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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-15913

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria were used in the decision not to approve the application from the Juniors Play Cafe in Hamilton to the Investing in Communities Fund.

All applicants were advised to demonstrate and evidence how their proposal would deliver against all four areas of action for the fund, and that these were the criteria against which their application would be assessed. The criteria are:

tackling poverty and inequality, including child poverty
developing and sustaining place based approaches
community-led regeneration
ensuring a just transition to net zero

All applications were assessed equally against the criteria and organisations were advised that previous support through ICF did not guarantee a future award.

Question reference: S6W-15895

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the dates of any meetings it has had with members of its Capital Investment Group at which the Monklands Replacement Project was discussed, and whether it will outline the content of those discussions.

Question reference: S6W-15927

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the national service specification for secure transport that it is developing jointly with COSLA, whether it plans to appoint the Care Inspectorate to monitor compliance with the specification.

The Care Inspectorate are members of the working group which is exploring how to address issues facing local authorities in relation to secure transport.

The service specification for secure transport is still in development. Multi-agency discussions are ongoing about how that will be used in local authority commissioning arrangements.

We will consider the implications of changing the legislative and regulatory framework to make it possible to bring scrutiny of secure transport arrangements within the remit of the Care Inspectorate.

Question reference: S6W-15901

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) terms of reference and (b) remit will be for the Ministerial Taskforce on Nursing and Midwifery.

The terms of reference are in draft format and will not be finalised and agreed until following the first meeting of the Taskforce. The Scottish Government will proactively publish the agreed terms of reference in due course.

The draft terms of reference sets out its proposed scope on a series of specific issues, though is not intended as a fully inclusive list, as further issues may surface in the context of discussion. Nonetheless, the existing list of identified issues reflect clear themes around Culture and Leadership, Wellbeing, Attraction, Education and Development, and Retention – all in aid of the development of a sustainable workforce that enables the implementation of safe staffing legislation.

Question reference: S6W-15902

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of the participants in the Ministerial Taskforce on Nursing and Midwifery.

Question reference: S6W-15010

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support Glasgow City Council's proposal to cover the M8 between junctions 17 and 19 with a "garden cap", in light of the project not receiving funding in the second round of UK Government Levelling Up funding, and whether it will investigate the potential for platform deck structures to be marketed for private investment to develop the air rights over the motorway cutting as an alternative means to deliver the aspiration to cover the M8 in this area of central Glasgow.

I am aware of Glasgow City Council’s unsuccessful bid for Levelling up Funding for their proposed M8 ‘garden cap’ project. However the Levelling Up Fund is a UK Government initiative which clearly encroaches on devolved areas of transport policy. The Scottish Government has had no input into the development of the fund nor any responsibility for award decisions. Therefore, all the final decisions are solely taken by the UK Government.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role the M8 plays in providing access to key markets, jobs and services in Scotland and beyond. However given that this proposal is about the wider public realm and land-use within the city it is more appropriate that this work is led by the City Council. Transport Scotland, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, has a statutory duty as the Trunk Road Authority to ensure that any potential impacts on the trunk road network are appropriately assessed and any adverse impacts mitigated, where required.

Transport Scotland will continue to engage constructively with local authorities where proposals or projects are considered to have a potential impact on transport assets and services owned and or provided by Scottish Ministers and I trust that Local Authorities will likewise proactively seek the advice and guidance of my officials at Transport Scotland on such matters.

Question reference: S6W-15166

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14311 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023, whether it can provide a breakdown of the number of (a) Category 1 and (b) Category 2 potholes that were (i) reported and (ii) repaired, in each of the last five years.

Transport Scotland, through its Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.

Category 1 potholes are defined within the term maintenance contract as those which present, or could present, an immediate hazard to trunk road users. They are typically detected during the twice weekly driven safety related inspections.

The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all Category 1 potholes and the term maintenance contract sets out strict timescales for their repair. Following identification of Category 1 pothole defects, the Operating Companies are required to make the defect safe by 6am the following morning, preferably by completing a permanent repair. Where this is not possible then a temporary repair is required within the same timescale with permanent repairs required 28 days.

Category 2 defects are defined as those which do not present an immediate hazard to road users and are typically identified during walked annual inspections. Category 2 defects that deteriorate slowly could be recorded repeatedly over successive years before they are prioritised for maintenance. If defects do worsen more rapidly, a Category 1 defect is recorded and the defect is repaired within the contractual timescales outlined above.

The following table shows the number of Category 1 and Category 2 potholes identified and repaired in each of the last five whole years.

Financial Year	Number of Cat 1 Potholes Recorded	Number of Cat 1 Potholes Repaired	Number of Cat 2 Potholes Recorded	Number of Cat 2 Potholes Repaired
2017-2018	13,354	13,354	2,791	188
2018-2019	11,989	11,989	2,784	332
2019-2020	12,660	12,660	3,152	768
2020-2021	12,949	12,949	3,469	418
2021-2022	9,679	9,679	2,577	357

Question reference: S6O-02062

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what steps it will take to create a more family-friendly environment.

Question reference: S6O-02061

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on what progress it has made in preparing for the operation of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6O-02028

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on what preparations it has made for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme.