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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: S6F-02557

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government policy to require households to replace their fossil fuel boilers with heat pumps or other green energy systems in off gas properties from 2025 and in on gas areas from 2030 is still going ahead.

Question reference: S6F-02551

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02552

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-22705

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much of its Flexible Workforce Development Fund has been accessed in each year since it was established by private sector organisations that contribute to the UK Apprenticeship Levy.

Data on employer type was not collected during the first year of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) which was academic year 2017-2018. Information on Levy Paying employer spend on the first four years of the Fund is available in the FWDF evaluation report which was published in January 2023: https://www.gov.scot/publications/evaluation-flexible-workforce-development-fund-fwdf/ .

Based on the information provided by our delivery partners, the Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland, the level of FWDF accessed by private sector organisations in the academic years 2018-2023 was:

2018-2019 - £7 million.
2019-2020 - £6.7 million.
2020-2021 - £8.3 million.
2021-2022 - £9.1 million.
2022-2023 - part year as delivery continues to end of December 2023 - £7.1 million.

Question reference: S6W-22699

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding the upcoming Celtic Connections festival.

The Scottish Government does not engage directly with local authorities regarding the Celtic Connections Festival. The Scottish Government provides Celtic Connections financial support through EXPO funds, administered through Creative Scotland, to help Celtic Connections meet key strategic objectives linked to the fund.

In 2023/24 Celtic Connections received £101,000 to help them raise their international profile and promote Scottish artists by enabling Celtic Connections to enhance their programmes through exciting and innovative co-productions and collaborations. The EXPO application process and allocation of EXPO funding is managed through Creative Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-22694

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22175 by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023, in light of it having provided this data in the answer to question S3W-33114 by Nicola Sturgeon on 5 May 2010, for what reason it stated in its answer that this information is not held centrally, and whether it will now provide the information requested.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. For convenience, the National Records of Scotland have provided the data requested below:

Table 1: Acute gastroenteropathy due to Norovirus (A08.1) was the underlying cause of death, 2015 to 2022.

Year	NHS Board area	All deaths	Pre-existing conditions	No pre-existing conditions
2015	Fife	1	1	0
2015	Highland	1	1	0
2015	Lothian	3	3	0
2015	Tayside	2	2	0
2016	Ayrshire and Arran	1	1	0
2016	Fife	1	1	0
2016	Grampian	2	2	0
2016	Highland	2	2	0
2016	Lanarkshire	1	1	0
2016	Lothian	2	2	0
2016	Tayside	3	3	0
2017	Fife	1	1	0
2017	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2	2	0
2017	Lothian	2	2	0
2018	Ayrshire and Arran	2	2	0
2018	Grampian	1	1	0
2018	Lanarkshire	1	1	0
2018	Lothian	1	1	0
2018	Tayside	1	1	0
2019	Forth Valley	1	1	0
2019	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1	1	0
2019	Highland	1	1	0
2019	Lothian	2	2	0
2019	Tayside	1	1	0
2020	Fife	1	1	0
2020	Highland	1	1	0
2020	Lothian	3	3	0
2021	Grampian	1	1	0
2022	Fife	1	1	0
2022	Grampian	1	1	0
2022	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2	2	0
2022	Lanarkshire	2	2	0
2022	Lothian	3	3	0
2022	Tayside	1	0	1

Table 2: Acute gastroenteropathy due to Norovirus (A08.1) was mentioned on the death certificate, 2015 to 2022.

Year	NHS Board area	All deaths	Pre-existing conditions	No pre-existing conditions
2015	Borders	2	2	0
2015	Fife	1	1	0
2015	Highland	3	3	0
2015	Lanarkshire	1	1	0
2015	Lothian	4	4	0
2015	Tayside	4	4	0
2016	Ayrshire and Arran	1	1	0
2016	Fife	2	2	0
2016	Grampian	3	3	0
2016	Highland	3	3	0
2016	Lanarkshire	2	2	0
2016	Lothian	6	6	0
2016	Tayside	4	4	0
2017	Ayrshire and Arran	1	1	0
2017	Fife	1	1	0
2017	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	6	5	1
2017	Lothian	3	3	0
2017	Tayside	1	1	0
2018	Ayrshire and Arran	2	2	0
2018	Fife	2	2	0
2018	Grampian	4	4	0
2018	Highland	1	1	0
2018	Lanarkshire	1	1	0
2018	Lothian	3	3	0
2018	Tayside	2	2	0
2019	Borders	1	1	0
2019	Fife	1	1	0
2019	Forth Valley	1	1	0
2019	Grampian	1	1	0
2019	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	3	3	0
2019	Highland	3	2	1
2019	Lothian	2	2	0
2019	Tayside	4	4	0
2020	Fife	1	1	0
2020	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1	1	0
2020	Highland	1	1	0
2020	Lothian	4	4	0
2021	Ayrshire and Arran	1	1	0
2021	Grampian	1	1	0
2021	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	1	1	0
2021	Tayside	2	2	0
2022	Borders	1	1	0
2022	Fife	1	1	0
2022	Grampian	2	2	0
2022	Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2	2	0
2022	Lanarkshire	3	3	0
2022	Lothian	8	8	0
2022	Tayside	1	0	1

Source: National Records of Scotland

The International Classification for Disease (10th edition) is used to code deaths. The code used is Acute gastroenteropathy due to Norovirus (A08.1).

Figures include non-residents. Deaths are allocated to area based on the usual residence of the deceased. If the deceased was not a Scottish resident, the death is allocated to the area where the death occurred.

The figures by underlying cause (Table 1) are a subset of those which have mentions of A08.1 on the death certificate (Table 2). Therefore, the deaths in Table 2 will include all of the deaths in Table 1.

The year is based on date of registration. In Scotland deaths must be registered within 8 days although in practice, the average time between death and registration is around 3 days.

Question reference: S6W-22684

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce an equivalent scheme to the Community Facilities Programme in Wales, which provides small and large grants to community and voluntary sector organisations to improve community facilities that are well used by local people, such as churches, post offices and community shops.

In Scotland we have a well established policy framework supporting our communities, delivered through a range of programmes and funds including funding to develop and improve community facilities.

For example, our Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) has invested over £180m capital funding since its launch in 2021-22. The PBIP includes investment delivered through local government and the delivery of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF). PBIP is shaped by the needs and aspirations of local communities and has provided direct support for community and voluntary sector organisations to create and improve local facilities.

The RCGF provides capital funding to community-focused projects to help deliver regeneration in deprived and fragile areas. RCGF is primarily aimed at either providing new infrastructure or enhancing existing infrastructure that will improve the economic, social, and physical environment of communities. The fund has supported communities across Scotland to create and improve hundreds of assets and facilities, bringing back into use vacant and derelict buildings, including historic and landmark buildings.

Our Empowering Communities Programme complements the PBIP with revenue investment enabling communities to connect with and maximise impact from the capital investment, supporting the capacity, resilience, and sustainability of communities.

Question reference: S6W-22687

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent estimate it has made of the total costs incurred per chronic kidney disease patient who undergoes dialysis treatment at home compared with dialysis treatment in hospital.

Question reference: S6W-22708

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, since August 2022, what percentage of claimants to be automatically transferred to Adult Disability Payment have been transferred because (a) their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award is due to be reviewed, (b) their PIP award is coming to an end and (c) they have reported a change in circumstances to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Official statistics show that as of 31 July 2023, 51,260 people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance had their award transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland. This accounts for 55% of the Adult Disability Payment caseload.

Information is not readily available showing a breakdown of the reasons for transfers from Personal Independence Payment to Adult Disability Payment. The next set of statistics covering the quarter up until end of October 2023 are due to be published on 19 December 2023.

Question reference: S6W-22702

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its Flexible Workforce Development Fund has been accessed in each year since it has been established, broken down by sector.

This information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under BiB No 64673.

Data relating to colleges and the Open University in Scotland is based on bimonthly returns to the Scottish Funding Council from institutions delivering the Flexible Workforce Development Fund and should therefore be considered as an informal indication of how the Fund has been spent.

Data relating to AY 2022-23 is provisional as 2022-23 delivery is due to be completed at the end of December 2023.