Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 47874 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-05536

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional beds have been provided in the NHS to manage winter pressures, broken down by NHS board.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03606 on 23 December 2021. 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

Hospitals balance the provision of beds against a number of factors such as staffing levels and anticipated demand to enable them to provide a safe and effective service to patients. Whilst overall workforce numbers in the NHS have never been higher, increased demand for health and social care services is creating significant workforce capacity challenges.

Recently, capacity pressures have been exacerbated by Omicron-related absences. In the week ending 11 January, health boards reported a 31% increase in coronavirus absence compared with the previous week. On average, 7,174 NHS staff were absent per day for reasons related to Coronavirus, or around 4.0% of the NHS workforce.

We continue to work with NHS Boards and their partners to put in place a range of initiatives to maximise capacity. For example, on the 11 November I announced measures to support people with Covid to stay safely at home and free up hospital beds, including £500,000 to fund 25,000 remote monitoring kits, and a dedicated team which will support the early identification of patients who would benefit from antivirals treatments and get these started as soon as possible.

I am assured that NHS boards have opened all available staffed beds.

Question reference: S6W-05518

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government under which sector emissions from waste incineration are reported in its Climate Change Plan.

Under the Climate Change Plan, emissions from the disposal of waste via incineration without energy recovery are reported in the waste sector. This mainly comprises Commercial and Industrial Wastes, principally sewage sludges and clinical wastes.

Emissions from incineration with energy recovery are reported in the Energy Supply Sector, consistent with domestic and international reporting requirements determined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Question reference: S6W-05614

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02823 by Kate Forbes on 24 September 2021, when "option selection" is scheduled to conclude in relation to the "rail improvement project"; what the current status is of the Laurencekirk Junction Improvement Scheme, and when the "statutory authorisation stage" is expected to conclude, in light of it having been subject to a "push forward"; what the nature of that "push forward" has been; whether the delivery of "full fibre connectivity to a number of public sector sites across the city of Aberdeen", which was "expected to complete later this year [in 2021]", has completed; by what date the Full Fibre Project in Aberdeenshire, which was "expected to complete next year [in 2022]", is currently expected to complete, and whether it will provide an update on whether, to date, any "eligible housing infrastructure projects have been submitted as part of the £20 million indicative allocation referred to in the 2016 agreement".

These projects are all being funded from the Scottish Government’s £254 million investment in the North East, which is in addition to the £125 million committed to the Aberdeen City Region Deal in 2016.

Option selection for rail improvements, towards which £200 million has been allocated, is scheduled for completion by the end of March 2022.

Following the publication of Draft Orders, Transport Scotland is currently dealing with objections to the Laurencekirk junction, towards which £24 million has been allocated.

Digital projects, towards which £10 million has been allocated, are progressing as expected. The City Network Extension project, connecting 57 Aberdeen City corporate sites to full fibre was completed in November 2021. The full fibre project in Aberdeenshire is due to be completed by the end of March 2022.

To date, no eligible projects have been submitted for housing infrastructure projects, towards which £20 million has been allocated. Scottish Government officials have been in discussions with officials from Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils to identify suitable projects following the launch of the Housing Infrastructure Fund (Round 2) in October 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05632

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) for what reason and (b) on what date it made the decision to reduce NatureScot's budget from £2.5 million to £1.8 million; what aspects of NatureScot's operations it anticipates may not proceed as a result of this reduction; what its position is on whether NatureScot will still be able to deliver all operations and services that it is required to following this budget reduction, and what the evidential basis is for its position.

NatureScot’s budget allocation for 2022-23 is £49.561 million. This year’s budget settlement represents the best possible outcome against the backdrop of significant pressures on public finances and the level of resources required to deliver statutory functions and agreed Ministerial environmental priorities across 2022-23. The Scottish Government are in dialogue with NatureScot on the specific priorities to be reflected in their forthcoming 2022-23 Operational Plan and next 5 year Corporate Plan. Both these documents are expected to be published in the first quarter of 2022.

Question reference: S6W-05625

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on (a) installing and (b) removing projects related to Spaces for People, broken down by (i) year and (ii) local authority.

The following table gives spend to date for the 30 local authorities who have received Spaces for People funding; other statutory bodies have also received funding.

Many local authorities have yet to claim their full agreed grant. We do not have details of the split between installation and removal of schemes; this information is held at local authority level.

Partner	Claimed 20/21	Claimed 21/22	Total Claimed
Aberdeen City Council	£1,492,701	£134,251	£1,626,952
Aberdeenshire Council	£207,185		£207,185
Angus Council	£761,792		£761,792
Argyll & Bute Council	£866,840		£866,840
City of Edinburgh Council	£4,052,000	£0	£4,052,000
Clackmannanshire Council	£367,000		£367,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	£83,097		£83,097
Dumfries and Galloway Council	£82,170		£82,170
Dundee City Council	£1,916,541	£76,565	£1,993,106
East Ayrshire Council	£231,277	£9,462	£240,739
East Lothian Council	£1,007,376	£41,995	£1,049,371
East Renfrewshire Council	£167,734	£353,429	£521,163
Falkirk Council	£188,000		£188,000
Fife Council	£1,101,588	£0	£1,101,588
Glasgow City Council	£4,244,923	£0	£4,244,923
Inverclyde Council	£181,478	£40,679	£222,157
Midlothian Council	£112,231		£112,231
Moray Council	£41,616	£0	£41,616
North Ayrshire Council	£347,352		£347,352
North Lanarkshire Council	£1,039,779		£1,039,779
Perth and Kinross Council	£1,056,564	£0	£1,056,564
Renfrewshire Council	£266,387	£142,101	£408,488
Scottish Borders Council	£955,530	£0	£955,530
South Ayrshire Council	£259,194		£259,194
South Lanarkshire Council	£797,587	£0	£797,587
Stirling Council	£377,062	£0	£377,062
The Highland Council	£1,632,037	£0	£1,632,037
West Dunbartonshire Council	£310,494	£13,363	£323,857
West Lothian Council	£741,956	£0	£741,956
ZetTrans (for Shetland Island Council)	£90,244	£4,375	£94,619
	£24,979,735	£816,220	£25,795,955

Question reference: S6W-05481

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of people with underlying health conditions had received their flu vaccine before 17 December 2021, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-05605

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish data on deaths resulting from COVID-19, broken down by cases where individuals were (a) vaccinated and (b) unvaccinated.

The COVID-19 statistical report which is published weekly includes a section for COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalisations, and Deaths by Vaccine Status. These can be found at this link. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20580

This reports on the total number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 related acute hospital admissions and confirmed COVID-19 deaths by their vaccination status and covers the period from December 2020 to present.

Question reference: S6W-05583

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual staffing numbers for CalMac have been in each year since 2011, broken down by (a) full-time equivalent positions, (b) head count and (c) seasonal workers.

Question reference: S6W-05637

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether information on the number of air filters that are being used in school classrooms has been collected for use by the Education Recovery Group.

It is for local authorities to exercise their statutory responsibilities and deliver a safe environment for all school users. It is also for local authorities to determine what remedial action is required in their schools, in line with guidance.

The recently announced funding of up to £5 million is in addition to previous funding of £10 million to address issues around ventilation and CO2 monitoring, and on top of £90m of COVID-19 logistics funding.

We continue to engage regularly with stakeholders on ventilation, including in the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group.

Question reference: S6W-05525

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many eligible people have not received anti-viral medication because of the time taken for them to (a) receive the result of their COVID-19 PCR test and (b) be contacted by Test and Protect meant that they could not receive the medication within the five-day treatment window.

From 22 December 2021, adults and children (aged 12 years and above) are eligible to be assessed for their suitability for new COVID-19 treatments if they:

have received a positive PCR test for COVID-19 in the last five days; and
have symptoms of COVID-19 that started in the previous five days; and
are associated with one of the patient groups considered at high risk from coronavirus and with a clinical condition prioritised for treatment.

Health Boards can accept a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test result from eligible individuals whilst waiting for confirmation of a positive PCR test in certain circumstances. The LFD test is not complete until eligible individuals report their result, either online or by phone, and receive a result confirmation notification.

Some COVID-19 positive individuals who meet the eligibility criteria will decide not to receive anti-viral treatments, or may be unable to, for example due to other medications they are taking. Patients are asked to contact their local Health Board if they believe they are eligible for treatment.

There is also ongoing work to proactively contact (e.g. by text message) individuals who may be eligible with a reminder of the access arrangements at the point of a positive PCR test result.