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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: S6W-07018

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has met Sea Transport Solutions in relation to ferries since 2007, and on what dates.

Question reference: S6W-07019

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Sea Transport Solutions has ever tendered for a ferry contract on the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Network, and, if so, (a) on what dates and (b) for which tenders.

Question reference: S6W-07105

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity's comment to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, on 25 January 2022, that glass is not to be mechanically crushed as part of its Deposit Return Scheme, whether this replaces any previous plans for such glass to be crushed in reverse vending machines (RVMs); whether this will require different and more expensive RVMs to be used; what inquiries the minister or her officials have made on the cost implications of requiring that glass not be crushed; whether this will necessitate more frequent collections of glass recyclate, and, if so, what consideration has been given to that and any consequential costs and additional carbon emissions, and what its position is on whether it or Circularity Scotland have obtained sufficient information in order to be certain that this will not require additional costs to be incurred in operating the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-06567

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what the timescale is and (b) which groups it will consult for its work regarding the experiences of women on public transport.

In addition to taking forward a National Conversation on rail, we will be consulting specifically on women’s safety when using public transport.

(a) Specific timescales will be outlined following the discussion underway with relevant representative groups on the preferred approach for carrying out this engagement.

(b) With regard to the groups we will engage with, we have already made initial contact with Engender. We will also engage with groups who represent women working on our public transport network to capture the views of female staff.

Question reference: S6W-06500

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of sexual harassment have been brought against each NHS board, what the outcome was of those cases, and how much was paid in compensation from those cases, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-06537

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on ScotRail on 9 February 2022, during which the minister stated that "success for Scotland's rail services...includes ensuring that they...generate increased revenue", by what date the "increased revenue" is required to be delivered; what base level of revenue is being used; what level of "increased revenue" will it consider a success, and what action it plans to take in the event that the required level of "increased revenue" is not achieved by its target date.

As we recover from the pandemic ScotRail Trains Limited will adapt its rail services to meet passenger demand and travel patterns, the latter of which is likely to be markedly different to that experienced previously.

Though there has not been a specific date nor target level set for the increased revenue Transport Scotland will continue to monitor the revenue situation as it is reported on a period by period basis so as to enable Ministers to make informed decisions at all times.

Encouragingly, patronage levels on our railway are improving. In the middle of last year (week ended Saturday 3July), reported demand stood at about 831,000 journeys. By the week ended Saturday 5 March 2022, reported demand had increased to 1,183,000 journeys.

Question reference: S6W-06498

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of staff bullying have been brought against each NHS board, what the outcome was of those cases, and how much was paid in compensation from those cases, in each year since 2007.

This is a matter for individual Health Boards. We do not hold this specific information centrally.

Since 2018-19, as part of our annual staff governance monitoring exercise, Boards advise us of the number of formal bullying and harassment cases raised locally each year. This information was not requested in 2019-20 due to the pandemic.

The information we hold does not separate out the number of cases that relate to bullying, sexual harassment or other forms of harassment. We also do not hold information on the outcome of these cases or level of compensation if paid.

The Boards have reported the following information to us (please note where numbers of cases are less than 5, we cannot give specific figures for reasons of maintaining anonymity):

? NHS Ayrshire & Arran reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 19 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Borders reported 6 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Dumfries & Galloway reported 8 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Fife reported 17 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 9 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Forth Valley reported 12 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Grampian reported 14 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 8 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde reported 21 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 10 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Highland reported 14 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 38 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Lanarkshire reported 27 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Lothian reported 41 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 36 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Orkney reported less than 5 formal complaint of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Shetland reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Tayside reported 6 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 13 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Western Isles reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 6 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Education for Scotland reported no formal complaints in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Golden Jubilee Foundation reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland reported less than 5 formal complaint of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and no cases in 2020-2021.

? NHS Health Scotland - Public Health Scotland reported no formal complaints in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS National Services Scotland reported 16 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 6 in 2020-2021.

? NHS State Hospital reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS 24 reported 12 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Scottish Ambulance Service reported 24 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

Question reference: S6W-07222

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the share of the £5 million, which was allocated before the end of the 2020-21 financial year for residential drug rehabilitation services in the Highlands and Islands region, was distributed.

In January 2021, the First Minister announced an additional investment of £250 million to tackle drug deaths, £100 million of which was allocated to develop residential rehabilitation services and associated aftercare over the next five years. Alongside this, the Scottish Government provided Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) with a £13.5 million uplift per year, over the next five years, £5 million of which has been allocated to support additional residential rehabilitation capacity across Scotland. However, this uplift did not start until the 2021-2022 financial year.

The distribution from the ADP uplift within the Highlands and Islands region in 2021-22, from the £5 million allocated for residential rehabilitation, is as follows:

Argyll and Bute: £95,095

Highland: £234,516

Shetland: £24,422

Orkney: £25,066

Western Isles: £33,425.

This brings the total amount of funding allocated so far to ADPs within the Highlands and Islands region to £412,524.

Question reference: S6W-07213

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of knife crime were recorded in each year from 1999-2000 to the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by local authority.

Police Recorded Crime statistics can only identify the likely presence of a knife for crimes of ‘possessing an article with a blade or point in a public setting’. Tables of the requested data have been placed within the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 63223).

There are two measures of possessing an article with a blade or point in a public setting - one for where the weapon was not used in other criminal activity, and one for where it was used in other criminal activity. For the former, data has been presented by local authority for the requested time period of 1999-00 to 2020-21. Data for the latter is only available from 2017-18 onwards, following implementation of a procedural change to the recording of weapon possession crimes.

Question reference: S6W-07087

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding (a) it allocated to and (b) was distributed to successful grant applicants from the Small Woodlands Loan Scheme in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.