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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: S6F-01771

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

To ask the First Minister what schemes the Scottish Government has in place to support disabled people with the energy costs of running lifesaving and independent living equipment at home.

Question reference: S6F-01765

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-01766

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-14298

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on which dates the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans has visited police stations, fire stations, courts or prisons in the South Scotland region since his appointment in May 2021, and whether it will provide specific details of each visit.

Question reference: S6W-14245

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions of alleged perpetrators of modern slavery there have been in each of the last 10 years.

In terms of Criminal Proceedings statistics, there is no single crime of 'modern slavery'. However multiple types of crime involve, or can involve, 'slavery'. A list of these is provided below. Further information on slavery related activity is also available from the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, within their Annual Report .

Slavery or forced labour
Human organ offences
Immoral traffic
Procuration (excluding homosexual offences)
Procuration (homosexual offences)
Breach of trafficking and exploitation order

Most of these crime types fall under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. This came into effect on 31 May 2016. Prior to the 2015 Act, there were a number of offences under which crimes of modern slavery could be prosecuted.

The latest available information on the number of people prosecuted for modern slavery related crimes, since 2011-12, is provided in the following table.

Number of people prosecuted for modern slavery related crimes (where main crime) in Scottish courts, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

		2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Immoral traffic	CRIMINAL JUSTICE (SCOTLAND) ACT 2003 SECTION 22(1)(A)(I)	4	-	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
	CRIMINAL JUSTICE (SCOTLAND)ACT 2003 SECTION 22(1)(A)(I)&(II)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
	CRIMINAL LAW (CONSOLIDATION) (SCOTLAND) ACT 1995 SECTION 11(1)(A)	-	-	1	-	1	-	2	1	-	-
	HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2015 SECTION 1(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-
Procuration (excluding homosexual acts)	CRIMINAL LAW (CONSOLIDATION) (SCOTLAND) ACT 1995 SECTION 7(1)(B)	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Procuration of homosexual acts	CRIMINAL LAW (CONSOLIDATION) (SCOTLAND) ACT 1995 SECTION 13(4) & 5(C)	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Slavery or Forced Labour	HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2015 SECTION 1(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1
Slavery or Forced Labour	HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2015 SECTION 4(1)(B)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Please note: Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in Spring 2023.

Question reference: S6W-13973

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions ministers have met with the developers of onshore windfarms in each of the past five years; which companies ministers met with, and when, and which ministers were involved in these meetings.

Question reference: S6W-14049

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the Scottish Prison Service will publish its revised mental health strategy for people in custody.

Question reference: S6W-14051

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of capacity at prison facilities for the purpose of relocating HMP and YOI Cornton Vale prisoners during the interim period between the prison’s closure and HMP and YOI Stirling’s opening.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS continually monitor both the prison population and the number of available spaces for all those in our care. The current women’s estate, excluding HMP & YOI Cornton Vale provides 349 single room spaces as follows:

HMP Edinburgh 92
HMP & YOI Polmont 117
HMP & YOI Grampian 48
HMP Greenock 52
The Lilias Centre 24
The Bella Centre 16

The current average number of Women in SPS care is 282.

Question reference: S6W-14055

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any new staff will be recruited in 2023 to support the delivery of climate change initiatives, and, if so, at what grades, and in what numbers.

Question reference: S6W-13979

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy, whether it has developed a fully interactive "Front Door", and how many people have accessed it, broken down by (a) whether the method of access was (i) online and (ii) via mobile and (b) NHS board.

The Digital Front Door is currently in the programme startup phase of its development and is not currently a live service. The commitment is to introduce an interactive ‘Front Door’ by the end of this Parliament in 2026, following public consultation and engagement.

This will be an irritative development and there will be a phased approach to implementation. As set out in our Delivery Plan we expect the first version of the Digital Front Door being available for release in autumn/winter 2023 and this will be accompanied by an implementation plan.