Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-14577

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the anticipated impact on (a) public health, particularly in relation to cases of Lyme disease and (b) biodiversity and the wider environment, of its decision to cease funding for chemical or mechanised control of bracken through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-14550

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it undertakes any mental health and wellbeing impact assessments in formulating new policy, and, if this is not the case, whether it will consider creating a mental health impact assessment tool, as recommended by the Mental Health Foundation.

Question reference: S6W-14549

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support mental health services in (a) NHS boards and (b) the third sector in mitigating any detrimental impact of the cost of living crisis upon mental wellbeing.

Question reference: S6W-14569

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what modifications it has made to the PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 standards to take account of Scottish climate, housing stock and energy efficiency requirements.

Question reference: S6W-14414

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve the healing rates through a reduced rate of major amputations amongst people with diabetes.

Question reference: S6W-14567

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) colleges and (b) training providers offer PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 training courses in Scotland, and what information it has on how this compares with the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-14551

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS 111 staff are trained to identify pressures of financial strain in callers and signpost to money advice services if appropriate.

Question reference: S6W-14348

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been built through the Islands Housing Fund in each year since 2016-17.

The number of homes built through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund in each year since 2016-17, broken down by rural (mainland) and islands is provided in the following table. There are also a further 141 units through the fund that have been approved or are on-site. The Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community organisations and others to deliver affordable homes, while complementing the delivery through our mainstream programme by Councils and Registered Social Landlords. More than 6,000 homes have been delivered over the course of the previous Parliament in rural and island areas.

	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Rural	2	21	1	37	16	45	24
Islands	-	4	-	3	4	8	8
Total	2	25	1	40	20	53	32
Note: 2022-23 is based on provisional programme management information to end December 2022 and could be subject to change.

Question reference: S6W-14583

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to hold a consultation on community wealth building legislation.

The 2021-22 Programme for Government confirmed our plans to introduce legislation on Community Wealth Building during this Parliamentary session.

I am pleased to announce that I have published a consultation paper on how to achieve this today. The consultation will run until 25 April 2023 and can be accessed at: https://consult.gov.scot/economic-development/community-wealth-building-consultation

This consultation is the opportunity for all interested stakeholders to participate in shaping the content of the legislation and I would welcome a wide range of views on the changes that are required to grow local wealth and give communities a greater stake in the economy.

Responses to the consultation will be considered and used to inform the development of the legislation.

Question reference: S6W-14462

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09911 by Shona Robison on 18 August 2022, how many new homes have been built through the (a) Rural Housing Fund and (b) Islands Housing Fund in each year since 2016-17.

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