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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: S6O-01960

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the new medical centre for Lochgelly.

Question reference: S6O-01961

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the £200 million Aberdeen to Central Belt enhancement project, which aims to reduce travel times between Aberdeen and the Central Belt by 20 minutes by 2026.

Question reference: S6O-01958

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many payments of the Scottish Child Payment have been made in the Glasgow Anniesland constituency since it was introduced.

Question reference: S6O-01963

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making towards fulfilling its commitment to introduce a national system of rent controls by the end of 2025.

Question reference: S6O-01962

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to roll out Mobility as a Service across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01957

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle homelessness, in light of reports that the number of people classified as homeless has reached a record high.

Question reference: S6W-14658

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many knives have been confiscated in schools in each year since 2019, broken down by the age of pupil.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of knives confiscated in schools, though information is available on the number of recorded crimes of having in a school an article with a blade or point. This is provided in the following table. At least part of the reduction in cases during 2020-21 (and subsequent increase in 2021-22) will likely reflect the closure of the school estate during the pandemic related lockdowns.

Possession of articles with a blade or point in schools

	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Having in a school an article with a blade or point not used in other criminal activity	91	112	56	98
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	34	21	9	37

Source: Police recorded Crime Statistics: March year-end data

Question reference: S6W-14558

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure adequate availability of rented accommodation for students, in light of reports that a lack of available and affordable housing is having an adverse impact on students' mental health and wellbeing.

Scotland has led the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the UK with 115,558 affordable homes having been delivered since 2007, over 81,000 of which were for social rent, including 20,250 council homes. The Scottish Government's per capita spending on affordable housing is more than three times higher than the UK Government's.

In addition, our Review of Purpose Built Student Accommodation, which is looking at a number of accommodation issues including supply and affordability, will soon be concluded. I look forward to receiving the recommendations of the expert group who have overseen the review in due course.

Question reference: S6W-14607

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the endometriosis advisory group has met since its first meeting in April 2022, as set out in the progress report on the Women's Health Plan, and when the group's findings will be made available to the public.

The Endometriosis Advisory Group (EAG) was established to support the action in the Women’s Health Plan to strengthen collaborative working between regional specialist endometriosis centres, territorial and special NHS boards and primary care providers, to drive improvement in patient pathways and achieve equitable access to care and treatment.

The EAG first met in April 2022 and have since been involved in communications on an ad hoc basis to assist in the understanding of the systems currently in place for endometriosis, from education to current practice and pathways.

As per previous years, in order to lessen the burden on NHS teams over the winter period from November 2022 to the end of February 2023 we commenced a light touch process to help monitor and prioritise communications. After this period of time we will reinstate communication and meetings with the EAG.

The EAG offer their expert advice and knowledge to help inform and guide policy processes and as such there is no formal findings or report which the EAG has produced.

Question reference: S6W-15258

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Keith Brown on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the work of the Independent Advisory Group on New and Emerging Technologies in Policing.

The final report of the independent group chaired by Professor Elizabeth Aston, was published today https://www.gov.scot/ISBN/978-1-80525-352-5 .

The final report has been published alongside five associated reports that helped contribute to the Group’s work. The final report confirms that Scotland is in a strong position to seize the opportunity to become world leading in adopting a rights-based, ethical, evidence-based, consultative approach to innovation and adoption of emerging technologies in policing.

The Scottish Government’s response to the report has also been published today www.gov.scot/publications/emerging-technologies-in-policing-report-scottish-government-response

The Scottish Government stands ready to work with policing stakeholders on how they plan to follow up the recommendations made by the Group. This will enable the Scottish Government to continue to work with policing bodies to ensure that new technology will be used in ways which help in the detection and prosecution of crime, as well as protecting our communities first and foremost.