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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-09100

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charging points have been created in the Galloway and West Dumfries constituency in the last year.

The Transport Scotland, Scottish Transport Statistics 2020 reported 66 publicly available electric vehicle charge points in the Dumfries & Galloway Boundary Area. This figure has increased in 2021 to 80 publicly available charge points in the Dumfries & Galloway Boundary Area. The 2022 statistics will be released in January 2023.

We don’t routinely collect or analyse data on a constituency area basis, and there may be additional commercially financed and operated charge points that aren’t routinely captured in the Scottish Transport Statistics.

Question reference: S6W-09149

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland to recruit 320 additional Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) staff, how many such staff it has recruited in 2022 to date; whether it has set a timeline for this commitment to be fulfilled; how this interacts with targets to clear both CAMHS and psychological therapies waiting times by March 2023, and what specific targets it has in place to recruit these workers.

Responsibility for the recruitment of CAMHS staff lies with NHS Boards. In the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 , the Scottish Government committed to provide sufficient funding for around 320 additional staff in CAMHS over the next 5 years, with the potential to increase capacity for CAMHS cases by over 10,000.

The additional funding for CAMHS from the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund is designed to provide sufficient support for Boards to increase capacity, reduce long waiting lists and improve CAMHS services. The delivery expected includes implementation of the National CAMHS Service Specification, increasing age range for CAMHS services from 18 to 25, and clearing waiting list backlogs by March 2023.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) publishes quarterly statistics on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce . The most recent publication on 7 June 2022 shows data from quarter ending 31 March 2022. These statistics show, as of 31 March 2022, there were 1172 whole time equivalent (WTE) CAMHS staff employed. This compares to 1078 WTE CAMHS staff employed in March 2021, prior to the 2021-22 additional investment of around £40 million to CAMHS from the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund. Therefore, following investment in 2021-22, the CAMHS workforce increased by 94 WTE in 2021-22. Specifically, in the final quarter of 2021-22, the CAMHS workforce increased by 73 WTE.

Question reference: S6W-09153

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to meet the target to clear (a) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and (b) psychological therapies waiting lists by March 2023, as set out in the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026.

The Scottish Government remain committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients start treatment for CAMHS and Psychological Therapies within 18 weeks of referral by March 2023.

There have been obvious operational difficulties caused by Covid-19 and the restrictions necessarily put in place over the pandemic. However, latest statistics for both CAMHS and Psychological Therapies (PT) published on 7 June 2022, Publications - Public Health Scotland , for the latest quarter ending 31 March 2022 show that there has seen an all-time high number of children and young people beginning treatment for CAMHS. It is also the highest number of children beginning treatment within 18 weeks under this measure since quarter ending June 2016. It is also encouraging to see significant progress with Psychological Therapies waiting times with a significant decrease in long waits over one year and a decrease for those waiting over 18 weeks.

This reflects the effects of the Scottish Government’s improvement work with Health Boards and the additional investment – which is growing the workforce and reducing backlogs resulting in shorter waiting times and a better experience for individuals and families supported by our NHS.

We are working with Boards closely and will continue to monitor their performance against the waiting times standard.

Question reference: S6W-09174

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the decision on the scoring criteria and weighting for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leases for floating offshore wind projects will be made.

Question reference: S6W-09145

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much was allocated to each local authority for the Pupil Equity Fund, broken down by each year since the fund was introduced.

Question reference: S6W-09144

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the Pupil Equity Fund in each year since it was introduced.

Question reference: S6O-01312

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the potential impacts on Scotland's economy and society of the UK Government's policy programme, including the current and future impact of Brexit on Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01313

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many housing developments in Scotland are currently unable to progress as a result of funding for schools and social infrastructure not being in place.

Question reference: S6O-01308

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding negotiating pay settlements with bodies, groups and organisations funded by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6O-01309

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide on update on the roll-out of high-speed broadband to rural locations.