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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-00225

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the capacity of on-street charging infrastructure as drivers switch to electric vehicles.

Question reference: S6O-00228

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will implement part 3 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to allow local authorities to bring forward proposals to directly run bus services in their area.

Question reference: S6O-00229

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the dualling of the A96.

Question reference: S6W-03270

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the COVID-19 vaccination certification scheme.

Question reference: S6W-02852

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments by Homes for Scotland regarding the Programme for Government that planning and regulatory systems "are in need of increased resources to enable local councils to cope with the levels of demand for new homes".

In 2021-22 the Scottish Government allocated £11.7 billion to authorities and it is the responsibility of individual councils to manage their own budgets and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we are aware that authorities across the country are under financial pressure, and that this has impacted on planning departments. That is why in 2019 we published a consultation which proposed making changes to the planning fee regime to increase the financial resources available to authorities. That work was paused during the pandemic but has recently been recommenced and we will work with the High Level Group on Planning Performance to take it forward.

The performance of the system is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities and everyone involved in planning must play their part in ensuring that the system functions effectively and efficiently.

Some planning applications will have longer decision times due to their scale and complexity. Planning decision timescales have also inevitably been affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020-21, despite these impacts, authorities determined 4,293 planning applications for housing.

Question reference: S6W-02840

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether a proportion of its Green Jobs Fund will be designated to specifically enable people who are from groups that are under-represented in "green sectors" to train and access jobs.

The Green Jobs Fund is not a skills or training fund. Over the next 5 years, the £100m Fund will provide businesses with capital investment towards improved green products and services and related research and development. All individual funding applications are subject to a detailed appraisal process that includes an equality impact assessment and evaluation of fair work practices. We will also ensure that future larger consortia projects produce plans which help diversify their sectors and will use appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure successful companies and their net zero supply chains provide positive economic and employment impacts that raise skill levels and close skills gaps.

This year, we have also established a Green Jobs Workforce Academy which will help people to get the skills they need to move into new, greener jobs. Training opportunities will be supported by our investment in apprenticeships, our Young Person’s Guarantee, the National Transition Training Fund and £15m North East Economic Recovery Fund which will all take account, in their delivery, of how they can support people from protected and underrepresented groups.

Question reference: S6W-02824

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the potential impact of COVID-19 vaccine certification on people who were recorded, following an investigation via the Yellow Card Scheme, as having had an adverse reaction to their first dose, and did not therefore receive a second dose for medical reasons.

We are developing an approval process for medical exemptions. It is important to say that the number of people for whom vaccination cannot be safely completed with the right support will be very small. Reasons for exemptions would be medical contraindications that might include severe anaphylactic reaction across the range of vaccines and those receiving end of life care. The detail of how this will work will be finalised and published before implementation.

Question reference: S6W-02834

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which islands (a) within and (b) outside the UK it plans to consider good practices from as part of its Carbon Neutral Islands project.

Question reference: S6W-02812

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken of the potential economic impact of introducing COVID-19 vaccine passports.

Certification provides a targeted and proportionate means to reduce risk while maximising our ability to keep open certain settings and events where transmission is a higher risk. If the choice is between sectors and settings being closed and a limited certification scheme being used to keep them open, we believe that it is right to make a choice in favour of a limited certification scheme. We are working closely and at pace with sectors to finalise a proportionate, effective and robust scheme for each setting before implementation. There are a number of operational and logistical issues which we are working through together. All software, apps and paper copies of certificates will be free to use. Businesses will be able to use an app free of charge to scan the codes used on all certificates and there will be options for venues to integrate the verifier functionality into their own systems, as the source code is open source. Relevant impact assessments, including a BRIA (Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment), will be published when we lay the regulations.

Question reference: S6W-02806

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is following World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control COVID-19 contact guidance that (a) contact tracing should include contacts in school, including classmates, teachers and other staff and (b) as well as testing all contacts with symptoms, there should be quarantining and testing of asymptomatic high-risk exposure contacts, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government continues to follow the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Covid-19 contact tracing guidance as well as recent evidence on the impact of vaccination in protecting the population from harm and latest evidence on infection and transmission in children and young people. Contact tracing continues to include all contacts in school with public health advice provided on the basis of whether a contact is ‘high-risk’ or ‘low-risk’ with low-risk contacts being identified by schools and receiving targeted ‘Information’ letters. People identified as asymptomatic high-risk exposure contacts, regardless of age, continue to be advised to isolate and to take a PCR test.

The changes made to contact tracing and isolation policy from 9 August continue to deliver an effective public health intervention whilst balancing the risk of health harms across the population with the harms caused by prolonged self-isolation of children and young people.