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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-00947

Asked by: Siobhian Brown, MSP for Ayr, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support Ukrainian refugees will receive after arriving at a welcome hub in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00926

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to tackle the reported staffing shortages within the NHS.

Question reference: S6O-00927

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the provision of community first responders in island communities.

Question reference: S6W-07093

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its proposed Deposit Return Scheme, whether wholesalers will be permitted during the course of their normal delivery schedule to use the same lorries and vans for back haul of the collection, and uplift of glass bottles, plastic containers and aluminium tins; whether SEPA has been asked to provide advice on this matter, and, if so, when (a) it was first asked to do so and (b) the advice will be published.

Since July 2021 SEPA has advised that the same vehicle that is used for delivery can be used for the backhaul of scheme packaging provided that:

the haulier is a registered waste carrier ;
where backhaul is carried out in a vehicle used to transport fresh food, there is sufficient separation and a barrier to prevent contamination of waste materials with organic matter.

This advice was published as part of a series of DRS Frequently Asked Questions on SEPA’s website on 8 March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-07320

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, aligning with the recent independent review it commissioned of the Scottish Strategy for Autism, what plans are in place to carry out an independent review of its Keys to Life strategy, which was launched in 2013, and the impact the strategy has had on the lives of people who have learning disabilities.

We have no plans to conduct an independent assessment of the Keys to Life Learning Disability strategy. We worked with people with a learning disability and autistic people in planning and publishing our Towards Transformation Learning Disability and Autism plan last year. This plan recognises the additional pressures of the pandemic as well as the aims of the Keys to Life strategy. The plan sets out key agreed actions to improve the lives of people with a learning disability and autistic people, to which we are fully committed and on which we have been working in partnership with our stakeholders.

Question reference: S6W-07271

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment or estimate it has made of the amount of asbestos in publicly-owned buildings in each local authority area, and what information it has on any equivalent estimates for non-publicly-owned buildings.

The management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of the legislation and regulations.

My officials asked the HSE for information on current activities to collect data on the number of premises containing asbestos either publicly or privately-owned. There is no requirement on any authority to collect data, and in recent evidence to the UK Parliament Work and Pensions Committee, HSE confirmed that the exact number of business premises in Great Britain containing asbestos is not known. There is however a duty on owners of any premises to know whether their building contains asbestos and to manage it in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

HSE is currently carrying out a statutory, five yearly, review of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Part of the cost benefit analysis for the report which is due to be published in the summer will include estimates about the number of premises containing asbestos. HSE has also given a commitment that future research will address the number of business premises containing asbestos.

Question reference: S6W-07191

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in 2019-20, how many people under the age of 19 accessing services for mental ill health were offered talking therapy but declined the service and chose antidepressants as first-line treatment.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health without stigma, including medication where this is the most appropriate intervention.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the numbers of children and young people who have been offered talking therapy or who have refused talking therapy as a treatment option.

Prescribing is a clinical decision based on a prescriber’s judgment as to what they believe to be in the best interests of the patient. The prescribing of antidepressants to children and young people is undertaken in consultation with the patient and, where appropriate, with their family, to ensure that patient choice is also central to decisions taken regarding treatment and care.

Medication is one aspect of treatment, alongside psychological therapy or other therapeutic interventions, available as an option for children and young people who require support. We continue to invest and improve access to other services, including by providing £16 million per annum to ensure that every secondary school in Scotland has access to counselling support; and by investing £15 million in community-based mental health and wellbeing services as part of our focus on early intervention and prevention.

Question reference: S6W-07211

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to allow local authorities to trial the use of e-scooters in public places.

Question reference: S6W-07171

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S6O-00801 by Jenny Gilruth on 2 March 2022, for what reason the minister did not provide the information requested regarding whether all of the new buses supported by the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund will be built in the UK, and whether it will confirm whether those buses not already cited as being built by Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) in Falkirk will be built in the UK, or whether these orders will go abroad.

The Scottish Government’s Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) is awarding £62 million to support bus operators to acquire 276 new zero emission buses and associated infrastructure. Bus operators are free to choose which manufacturer they purchase from and we do not seek to influence this, in order to ensure a level playing field.

Level playing field provisions in trade agreements ensure that competition is open and fair, and that businesses from one trading partner to not gain an unfair advantage and undercut rivals from others. The success of the bus manufacturing industry in Scotland and the UK requires that the industry makes available high-quality products for bus operators at competitive prices and which can compete in the international market.

ADL will manufacture their buses in Falkirk, Wrightbus, Switch and Orion manufacture elsewhere in the UK (with Orion chassis being manufactured in Italy, Poland and Turkey), EVM manufacture in the Republic of Ireland (with the chassis manufactured in Germany) and Yutong manufacture in China. In total, 137 buses will be manufactured in Scotland, 23 in the rest of the UK, and 116 in China.

The following table shows how many buses from which manufacturer ScotZEB is supporting operators to acquire:

	ADL	Yutong	Wrightbus	EVM	Switch	Orion	TOTAL
Stage-coach	84	25					109
First Bus	50	24					74
McGill’s		41					41
Ember		26					26
West Coast Motors			10				10
Shuttle Buses				2		3	5
Dumfries & Galloway					4		4
Houston’s				4			4
Stirling Council	3						3
Totals	137	116	10	6	4	3	276

Question reference: S6W-07096

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its proposed Deposit Return Scheme, what consideration (a) it and (b) Circularity Scotland has given to the potential impact on distributers and wholesalers in Scotland of a need for two separate SKU’s (Stock Keeping Units), in particular in relation to (i) cost and (ii) space implications, in light of the plans for separate labelling requirements for Scotland and the rest of the UK.