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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-03764

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33522 by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2020, whether it will provide the figure for the year 2021-22 to date.

Question reference: S6W-03859

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the police and industry to eradicate drink spiking and spiking by injection to ensure safety in nightclubs and other social settings.

The act of ‘spiking’ women is absolutely abhorrent and the Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to working with partners to tackle this unacceptable behaviour.

I chaired an urgent roundtable with partners and representatives from across the sector on Thursday 4 November, including from police and industry, to discuss how we can achieve the right balance of targeted and universal intervention to ensure the safety of the public.

Our Equally Safe Strategy sets out Scotland’s ambition to tackle and eradicate all forms of violence against women and we will continue to implement this with a clear and decisive focus on primary prevention of violence. We are dedicating resources to tackling attitudes and inequality within every space for women and girls.

Question reference: S6W-03804

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on non-UK military forces using Scottish airports for refuelling and other aircraft handling services.

Question reference: S6W-03776

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of air source heat pumps reportedly running at significantly cooler temperatures than gas boilers, what it recommends (a) older and (b) all homeowners do to maintain their heating at a gas boiler temperature level.

The Scottish Government commissioned a review to synthesise evidence on the operation of heat pumps with relevance to Scotland. The report is available at https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/research/projects/heat-pump-use-in-scotland-an-evidence-review/

As the report sets out, the temperature output from a heat pump or boiler is different from the temperature rooms are heated to: heat emitters, such as radiators, transfer heat into rooms by being heated to a higher temperature than the air in the room. While the output temperature of a heat pump is often lower than temperatures boilers commonly produce, when appropriately configured with building fabric and radiators or underfloor heating they efficiently bring indoor temperatures up to adequate levels. In addition, the report sets out evidence on less common high temperature heat pumps.

The microgeneration certification scheme (MCS) certifies heat pump installers to ensure that systems are appropriately designed to provide sufficient heat.

Question reference: S6W-03765

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33523 by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2020, whether it will provide the (a) updated figure for 2020-21 and (b) figure for 2021-22 to date.

Funding allocations to the E-bike Loan Fund, and unallocated funds for the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 up until mid-October are summarised in the following table.

Financial Year	Funding	Unallocated	Notes
2020-21	£3,786,966	£879,833
2021-22	£3,800,000	£2,553,887	* up until 14 October 2021

The unallocated funds in 2020-21 are made up of loan repayments received by EST throughout the year. These have been taken into account by EST and will form part of any future financial transaction e-bike loan budget.

Question reference: S6W-03706

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the new remit of the Clyde 2020 initiative will be, and over what timeframe.

The Clyde 2020 initiative is currently considering their remit moving forward. As a sub-group of the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership, the partnership are drafting a proposal on how Clyde 2020 will evolve, contribute and support the Clyde marine planning process. It is anticipated that the Clyde 2020 group will play an important role in the future governance of the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership.

Question reference: S6W-03810

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Glasgow Prestwick Airport reportedly not charging private aircraft weighing up to 10 tonnes to park at the airport for up to 24 hours.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s Schedule of Charges is set out clearly on its website. Parking charges are only one aspect of charges applied to visiting aircraft. Glasgow Prestwick Airport is operated on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government, in compliance with our obligations under the Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU.

This is a commercial matter for the airport and Ministers do not intervene in commercial decisions at the airport. It is for the airport’s management team to consider all potential business opportunities to maximise the use of the assets of the airport.

Question reference: S6W-03714

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities it has been contacted by to discuss raising the maximum level of funding that can be used to invest in owners’ homes for the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Scheme (HEEPS: ABS), and what the outcome was of any such discussions.

Question reference: S6W-03707

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) financial and (b) administrative support it will give to the Clyde 2020 initiative, and over what timeframe.

Question reference: S6W-03547

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many two-year-olds are currently (a) receiving and (b) eligible for 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare in the (i) North Ayrshire and (ii) Inverclyde Council area.

The latest annual ELC Census data published in December 2020 as part of the Schools in Scotland Summary Statistics report showed that 178 and 123 two year olds were accessing a funded ELC place in North Ayrshire and Inverclyde Council respectively in September 2020.

In December, the Scottish Government will publish Schools in Scotland, Summary Statistics report for 2021. This report will include figures to show the number of registrations of two-year-olds at national and local authority level in September 2021.

Eligibility criteria for 2 year old funded ELC is largely determined by a parents’ receipt of low or no income ‘ qualifying benefits’ which are administered by UK Government. We do not have robust information on the current eligible population at a local authority or national level due to UK Government restrictions on data-sharing. The Scottish Government is working with UK Government departments and the Office for National Statistics to establish a legal gateway through which we can acquire further UK Government held data which will enable us to measure the eligible population more accurately.