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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-05805

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reintroducing LPG into the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme, in the form of bio-LPG, would provide a route to low-carbon heating for off-grid properties.

Our homes and workplaces account for around a fifth of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions. We can and must make very significant progress towards eliminating these emissions over the next decade and reduce them to zero by 2045.

As set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy, we see a limited role for bioenergy in domestic heating, in line with advice from the UK’s Climate Change Committee.

Warmer Homes Scotland provides heating systems and insulation measures to enable these systems. Warmer Homes Scotland does not provide fuel to customers and, where a heating system technology allows for a choice of fuels, the scheme cannot influence the customer’s ongoing choices. Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce LPG heating systems to the list of measures available under Warmer Homes Scotland.

Households eligible for assistance under Warmer Homes Scotland will be offered low-carbon systems, where these are technically appropriate for the property. Options that may be of particular benefit to households living in rural and island areas that are not served by the gas grid include High Heat Retention Electric Storage Heating Systems, Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps and microgeneration measures such as Micro-hydro and Micro-wind. Domestic battery storage systems are now also available to support Electric Storage Heating Systems along with Solar PV

Question reference: S6W-05791

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what feedback it received on drafts of the recently published child protection guidelines; who provided this feedback, and what action was taken on any feedback or proposed changes.

On 2 September 2021 the Scottish Government published the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, which replaces the 2014 National Child Protection Guidance.

The revision of this guidance was undertaken through a collaborative process informed by extensive public and stakeholder engagement over a period of two and a half years. The review was overseen by a National Guidance Steering Group comprised of representatives from stakeholder organisations and other key interests.

The Scottish Government ran a formal public consultation on draft guidance between 21 October 2020 and 31 January 2021. A total of 159 consultation responses were received from a wide range of organisations and individuals. Where respondents have given their permission, responses have been published on Citizen Space . In addition to the public consultation, seven virtual stakeholder engagement events were held during November and December 2020. These events were used to engage with Child Protection Committees and practitioners, with a facilitated discussion structured around the consultation questions. An independent analysis of consultation responses was commissioned and engagement was undertaken with many respondents to better understand their views and reflect in final draft.

The key themes emerging from the engagement process were: status of the guidance and degree of local variance; ensuring an appropriate balance between the current context and direction of travel as the aspirations of The Promise are realised; clarity on the timing of the refresh of Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and further guidance on the role of the named person; the balance of support and protection regarding poverty and neglect; accessibility and usability of the guidance; inclusion of practice notes; expectations of timescales for implementation.

Feedback and proposed changes were considered by the Steering Group at every stage of the engagement process. Where there was agreement, the drafts were updated. Feedback along with rationale for decisions was then given to those who had provided comment. On 2 September 2021 the Scottish Government published a consultation report which included the independent analysis of consultation responses and engagement activity and the Scottish Government’s response.

Question reference: S6W-05820

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the chair of the review into the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy in Scotland plans to meet with members of the waste industry and/or their representatives before the deadline for the call for evidence on 21 February 2022.

As independent Chair, it is for Dr Church to determine and manage the process of the review. I am, therefore, unable to respond on his behalf regarding the number of meetings he will hold with waste industry representatives.

However, Dr Church has assured me he wishes to hear from all interested stakeholders during the review and I would encourage anyone interested to respond to the Call for Evidence which is open until 21 February.

Question reference: S6W-05394

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the use of the CitizenCard as valid ID for the purposes of the vaccine certification scheme.

Question reference: S6W-05503

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to deliver a fair and managed transition for workers currently working at the Torness nuclear power station, following its closure.

Our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan is currently being developed. This will include co-design as a key underpinning principle, ensuring workers from across the energy sector have the opportunity to contribute towards this process.

In addition, the Scottish Government is investing £300m in the Edinburgh and SE Scotland City Region Deal, which will create new economic opportunities across the area and is expected to provide up to 21,000 jobs. This includes £25m for an Integrated Regional Skills and Employability Programme, which will help local people prepare for the changing regional labour market and benefit from the many new jobs that the Deal and other investments across the region are creating.

Question reference: S6W-05758

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to Sustainable Scotland Network in each year since 2014.

The following table sets out Scottish Government funding offered to the SSN Secretariat since 2018-19:

Financial Year	Amount £
2018-2019	Contract payments £303,988.00 excluding VAT
2019-2020	Contract payments £267,072.11 excluding VAT
2020-2021	3 grants paid totalling £118,525
2021- 2022	2 grants offered totalling £75,000

Prior to May 2018, the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) Secretariat was funded under a Scottish Government grant to Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB). In 2018-19 and 2019-20 the SSN Secretariat was funded by a Scottish Government contract won by Edinburgh University Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI). Since 2020-21 the Secretariat has been supported under a new hybrid funding model with grant from the Scottish Government, local authorities and NHS Scotland to ECCI.

Question reference: S6O-00747

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported calls for the Head of the Civil Service to investigate and rule on the deployment of Scottish Government civil servants to develop policy on independence.

Question reference: S6O-00740

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding how its international development programme can help to support less developed countries that are at the forefront of climate damage.

Question reference: S6O-00728

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to improve the provision of services for NHS Tayside breast cancer patients.

Question reference: S6O-00724

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received free personal care, under Frank’s Law, since it came into effect in 2019.