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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-00868

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-00876

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of low-income households that will not be eligible for the £150 payment to help tackle the rising cost of living.

Question reference: S6W-06269

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will update the Parliament on its plans to support global action on loss and damage; what the timescale will be of any action plan or strategy, and how it will consult stakeholders in (a) Scotland and (b) the Global South on this matter.

The Scottish Government is taking action on loss and damage. On the 23rd February, The First Minister and I hosted a roundtable of international leaders and experts, including colleagues from the Global South, on Loss and Damage. The roundtable articulated the common ambitions of non-state actors to further move Loss and Damage to delivery and action.

Officials are synthesising information from the roundtable to plan and sequence further action over 2022 and at COP27, including in partnership with stakeholders from the Global South. Plans will be discussed with Scottish stakeholders and progress reported to Parliament as appropriate. Additionally, officials are currently working with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund to programme a £1m contribution to Loss and Damage as part of the world-leading £2m commitment we made at COP26.

Question reference: S6W-06266

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding native woodland planting, (a) how much grant funding was provided and (b) how many hectares were planted in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021.

In the last three years the Scottish Government has provided more than £45 M of funding to support the planting of more than 13,200 hectares of native woodland. How much funding was committed, and how many hectares were planted in 2019, 2020 and 2021 is shown in the following table.

Year	Funding provided for Native WC Planting (£)	Native WC Planting Area (ha)
2019-20	12.3m	4,494
2020-21	14.8m	3,421
2021-22	18.2m	5,308 (estimate based upon contract commitments)

Question reference: S6W-06453

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to legislate regarding “Ready to Burn” certification for firewood and briquette suppliers, and when will any such legislation come into force.

The Scottish Government has no immediate plans to introduce such legislation. However our new air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone' sets out a series of actions intended to deliver further air quality improvements over the period to 2026. Amongst these actions are several which focus on reducing emissions from domestic fuel combustion.

An expert working group, which met for the first time in January 2022, has been established to advise the Government on taking forward these actions. Further information will be made publicly available as this work proceeds.

Question reference: S6W-06889

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting time has been for abdominal aortic aneurysm screenings in each year since 2019, broken down by NHS board.

The data is not available in the format requested.

Men become eligible for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening when they reach age 65, and should receive an initial invite before their 66 th birthday. The programme monitors the proportion of the eligible population who are sent an initial offer to screening before age 66 as a key performance indicator.

In March 2020 all adult screening programmes, including the AAA programme, were temporarily paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AAA screening programme resumed in July 2020, prioritising men in the high risk cohort.

The latest data published on 1 March 2022 shows that the programme has maintained screening the eligible population before they turn 66 and 3 months at a rate above 75% which is similar to pre-COVID-19 rates and in line with the programmes recovery route map. 90.5% of men were invited for screening before their 66th birthday. The full report is available here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/scottish-abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-aaa-screening-programme-statistics/scottish-abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-aaa-screening-programme-statistics-year-ending-31-march-2021/.

Question reference: S6W-06425

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05791 by Clare Haughey on 3 February 2022, which of the suggestions made by the Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland in response to the consultation on the National Guidance for Child Protection were (a) taken into consideration and put into the guidance and (b) not taken into consideration, and, for any that were not taken into consideration, what the reasons were for this.

The Scottish Government welcomed engagement with the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland during the revision of the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland. The Commissioner’s Office provided permission to publish their response to the formal Scottish Government public consultation on Citizen Space .

The Commissioner asked for a comprehensive re-draft of the guidance to ensure that children’s human and statutory rights are threaded throughout; a consistent application of a rights-based approach across health, justice and local authority Children’s Services and Planning Partnerships with greater clarity that children’s rights to protection apply to all those with a duty of care; extending a trauma-informed approach to children in conflict with the law; and a request that Children’s Hearings should be extended to all children under the age of 18.

The Scottish Government met with the Commissioner’s Office to discuss their response and incorporated suggestions into the final published guidance to further strengthen the focus on rights, relationships, collaboration and support for families, building on strengths. It was noted at this meeting that forthcoming Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) support materials will support improved consistency across Scotland in appropriately balancing rights to privacy and family life with rights to be supported and protected. The Commissioner’s Office subsequently reviewed and contributed to the Guidance Supporting Narrative which sets out how our approach to child protection in Scotland aligns with and supports strategic developments including UNCRC implementation.

Some suggestions made in connection with legislation and practice relating to 16 and 17 year olds are beyond the scope of the guidance which reflects the current legislative, policy and practice context. The Scottish Government has committed to review the guidance on an annual basis to ensure that it remains consistent with wider changes.

Question reference: S6W-06176

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether individual licences to carry out control of certain generalist predator species should be issued to employees of landholdings, when the general licence allowing this same activity has been suspended by NatureScot.

Decisions on licence applications are taken by NatureScot on a case-by-case basis taking into account all relevant information. The arrangements for restricting the use of General Licences are set out in detail on the NatureScot website. We consider these arrangements to be a fair and proportionate response where there is evidence of wildlife crime. We do not think an automatic restriction on all other licence applications is necessary or justified.

An individual licence may be issued, where a general licence restriction has been imposed, where there is evidence that the licence is required to deliver legitimate land management or other work. Applicants must provide detail as to the requirement for an individual licence, therefore, individual licences allow more control by the licensing authority. Details such as number of a species to be controlled, time and place can be specified on the licence. The licence will also usually require the applicant to report on the activities carried out.

For example, NatureScot has previously issued individual licences to employees of landholdings where general licenses restriction are in place, for the prevention of serious damage to livestock. In this case for example the licence was for heavily restricted use only in specified locations.

Question reference: S6W-06404

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with CalMac regarding reported staffing pressures on the Arran ferry routes.

Question reference: S6W-06891

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many women were fitted with an Essure contraceptive coil from 2002 to 2017, when it was discontinued because of its side effects.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14655 on 13 March 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

As of March 2022, 7 adverse events relating to the device have been submitted to NHS Scotland's Incident Reporting and Investigation Centre.