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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-15992

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that operations are to be contracted out on the Caledonian Sleeper when it is brought back into public ownership, what parts of the service or operations will be contracted out; which companies will be contracted for which part of the service or operations; for how long each contractor will be contracted for, and how much each contractor will be paid for the services that they provide over the course of their contract.

Question reference: S6W-15954

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue revised guidance to local authorities, regarding the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013, to ensure that the definition of high hedges specified in the Act, which includes “a hedge which is formed wholly or mainly by a row of 2 or more trees or shrubs”, is used by local authorities, rather than the definition in the current guidance, issued in 2019, which requires that, for trees and shrubs to be considered as a “high hedge”, they must first be considered to form a hedge.

Question reference: S6W-15941

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list any cases in which sewage leaks have been recorded in NHS hospitals in each year since 1 January 2022, broken down by (a) hospital and (b) part of the building in which the leak occurred.

Question reference: S6W-15979

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting leisure centres and swimming pools with any increased energy bills.

The Scottish Government understand the challenging financial circumstances that leisure centres and swimming pools are facing and are fully aware that rising energy costs are a significant issue.

We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle this cost of living crisis and to provide appropriate energy bill relief to sport and leisure facilities.

We are considering what support can be provided to the sport and leisure sector in Scotland, following the announcement by the UK Government of the financial package to support swimming pools in England.

Question reference: S6W-15993

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether all elements of the Caledonian Sleeper operations will be brought in-house when it is taken back into public ownership in June 2023, or whether some will be contracted out.

From 25 June 2023, all elements of the Caledonian Sleeper operations undertaken by Serco Caledonian Sleepers Ltd will be delivered by Caledonian Sleeper Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd . Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd is a company wholly owned by the Scottish Government

It will be a matter for Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd and Caledonian Sleeper Ltd to determine the optimum arrangements post mobilisation of the Operator of Last Resort (OLR) arrangements.

Question reference: S6W-15990

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to end any long shift patterns of its staff, in light of the findings of the article published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, Night shift work and risk of aggressive prostate cancer in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort.

The Scottish Government has reviewed the article Night shift work and risk of aggressive prostate cancer in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort and notes its findings.

As an employer we adopt Fair Work practices and we take the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff very seriously including ensuring appropriate breaks and periods of rest and annual leave, as well as having a right to disconnect policy.

The typical working arrangements for staff in the Scottish Government is flexible working hours (within the hours of 7am to 7pm) with a full time working day equating to 7 hours 24 minutes.

Question reference: S6W-15919

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of businesses with existing contracts to collect glass from commercial premises that may lose business as a result of the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.

During the development of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), a number of documents were produced, including the Full Business Case and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which look at the expected impacts to business and others of this scheme.

Scotland’s DRS represents a significant, transformative, change in the way in which waste is handled across the country. These changes present opportunities for waste handling businesses to work with Circularity Scotland and their primary logistics contractor Biffa, to help support the scheme.

Any companies which wish to participate in Scotland’s DRS activities should contact the DRS enquiries team at Biffa and this will be discussed with Circularity Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-15997

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to announce the establishment of a fund aimed at making leisure centres, including centres with swimming pools, more energy efficient.

The Scottish Government are fully aware that rising energy costs are a significant issue for leisure centres and swimming pools. We recognise the positive financial and environmental benefits to increasing the energy efficiency of leisure centres and swimming pools throughout Scotland.

Following the announcement by the UK Government of the financial package to support swimming pools in England, we are considering what support, including ensuring the longer term sustainability and energy efficiency of these facilities, can be provided to the sport and leisure sector in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16005

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it allocated from the Young Patients Family Fund to each NHS board in 2022-23, and what its proposed allocations are for 2023-24.

In 2022-23 the Scottish Government has provided £2,259,987 to NHS Boards as set out in the following table.

Health board	Allocated funding
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	51,173
NHS Borders	3,396
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	23,671
NHS Fife	62,140
NHS Forth Valley	69,699
NHS Grampian	134,755
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	1,064,440
NHS Highland	42,975
NHS Lanarkshire	80,820
NHS Lothian	434,077
NHS Orkney	23,672
NHS Shetland	63,172
NHS Tayside	205,997
NHS Western Isles	0

The Young Patients Family Fund is a demand-led budget, and as with previous years, the Scottish Government will provide allocations to NHS Boards in 2023-24 based on amounts claimed, subject to relevant checks.

Question reference: S6W-16006

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Young Patients Family Fund it has spent in 2022-23 to date.