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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-16556

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that high overstay charges at electric vehicle (EV) charging points are discouraging motorists from purchasing electric vehicles.

The Scottish Government recognises that overstay fees have a role to play in ensuring the public charging network is used efficiently and that bays are not occupied by a single user, and therefore unavailable to others, for extended periods of time.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and overstay charges lies with charge point owners. A shift towards a public charging network largely financed and operated by the commercial sector is necessary to grow the network at pace and improve the customer experience overall. To support that, it’s vital that the public charging network has tariffs and fees which are fair, sustainable and which enable the growth and maintenance of the network. There are 680 public charge points out of 2475 on the ChargePlace Scotland network where an overstay fee applies.

Evidence over the last 6 months shows a continued growth in usage across the ChargePlace Scotland network with increases of approximately 25% in new driver account registrations, 8% in charge sessions and 13% increase in Kwh being drawn. Statistics published by the Committee on Climate Change in 2022 highlight that the share of total new car sales in Scotland which are electric rose from approximately 8% in 2020 to 12% in 2021.

Question reference: S6W-16428

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to continue funding hybrid closed loop systems, beyond its support for the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) hybrid closed loop system national onboarding program and since the £14.6 million funding allocation was made in March 2022 to help NHS boards meet the Scottish Health Technologies Group's recommendations.

Our Diabetes Improvement Plan, published in 2021, contains a key commitment to further increase access to existing and emerging diabetes technologies. A link to the Plan can be found at link: Diabetes Care in Scotland (www.gov.scot) .

Our national policy is to increase access to these life changing diabetes therapies to everyone who would benefit, and we expect NHS Boards to provide technology to all clinically suitable children and adults.

We are supporting the ANIA collaborative as they work through the current proposal of a national onboarding programme. We are also working with wider stakeholders, including health finance colleagues, to determine what longer term developments would be required to support ongoing roll out of technologies.

Question reference: S6W-16280

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to enable NHS boards to monitor the accuracy of interpretation services for those from minority ethnic communities who require such services.

Public bodies, including NHS health boards, are responsible for monitoring the accuracy of interpretation services. The Scottish Government expects all healthcare services to be accessible to all people in Scotland, regardless of the circumstances of individual service users, including where an interpreter is required.

The Scottish Government works across public and third sector partners to improve the availability of translations and accessible formats. We collaborate to share best practice and signpost to translation, interpretation and transcription services that are accessible to all public bodies. Scottish Government resources to support this include the Interpreting, Translation and Transcription Services Framework .

Additionally, Public Health Scotland published the Interpreting, Communication Support and Translation National Policy in October 2020. Its aim is to ensure that NHS Scotland and its partners have a clear, consistent and fair approach to the provision of information and communication support for all. The policy outlines guidance for NHS Scotland to ensure that appropriate governance of interpreting and translation services is in place, as well as the need for systematic monitoring and review of local/contracted services and procedures.

As part of our review into the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duty in Scotland, we are proposing to create a new duty that would seek to ensure inclusive communication is embedded proportionately across the work of listed authorities when they are communicating with the public. This would include translation and interpretation into other languages.

Question reference: S6W-16268

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to integrate the findings of the report, The 2021/22 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts by Audit Scotland, into its policy setting agenda going forward.

The Scottish Government engages fully in the audit process and the related scrutiny. The Action Plan at Appendix 1 of the Annual Audit Report 2021-22 sets out the audit recommendations and the Scottish Government responses and agreed actions. It is the nature and timing of the audit process that there are aspects where action has already been taken and where action is in progress. The Public Audit Committee has considered the Auditor General’s report and the Permanent Secretary and relevant officials have attended a session with the Committee and responded to Committee questions.

Question reference: S6W-16270

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve the quality and transparency of its financial and performance reporting.

The Scottish Government supports transparency and responds positively to suggestions for the inclusion of information in the range of reports that the Scottish Government produces. Since the publication of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts 2021-22 and the related audit reporting, the Scottish Government has updated the reporting on the financial position in the recent Finance Update and Spring Budget Revision, will shortly lay in Parliament the Final Outturn report for 2021-22, which will update the outturn reporting from the Provisional Outturn statement and in the suite of annual accounts and will continue to engage with Audit Scotland on how transparency can be further improved in the next round of financial reporting. Finance and Public Administration Committee: finance update and Spring Budget Revision 2022 to 2023 guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

The approach to performance reporting is developing; Audit Scotland reported in its Annual Audit Report on the 2021-22 Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts that improvements had been made in 2021-22 to the performance report in the Consolidated Accounts. The Scottish Government is committed to build on those improvements in 2022-23 and we will continue to enhance our approach across the organisation, with a particular focus on outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-16107

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much has been spent by each local authority on private car parking apps in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-16456

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the advisory group that has been formed to assist with the process of evidence gathering in relation to the Scottish Aggregates Levy proposals.

Consistent with Scotland’s Framework for Tax we are consulting and engaging to help inform the development of the Scottish Aggregates Levy Bill.

This process began with a public consultation conducted last autumn, complemented by engagement with stakeholders. Taking account of feedback, it was concluded that more work was needed to ensure that decisions on Bill provisions are based on optimal evidence.

In January 2023, the decision was taken to establish an advisory group to assist this process. The group is designed with a broad mix of expertise and perspectives and is chaired by a senior Scottish Government official.

The group has already met twice and expects to hold its next meeting on 19 April. Through constructive and informed discussions, it is providing valuable insights to help refine policy positions and, in turn, Bill provisions. Summaries of its work will be published on the Scottish Government website in due course.

The Scottish Government appreciates the contribution of all members of the group, which will likely have a further role to play as the Bill progresses.

Question reference: S6W-16025

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) property registers held by Registers of Scotland and (b) other publicly available property registers for which it is responsible, use Unique Property Reference Numbers, and what information it has on whether the same of similar Unique Property Reference Numbers are used in the Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register.

Question reference: S6W-15861

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any Unique Property Reference Numbers, that are used in the property registers held by Registers of Scotland or any other publicly available property registers for which it is responsible, match across all of the registers, and what information it has on whether these numbers match with any Unique Property Reference Numbers used in the Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). She advises me that Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) are used in the following land and property registers held by RoS:

Land Register
Scottish Landlord Register
Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land

These registers use the same UPRN identifiers as the Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register.

Entries held in the different registers can therefore be matched using the UPRN where it is available.

87% of titles in the Land Register have a UPRN.

95% of properties in the Scottish Landlord Register have a UPRN.

46% of land references in the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land have a UPRN.

Question reference: S6O-02127

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent analysis by the International Monetary Fund, which predicts that the UK economy's performance in 2023 will be the worst among the G20 economies, what assessment it has made of the potential impact of this in Scotland.