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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-00337

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, whether it will provide reassurance that all responses to the most recent public consultation on gender reform recognition have been (a) read and (b) taken into account as part of the contract to analyse this data.

We advised in our consultation on the draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill that all responses would be analysed, an analysis report published and the responses considered along with other evidence available to help progress our commitment to reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Work on the draft Bill, including the consultation analysis, was paused in April 2020 as a result of the pandemic. In November 2020, we announced that we were taking forward work so that the consultation responses would be analysed independently of Scottish Government.

Analysts commissioned by the Scottish Government to review consultation responses are required, under the procurement arrangements, to carry out a transparent, robust and systematic analysis of all responses. As a condition of the contract, they are also required to produce a balanced and impartial report for publication, ensuring that the full range and nature of views are presented.

We will publish the analysis report and the responses from organisations and groups, where we have permission to do so, in due course.

Question reference: S6W-00258

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what provision it is making to ensure that small independent brewers will be able to introduce a stepped approach to a deposit return scheme with a timescale aligned with other UK nations of 2024.

We recognise the unique and significant pressures that COVID-19 has placed on businesses over the past year, including the independent brewing sector. That is why we have commissioned an independent Gateway Review to assess the impact of the pandemic on the go-live date for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

We have no current plans to adopt a ‘stepped’ approach in which certain producers would initially be exempt from obligations under DRS. This would be likely to cause significant consumer confusion and jeopardise the behavioural change that DRS requires.

Question reference: S6W-00094

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 May 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether, similar to Wales and Northern Ireland, it will produce guidance on school uniform supplies, regarding (a) reducing costs, (b) preventing exclusive suppliers and (c) making uniforms affordable for all, and if so, when the guidance will be delivered.

The Scottish Government recognises the cost of buying a school uniform can be considerable for many families. In 2018, in partnership with local authorities, we introduced the national minimum school clothing grant of £100 for all eligible children and young people.

We are committed to developing guidance to ensure consistency on school uniform policies across all of Scotland, ending expensive insistence on exclusive suppliers and to support the automation of school clothing grants in every local authority area in order to remove barriers to application and to boost uptake. We will work with our partners in local government on the development of guidance and on measures to support the automation of school clothing grants during 2021-22.

Question reference: S5O-05143

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to ensure that pupils are able to catch up on any learning lost as a result of school closures.

Question reference: S5W-35487

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which "mild to moderate" learning disabilities people must have to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination as part of priority group 6, and what analysis it has undertaken to determine this.

We understand the anxiety around the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) criteria of only severe and profound learning disabilities being eligible for vaccination during group 6. We have now made the decision to include anyone with a learning/intellectual disability in group 6. As learning disabilities encompass a wide range of conditions, it is important to be clear that we are talking about people with a mild, moderate, severe or profound learning or intellectual disability such as fragile X syndrome. This does not include people with learning difficulties such as dyslexia or ADHD.

Our straightforward approach of inviting everyone with a mild, moderate, severe or profound learning or intellectual disability for vaccination during group 6 will bring peace of mind and adds only a small number of people to the current numbers who would have otherwise been offered vaccination later.

Question reference: S5O-05122

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish the draft bill for an independence referendum announced in its Programme for Government for 2020-21.

Question reference: S5W-35696

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the financial assistance that is available for the removal of unsafe cladding from private buildings.

Question reference: S5O-05111

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it is providing to public transport providers to ensure that services can continue.

Question reference: S5W-35433

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, whether it will legislate to classify the act of stealthing (non-consensually removing a condom during sex) as a sexual assault, as is the position in England and Wales.

While there is no specific provision in Scots law concerning the removal of a condom during sexual activity, the definition of consent at Part 2 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 defines "consent" as "free agreement". Section 13(2)(d) of that Act provides that sexual activity takes place without consent if the complainer agrees or submits to the conduct because the complainer is mistaken, as a result of deception by the accused, as to the nature or purpose of the conduct. Section 15(2)(a) of that Act provides that consent to conduct does not, of itself, imply consent to any other conduct.

The Scottish Government considers that the courts would be likely to consider that the non-consensual removal of a condom would vitiate consent to sexual activity with a condom as consent to protected sex could not be considered to amount to consent to unprotected sex. However we keep the criminal law under continuous review.

Question reference: S5W-35183

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will provide substantive answers to questions S5W-33894 and S5W-34610, which received holding responses on 22 December 2020 and 29 January 2021 respectively.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list has been updated to include funeral workers who are considered frontline funeral operatives and mortuary technicians/embalmers, as they are both at risk of exposure and likely to spend a considerable amount of time in care homes and hospital settings where they may also expose multiple patients. They are eligible for vaccination under category 2 of the JCVI list.