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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: S6F-01626

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the roll-out of the Child Disability Payment.

Question reference: S6F-01613

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-01607

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will provide an update on whether it will instruct Scottish Water to freeze water rates for 2023-24 to help with the cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6F-01608

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the First Minister how many single-crewed ambulances, responding to an emergency, have been deployed in the last six months.

Question reference: S6F-01603

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-01604

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-12633

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties have been (a) entered on and (b) deleted from the valuation roll in accordance with the Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 since the regulations came into force, broken down by (i) assessor and (ii) local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the reason(s) for the addition of a property to, or removal from, the Valuation Roll. The valuation of all non-domestic properties is a matter for the Scottish Assessors, who are independent of central and local government.

To note in addition, as there are more than 70 days left until the end of the financial year, properties which have not yet met the criteria set out in the Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 may still do so before the end of the financial year.

Question reference: S6W-12525

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, based on ratings used in the School Estate Statistics, what proportion of pupils have been educated in schools in (a) good, (b) satisfactory, (c) poor and (d) bad condition in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

The following tables show the percentage of pupils by school condition for each local authority from 2018 to 2022 as reported in the School Estate Statistics.

	Percentage of pupils by school condition - 2022
	Good	Satisfactory	Poor	Bad	Condition not reported
Aberdeen City	31%	69%	1%	0%	0%
Aberdeenshire	29%	68%	3%	0%	0%
Angus	46%	54%	0%	0%	0%
Argyll and Bute	62%	38%	0%	0%	0%
City of Edinburgh	47%	47%	6%	0%	0%
Clackmannanshire	56%	41%	3%	0%	0%
Dumfries and Galloway	38%	55%	7%	0%	0%
Dundee City	66%	19%	16%	0%	0%
East Ayrshire	63%	36%	1%	0%	0%
East Dunbartonshire	46%	47%	7%	0%	0%
East Lothian	14%	73%	13%	0%	0%
East Renfrewshire	35%	57%	8%	0%	0%
Falkirk	61%	39%	0%	0%	0%
Fife	26%	64%	11%	0%	0%
Glasgow City	16%	84%	0%	0%	0%
Highland	34%	30%	36%	0%	0%
Inverclyde	10%	90%	0%	0%	0%
Midlothian	56%	31%	12%	0%	0%
Moray	24%	35%	34%	7%	0%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	52%	45%	3%	0%	0%
North Ayrshire	17%	79%	0%	5%	0%
North Lanarkshire	44%	41%	15%	0%	0%
Orkney Islands	39%	61%	0%	0%	0%
Perth and Kinross	16%	73%	11%	0%	0%
Renfrewshire	31%	59%	10%	0%	0%
Scottish Borders	36%	33%	32%	0%	0%
Shetland Islands	2%	98%	0%	0%	0%
South Ayrshire	52%	34%	14%	0%	0%
South Lanarkshire	93%	6%	1%	0%	0%
Stirling	55%	43%	2%	0%	0%
West Dunbartonshire	56%	43%	0%	0%	0%
West Lothian	35%	59%	6%	0%	0%
All Local Authorities	40%	52%	8%	0%	0%

	Percentage of pupils by school condition - 2021
	Good	Satisfactory	Poor	Bad	Condition not reported
Aberdeen City	30%	69%	1%	0%	0%
Aberdeenshire	29%	67%	4%	0%	0%
Angus	46%	54%	0%	0%	0%
Argyll and Bute	61%	39%	0%	0%	0%
City of Edinburgh	40%	54%	6%	0%	0%
Clackmannanshire	55%	45%	0%	0%	0%
Dumfries and Galloway	40%	50%	10%	0%	0%
Dundee City	65%	24%	11%	0%	0%
East Ayrshire	61%	39%	0%	0%	0%
East Dunbartonshire	46%	48%	7%	0%	0%
East Lothian	14%	67%	19%	0%	0%
East Renfrewshire	34%	57%	9%	0%	0%
Falkirk	68%	30%	2%	0%	0%
Fife	23%	64%	13%	0%	0%
Glasgow City	16%	84%	0%	0%	0%
Highland	34%	28%	38%	0%	0%
Inverclyde	11%	89%	0%	0%	0%
Midlothian	65%	24%	11%	0%	0%
Moray	23%	43%	34%	0%	0%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	52%	45%	2%	0%	0%
North Ayrshire	16%	80%	0%	5%	0%
North Lanarkshire	44%	40%	16%	0%	0%
Orkney Islands	47%	53%	0%	0%	0%
Perth and Kinross	15%	73%	12%	0%	0%
Renfrewshire	30%	59%	11%	0%	0%
Scottish Borders	35%	33%	32%	0%	0%
Shetland Islands	3%	97%	0%	0%	0%
South Ayrshire	51%	34%	14%	0%	0%
South Lanarkshire	95%	5%	0%	0%	0%
Stirling	54%	44%	2%	0%	0%
West Dunbartonshire	54%	44%	2%	0%	0%
West Lothian	39%	61%	0%	0%	0%
All Local Authorities	40%	52%	8%	0%	0%

	Percentage of pupils by school condition - 2020
	Good	Satisfactory	Poor	Bad	Condition not reported
Aberdeen City	28%	71%	1%	0%	0%
Aberdeenshire	26%	69%	6%	0%	0%
Angus	47%	53%	0%	0%	0%
Argyll and Bute	59%	39%	0%	2%	0%
City of Edinburgh	36%	53%	11%	0%	0%
Clackmannanshire	54%	46%	0%	0%	0%
Dumfries and Galloway	42%	51%	8%	0%	0%
Dundee City	65%	25%	10%	0%	0%
East Ayrshire	48%	51%	1%	0%	0%
East Dunbartonshire	46%	47%	7%	0%	0%
East Lothian	14%	69%	17%	0%	0%
East Renfrewshire	33%	58%	9%	0%	0%
Falkirk	63%	34%	3%	0%	0%
Fife	23%	65%	13%	0%	0%
Glasgow City	16%	84%	0%	0%	0%
Highland	31%	29%	40%	0%	0%
Inverclyde	8%	89%	3%	0%	0%
Midlothian	63%	25%	12%	0%	0%
Moray	17%	35%	48%	0%	0%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	51%	46%	2%	0%	0%
North Ayrshire	16%	80%	0%	5%	0%
North Lanarkshire	43%	45%	12%	0%	0%
Orkney Islands	47%	53%	0%	0%	0%
Perth and Kinross	14%	74%	12%	0%	0%
Renfrewshire	30%	66%	4%	0%	0%
Scottish Borders	30%	33%	37%	0%	0%
Shetland Islands	3%	97%	0%	0%	0%
South Ayrshire	48%	33%	19%	0%	0%
South Lanarkshire	95%	5%	0%	0%	0%
Stirling	53%	47%	0%	0%	0%
West Dunbartonshire	54%	44%	2%	0%	0%
West Lothian	38%	62%	0%	0%	0%
All Local Authorities	38%	53%	9%	0%	0%

	Percentage of pupils by school condition - 2019
	Good	Satisfactory	Poor	Bad	Condition not reported
Aberdeen City	28%	71%	1%	0%	0%
Aberdeenshire	25%	69%	6%	0%	0%
Angus	42%	54%	3%	0%	0%
Argyll and Bute	58%	40%	0%	2%	0%
City of Edinburgh	38%	43%	19%	0%	0%
Clackmannanshire	44%	48%	8%	0%	0%
Dumfries and Galloway	38%	46%	14%	0%	2%
Dundee City	65%	25%	11%	0%	0%
East Ayrshire	48%	50%	2%	0%	0%
East Dunbartonshire	32%	61%	7%	0%	0%
East Lothian	13%	70%	17%	0%	0%
East Renfrewshire	32%	60%	7%	0%	0%
Falkirk	59%	38%	3%	0%	0%
Fife	26%	59%	15%	0%	0%
Glasgow City	16%	84%	0%	0%	0%
Highland	31%	30%	39%	0%	0%
Inverclyde	77%	23%	0%	0%	0%
Midlothian	63%	24%	13%	0%	0%
Moray	16%	36%	48%	0%	0%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	51%	46%	3%	0%	0%
North Ayrshire	16%	80%	0%	4%	0%
North Lanarkshire	39%	46%	15%	0%	0%
Orkney Islands	47%	53%	0%	0%	0%
Perth and Kinross	36%	52%	12%	0%	0%
Renfrewshire	31%	66%	4%	0%	0%
Scottish Borders	31%	31%	38%	0%	0%
Shetland Islands	28%	72%	0%	0%	0%
South Ayrshire	43%	32%	25%	0%	0%
South Lanarkshire	100%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Stirling	52%	48%	0%	0%	0%
West Dunbartonshire	51%	46%	2%	0%	0%
West Lothian	34%	66%	0%	0%	0%
All Local Authorities	39%	51%	10%	0%	0%

	Percentage of pupils by school condition - 2018
	Good	Satisfactory	Poor	Bad	Condition not reported
Aberdeen City	23%	75%	2%	0%	0%
Aberdeenshire	25%	70%	6%	0%	0%
Angus	39%	58%	3%	0%	0%
Argyll and Bute	42%	57%	0%	2%	0%
City of Edinburgh	39%	43%	19%	0%	0%
Clackmannanshire	44%	54%	2%	0%	0%
Dumfries and Galloway	33%	48%	19%	0%	0%
Dundee City	59%	26%	15%	0%	0%
East Ayrshire	39%	61%	0%	0%	0%
East Dunbartonshire	43%	56%	1%	0%	0%
East Lothian	12%	70%	19%	0%	0%
East Renfrewshire	31%	62%	7%	0%	0%
Falkirk	60%	35%	4%	0%	0%
Fife	27%	57%	16%	0%	0%
Glasgow City	14%	78%	8%	0%	0%
Highland	30%	28%	42%	0%	0%
Inverclyde	69%	31%	0%	0%	0%
Midlothian	56%	21%	16%	7%	0%
Moray	16%	26%	58%	0%	0%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	50%	44%	5%	0%	0%
North Ayrshire	40%	56%	0%	5%	0%
North Lanarkshire	40%	48%	12%	0%	0%
Orkney Islands	44%	56%	0%	0%	0%
Perth and Kinross	36%	51%	13%	0%	0%
Renfrewshire	40%	56%	3%	0%	0%
Scottish Borders	29%	30%	41%	0%	0%
Shetland Islands	27%	73%	0%	0%	0%
South Ayrshire	42%	27%	30%	0%	0%
South Lanarkshire	98%	2%	0%	0%	0%
Stirling	70%	29%	2%	0%	0%
West Dunbartonshire	51%	47%	2%	0%	0%
West Lothian	31%	69%	0%	0%	0%
All Local Authorities	39%	49%	11%	0%	0%

Question reference: S6W-12345

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether exceeding the headline advice for stocks with precautionary advice meets the precautionary, scientific, ecosystem and sustainability objectives of the Fisheries Act 2020.

The Fisheries Act 2020 outlines that sustainable fishing means environmental, economic, and social considerations are appropriately balanced when managing our fisheries to benefit present and future generations. To ensure we are achieving this balance, we will take management decisions and negotiation positions that are informed by the best available evidence. The recently published Joint Fisheries Statement further outlines that we consider both the short-term and the long-term impacts of decisions on fish stocks and the fishing industry before taking action. This aligns with the sustainability, precautionary, scientific evidence, and ecosystem Objectives in the Act as well as wider international treaties, such as UNCLOS.

The Scottish Government’s approach to negotiations on Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits is underpinned by the best available scientific information, usually the advice from ICES, and we fully support following the headline scientific advice and setting fishing opportunities that are consistent with the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) approach wherever appropriate. However, setting an MSY-based TAC is not always possible, and it is sometimes more appropriate, for the stock and for fishing industries, to set a TAC above or below the headline scientific advice. There are a number of stocks where MSY based reference points are not available, for instance due to the data being limited. These stocks include North Sea and West of Scotland ling, North Sea and West of Scotland tusk, North Sea blue ling, and Rockall Cod. In the absence of better evidence being available, we believe following other models recommended by ICES should also be considered as being sustainable.

Question reference: S6W-12508

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to people with coeliac disease to assist with the purchase of essential gluten-free food products.

There is no specific financial support to assist with the purchase of gluten-free food products. However, people who have been clinically diagnosed with coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis can receive a range of gluten-free food on prescription at no charge.

There is a monthly unit allowance and people may choose to use all or part of that allowance to access gluten-free items through their local community pharmacy if they wish. To help with costs, patients may choose to order their maximum number of units each month.