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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-05901

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) affordable and (b) social rent homes have been (i) acquired and (ii) built in Stirling since 2017, and how much funding it provided for this purpose.

The following table details affordable unit completions in Stirling since 1 st April 2017 to 30 th September 2021 by (i) new build and (ii) off the shelf.

	Financial Year					Total Homes
	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22*
New Build	53	82	10	49	35	229
Off the Shelf	18	16	63	182	11	290
Rehabilitation	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Homes	71	98	73	231	46	519
* up to end of September (Q2)

The Scottish Government publishes annual Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Outturn Reports. These Outturn Reports provide details of completed housing units by tenure and contain details of all Resource Planning Assumptions by local authority area, as well as actual outturn expenditure. You can access the Outturn Reports for 2017-18 to 2020-21 from this link - More homes: Affordable Housing Supply Programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This web page also includes a link to the published Resource Planning Assumptions for 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-06012

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether women who need transvaginal mesh removal surgery will still be eligible for surgery cost reimbursement if their surgery is booked prior to the Transvaginal Mesh Removal (Cost Reimbursement) (Scotland) Bill receiving Royal Assent, but with the surgery taking place after Royal Assent has been received.

Following the successful conclusion of stage 3 of Parliament’s consideration of the Bill, the Government will now take steps to put in place a scheme in which it will specify a cut-off date. There is no requirement under the Bill, however, for surgery to have taken place before the date that will be specified, only that the mesh removal surgery must have been arranged by that date. The Bill mandates that the date specified in the scheme must not be a date earlier than that of Royal Assent.

Question reference: S6W-05899

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much investment it has made into active travel initiatives in Stirling since 2017.

Question reference: S6W-05947

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what specialist support Police Scotland offers to police officers and staff experiencing poor mental health.

The provision of Health and Wellbeing services, for the police workforce, is a matter for the Chief Constable.

Police officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. This includes the signposting of services by ‘Wellbeing Champions’ and the programme has resulted in a raised awareness of the services available, such as occupational health and employee assistance, which offer counselling, and specific interactions through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM).

Question reference: S6W-05943

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which minister is responsible for the implementation of its Deposit Return Scheme.

Portfolio responsibility for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) lies with me as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity.

In line with the principle of extended producer responsibility and the polluter pays principle, the work to deliver DRS is being led and paid for by industry, in particular the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL). I meet with CSL on a monthly basis to ensure that the agreed implementation timetable is maintained.

Question reference: S6W-05975

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Lord Advocate’s statement on 22 September 2021, whether guidelines have been issued to Police Scotland on the use of recorded police warnings for simple possession offences involving Class A drugs, and, if not, when these guidelines will be issued.

Lord Advocate’s guidelines to Police Scotland on the use of Recorded Police Warnings have been in place for a number of years. My statement to the Scottish Parliament on 22 September 2021 was reflected in a corresponding amendment to the guidelines.

The current guidelines permit a police officer to issue a Recorded Police Warning in relation to an offence involving simple possession of all classes of controlled drug.

Question reference: S6W-05948

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland provides financial support to officers and staff seeking to attend the psychological wellbeing and counselling programmes at the two Police Treatment Centres, in Harrogate and Auchterarder.

Question reference: S6W-05983

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities, emergency services, and energy and connectivity suppliers will be permitted to share vulnerable people's contact information to facilitate the provision of support to those people in times of emergencies, such as during the response to Storm Arwen.

Question reference: S6W-05985

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many pregnant women have been admitted to an intensive care unit, in each month since October 2021.

The Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group (SICSAG) report on COVID-19 published on 2 February 2022 includes data on the numbers of COVID positive pregnant women admitted to critical care facilities (excluding obstetric High Dependency Units) to 9 January 2020. The data is presented by COVID infection wave, but not by month. SICSAG report annually on numbers of pregnant women admitted to Intensive Care Units. 2021 data is expected to be reported in summer 2022.

Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group report on COVID-19 - as at 11 January 2022 - Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group report on COVID-19 - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-05917

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support will be made available to households to help meet the new fire alarm standard, in light of the recent increase in energy prices and the extra pressure this puts on household budgets.

We know that some homeowners may not be able to meet the cost of fitting the necessary alarms which is why we provided £500,000 through Care and Repair Scotland to help elderly and disabled people. We have also made available a further £500,000 to Care and Repair to extend this support beyond 1 February 2022.

This is in addition to the £1m funding provided to SFRS for its Home Fire Safety Visit programme to owner occupied properties assessed to be at high risk from fire.

We also provided £15m loan funding to social landlords to support them to fit compliant alarms for all tenants.

Flexibility is built into the existing legislation through a provision setting out that the work should be done “within such period as is reasonable in all the circumstances”, allowing flexibility for home owners unable to install alarms by 1 February 2022.