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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-01610

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will reject the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and Average Weekly Earnings average of 4.2% for uprating the Staff Cost Provision in the financial year 2023-24.

Question reference: S6O-01571

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the success of this year’s COP27 conference in building upon the commitments made at COP26 held in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-11578

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the (a) consumer benefits, (b) eligibility criteria and (c) longevity of delivery of the Warmer Homes Scotland programme, and how this compares in each respect to the UK Government's Home Upgrade Grant (i) Phase One and (ii) Phase Two.

(a) Warmer Homes Scotland Customers save £230 on average on their annual fuel bills. In the period from April – September 2022, Warmer Homes Scotland Customers saw an average SAP increase of 6.7, with 5402 heating and energy efficiency measures installed in 2503 households.

(b) Warmer Homes Scotland is a national scheme which primarily targets support at owner occupied households. A range of proxies which indicate that a household are in or likely to be in fuel poverty are used as eligibility criteria to target support at those who need it the most. The eligibility criteria has recently been widened to allow a further 100,000 more households to become eligible.

(c) The current contract for Warmer Homes Scotland ends on 30th June 2023, and the procurement process is currently underway for a successor scheme which is due to begin on 3rd July 2023. The successor scheme will run for a minimum of 5 years, the contract includes the option to extend a further 2 years which would see the programme run until July 2030.

(a) (i) The consumer benefits for Phase One of the Home Upgrade Grant have not yet been published. However in the period from March – August 2022, 155 heating and energy efficiency measures were installed in 121 households. This data can be found here . (ii) The consumer benefits for Phase Two of HUG have not yet been released.

(b) (i)/(ii) The Home Upgrade Grant is delivered by Local Authorities who will set out their own individual eligibility criteria within parameters.

Question reference: S6W-11577

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent reported announcement by the President of the United States of America regarding pardoning people convicted federally of "simple possession" of cannabis, whether it plans to consider the possibility of taking similar action for people convicted in Scotland.

The Scottish Government takes a public health approach to drug use and believe that the current UK drug legislation is rooted in an outdated view that drug use is a criminal justice matter. That is why I was pleased when the Lord Advocate decided that an extension of the Recorded Police Warning Guidelines to include possession offences for Class A drugs was appropriate. Police officers in Scotland may now choose to issue a Recorded Police Warning for simple possession offences for all classes of drugs.

However, as you are aware the subject matter of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is reserved. Accordingly the Scottish Government is limited in what it could do in this domain, and could not bring forward legislation to pardon those convicted of an offence under that Act. If these powers were to come to Scotland in the future, we would be open to exploring this further alongside amending the legislation to better fit with the realities and evolving nature of Scotland’s drug deaths challenge.

Question reference: S6W-12353

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Maree Todd on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its public consultation on potential restrictions on alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland.

I have today published our public consultation paper on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland, as set out in our Programme for Government 2022-23. This is available at https://consult.gov.scot/alcohol-policy/alcohol-advertising-and-promotion .

Restricting alcohol advertising and promotion is a crucial element in changing our troubled relationship with alcohol and is one of the World Health Organization’s three best buys to reduce alcohol-related harms.

Alcohol advertising and promotion is seen by, and appealing to, large volumes of children and young people in Scotland. International evidence shows that seeing alcohol marketing is associated with an increased likelihood that children and young people will start to drink alcohol or, if they already drink alcohol, drink more . This is harmful to them in both the short and long term.

It is also likely that alcohol advertising and promotion influences higher-risk drinkers and can be a trigger for those in recovery to drink alcohol and relapse . This is in addition to the likely impact marketing has on our wider society, by normalising alcohol and presenting it as fun, sociable and commonplace. Young people in Scotland , as well as people in recovery and their families , have told us directly that they see a lot of alcohol marketing and want us to take action to tackle this

The consultation paper is wide ranging and covers potential restrictions on all of the major sources of exposure to alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland, including advertising on TV, outdoors, through sports and events sponsorship as well as through branded merchandise and online.

The aim of any restrictions would be to reduce exposure to marketing generally in Scotland which should in turn reduce initiation of drinking and levels of consumption in young people, reduce the potential of relapse for those in recovery and reduce attractiveness of alcohol, and thereby consumption, amongst the general population.

We are seeking responses from all stakeholders to fully understand their views and any concerns they may have about any proposed restrictions. The Scottish Government will be carrying out a programme of engagement with key stakeholders throughout the consultation period to ensure all voices are heard.

Question reference: S6W-11953

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide additional financial support for registered social landlords to reach the second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing once it has concluded its review of the standard.

The Scottish Government already provides funding to support energy efficiency works which contribute to our net zero target. Between 2018 and 2021, £7 million was made available to Local Authority and registered social landlords through the Energy Efficient Scotland Transition Programme’s Decarbonisation Fund to assist in compliance with the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing.

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, which launched in August 2020, has been designed to accelerate the delivery of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating systems in social housing across Scotland. It will make at least £200 million available to registered social landlords until 2026.

Acknowledging that the public sector alone cannot bear the long-term cost of converting homes, the Green Heat Finance Taskforce has been established to assess and recommend ways the public sector, communities and private finance can collaborate to scale up investment. A dedicated sub-group has been established to consider the best routes to financing and funding the retrofit of the existing social housing stock.

Question reference: S6W-11954

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will conclude its review of the second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing.

Question reference: S6W-11949

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11240 by Michael Matheson on 18 October 2022, whether it has considered how Scotland’s steel industry will need to change as offshore wind construction increases.

We wish to see a sustainable future for the Scottish steel sector, building on the long and proud heritage of steelwork in Scotland. We can see real opportunities for the steel sector in the move to a net zero economy, with Zero Waste Scotland commissioning a series of reports looking at the circular opportunities for the energy transition in Scotland to help inform efforts in this area.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. That is why we asked Crown Estate Scotland to introduce the Supply Chain Development Statement as part of the ScotWind leasing round to demonstrate how serious the Scottish Government is about holding developers to account if they do not honour their supply chain commitments and create green jobs.

Question reference: S6W-11897

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in allocating the Ayrshire Rural and Islands Ambition (ARIA) Fund, and (a) how much and (b) what percentage of the available funding has been allocated to the Ayrshire Local Action Group to cover staffing and resourcing costs in connection with the distribution of the Fund.

Question reference: S6W-12056

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is in favour of increasing the length of future Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contracts beyond eight years.