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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-20064

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any plans it has to provide funding for post-diagnostic services for children and young people with autism.

Question reference: S6W-20018

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what date its reported new £1 million Autism Support Fund will be launched by Inspiring Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-20133

Asked by: Ivan McKee, MSP for Glasgow Provan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress towards the National Care Service Fair Work Workstream 4 on sectoral bargaining, including its target timescale for this being fully in place.

The Fair Work workstreams, including workstream 4, are independently chaired by ENABLE's Andy Kerr. I understand that workstream 4 is making progress in discussions with partners including local government, social care providers and trade unions. The Scottish Government is committed to putting in place appropriate collective bargaining arrangements within social care and that can only be delivered with the co-operation and agreement of all our partners.

Question reference: S6W-19854

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake a review of the length of time that it takes to receive a diagnosis for hypothyroidism and other thyroid diseases, in light of reports that it can take several years to receive a diagnosis, that the disease can result in an additional 5% wage penalty for women and that this could widen the existing gender pay gap.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people living with hypothyroidism and other thyroid diseases are able to access the best possible support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We expect clinicians to adhere to current guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment options from authoritative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the British Thyroid Association (BTA) and have no plans at present to undertake a review of timescales for receiving a diagnosis.

While employment law is reserved to the UK Parliament, our Fair Work approach seeks to improve workers’ rights and conditions and aims to address women’s workplace inequalities by encouraging employers to take action to tackle gender pay gaps across the labour market in Scotland.

Our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Leading Fair Work Nation by 2025 published in December 2022, reiterates our commitment to tackling Scotland’s gender pay gap and recognises that an intersectional approach is needed to address the overlapping labour market inequalities faced by women, disabled people, racially minoritized people and the over 50s workforce.

Question reference: S6W-20132

Asked by: Ivan McKee, MSP for Glasgow Provan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when its proposed £12 minimum wage for social care staff will be implemented.

Question reference: S6W-19860

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the Healthy Working Lives online platform in each financial year since its creation.

The Scottish Government recognises improving population health as a key priority and invests in a range of initiatives to support people with health conditions to sustain or return to work, including Healthy Working Lives (HWL). HWL is a programme delivered by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and the detail of the spend on the online platform is a matter for PHS. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-20059

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scottish Government funding for the charity Autism Understanding Scotland for 2023-24 has reportedly been delayed, and when the charity will receive its funding for 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-19911

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will waive the normal three-year residency requirement for home status, for people from Hong Kong who have been granted leave on the British National (Overseas) visa, to access publicly-funded student support, including free tuition, loans, bursaries and grants by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

From academic year 2023-24, the Scottish Government have updated the residency criteria for home fees status and student financial support in Further Education and Higher Education. This update means we can now consider applications for tuition fees, bursaries and/or loans from students with all forms of leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom providing they meet the other eligibility tests set out in Regulations. This extension of support has seen more groups of students become eligible, including those students granted leave on the British National (Overseas) visa route.

The Scottish Government does not have any immediate plans to waive the requirement for 3 years ordinary residence in the UK for this group.

Question reference: S6W-19886

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it plans to re-open the Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland 2015 Fund.

Scottish Ministers are committed to re-opening the Independent Living Fund (ILF) 2015 Fund on the basis of affordability and sustainability. The Scottish Government will continue to actively consider re-opening the Fund as part of the annual budget setting process. Stakeholder engagement opportunities are planned in the coming months to strengthen communication, explain the funding position and stress that future options for the ILF Scotland 2015 Fund would be developed in co-design with disabled people and their representative organisations.

Question reference: S6W-19879

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19059 by Jenni Minto on 22 June 2023, what actions it is proposing or considering to examine and address the underlying causes of the 19% increase in terminations.

There is no single reason behind the increased rates of terminations of pregnancy shown in the 2022 Public Health Scotland statistics. Scottish Government is working with NHS Boards to explore this further.

Whilst the Scottish Government believes that all women should have access to abortion services should they require them, the Women’s Health Plan published in 2021 sets out a number of ways to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancies. This includes ensuring that women across Scotland have timely access to contraception, and to information which allows them to make informed decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health. We are working with NHS Boards to improve contraception provision for post-partum women, and also to encourage the take up of Long Acting Reversable Contraception (LARC) post-abortion care.

The Scottish Government’s Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses (SHBBV) plan for 2023-2026, which is due to be published towards the end of summer 2023, will include a focus on improving access to sexual health services across Scotland.