level data and information on people displaced by the war in Ukraine coming to Scotland through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. This data can be found on our website via: Ukraine: analysis and statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-19679

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in private sector buildings, including those that were initially built for the public sector, and how it will raise awareness of any problems related to its presence.

The focus of our activity remains engagement with public sector organisations to seek reassurance of both their awareness and any action identified on this issue. Maintaining the safety of buildings is the responsibility of building owners, and this includes responsibility for any assessment of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in private sector buildings.

Authoritative guidance on identification and assessment of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is already published by organisations such as the Institution of Structural Engineers. We continue to engage with the UK government and such organisations to understand and support broader action being taken to raise awareness of this risk topic across all sectors.

Question reference: S6W-19671

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects (a) local authorities, (b) NHS boards and (c) other public sector bodies to (i) have identified reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in buildings, (ii) publish risk management plans and (iii) remove it entirely.

Question reference: S6W-19676

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in (a) public sector buildings and (b) privately owned buildings in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19680

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6F-02291 by Humza Yousaf on 29 June 2023, whether it will establish a national fund to assist (a) NHS boards, (b) local authorities and (c) other public sector bodies.

Question reference: S6W-19687

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any risk posed to the effective operation of public services by any future disruption caused by (a) managing and (b) removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and how any disruption will be minimised for (i) children and young people learning in school, (ii) patients undergoing treatment and (iii) other groups of people using public services.

It is the statutory duty of local authorities, the NHS and other public service providers to manage and maintain their estate. We have been in close contact with local authorities, the NHS and others and expect contingency plans to be in place to minimise any potential disruption to services. We will continue to engage across sectors to direct public and private sector organisations towards guidance and good practice with regards to identifying, assessing and managing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Question reference: S6W-19685

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability of qualified structural engineers with specific experience in reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete to undertake survey work, as required by NHS National Services Scotland in its safety action notice issued on 22 February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-19686

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any estimate of the number of public sector buildings currently (a) partially and (b) fully closed due to issues related to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, broken down by (i) building type and (ii) location.

As noted in the reply to S6W-19672, five organisations have contacted The Scottish Government on the presence or suspected presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within their building estate.

At this time, the following public sector buildings are reported to us as partially or fully closed:

Building type	No.	Location	Partially or fully closed?
School	1	East Lothian	Partially closed
School	5	West Lothian	4 partially closed, 1 fully closed
Police Scotland property	1	Edinburgh	Partially closed
Police Scotland property	1	Dundee	Partially closed

We will continue to work collaboratively with local authorities’ Scottish Heads of Property Services network and Scottish Futures Trust to better understand the presence of RAAC across the school estate.

Question reference: S6W-19674

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that every public sector body is aware of the risks and dangers of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Question reference: S6W-19681

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has (a) made any estimate and (b) had any discussions regarding the cost of (i) managing the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in public sector buildings and (ii) removing RAAC from any such buildings entirely, and how much has been spent to date on addressing RAAC in public sector buildings.

We are engaging with public sector organisations to seek reassurance of both their awareness and of any action identified on this issue.

From our discussions with local authorities regarding RAAC to date, West Lothian Council indicated that addressing RAAC issues across its estate could cost around £76.8m, whilst East Lothian Council advised that costs relating to one affected school are estimated at around £3.8 million. The current information gathering exercise offers the opportunity to identify similar assessment made by other local authorities.

NHS Scotland Assure are conducting a survey programme which will confirm how many buildings in the NHS estate contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Work undertaken as part of the programme has included a desktop review, pilot and prioritisation exercises by an appointed survey partner at a cost of just over £150,000 to date. It is not currently possible to assess costs until this survey work is complete.