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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-18389

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported change to residency eligibility criteria for free student tuition support in Scotland, whether people from Hong Kong with a British National (Overseas) visa will be eligible for free tuition fees in higher education, if they have three years of residency in Scotland.

I am pleased to confirm that from Academic Year 2023-24 all students who meet the following criteria will be eligible for home fees status and student financial support in Further Education and Higher Education:

Ordinarily resident in the UK for three years prior to the relevant date;
Ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date; and
Granted a form of leave to enter or remain in the UK, where that leave has not expired.

As the British National (Overseas) visa would be considered a form of leave to enter or remain in the UK, a student holding this visa would be eligible for support in the event that they satisfy the remaining criteria.

Question reference: S6W-18355

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Scottish Academy Trainee Doctors' Group, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-18380

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its timescale is for launching a consultation to examine the use of cages for laying hens.

The Scottish Government takes the improvement of welfare for all animals in Scotland very seriously and is keen to progress a consultation on the cage use for laying hens, alongside other animal welfare commitments

Consultation on phasing out cage use for laying hens was originally intended to be delivered jointly across the UK. However, progress on a number of important pieces of animal welfare legislation have been significantly delayed due to UK Government timetabling.

I have repeatedly expressed the Scottish Government’s disappointment and the need for urgency on a number important animal welfare issues, where joint working across GB has been previously agreed. Sadly no further clarity has been provided by UK Ministers.

While Scottish Ministers remain committed to introducing joint legislation where it is sensible and logical to do so in the interests of animal welfare, further consideration will be given to how we can best deliver our commitments going forward.

Question reference: S6W-18354

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Scottish Committee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-18328

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any plans to (a) implement the scheme for funding for alternative dispute resolution and (b) establish a pilot of mandatory meetings on alternatives to court under the Children (Scotland) Act 2020.

Sections 23(7) and 24(4) of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 place a duty on the Scottish Ministers to lay six-monthly reports before Parliament setting out why the duties to (a) implement the scheme for funding for alternative dispute resolution and (b) establish a pilot of mandatory meetings on alternatives to court are not yet fulfilled, and stating when implementation is expected.

To date the Scottish Ministers have laid four such reports before Parliament and these have been published on the Scottish Government website. The latest report is available here:

Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - section 23(1) and section 24(1): fourth report on the Scottish Ministers' duties - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-18363

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many radiotherapy staff have received appropriate national radiotherapy data-set training, and whether all radiotherapy staff are now trained.

Question reference: S6W-18362

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many Adult Disability Payment Change of Circumstances forms have been submitted in each month since January 2023, and, of these, what the (a) longest, (b) average and (c) median processing time was for these unscheduled reviews of Adult Disability Payment.

Social Security Scotland does not currently produce information relating to Change of Circumstances but we do routinely publish information about Adult Disability Payment, including processing times of new applications.

These statistics were most recently published in March 2023, covering up to end January 2023, and are available at:

Social Security Scotland - Social Security Scotland statistics: publications

The next publication, covering up to end April 2023, will be published on 13 June.

Social Security Scotland is committed to giving clients timely decisions, while allowing sufficient time to ensure the necessary information is in place to get decisions right the first time. Clients can advise us of a change of circumstance for a number of reasons, and if the change is relevant to their entitlement, a review would be carried out. Every case is individual and processing times will vary.

Question reference: S6W-18350

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-18231

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the priority set out in the 2020 document, Recovery and Redesign: An Action Plan for Cancer Services, to "work with the Scottish Hepatobiliary Network and support clinical consensus on redesign of pancreatic...cancer pathways", whether it has completed this work, and, if so, what actions resulted from this.

Question reference: S6W-18283

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has changed its target for the publication of the final version of its biodiversity strategy to 2045, along with the first delivery plan, since the draft strategy was published, and, if so, what the original target was.

Our original intention was to consult on the final draft biodiversity strategy and delivery plan in Spring 2023 with a view to publishing the final strategy and delivery plan in in Summer 2023. The time frame was put back by 3 months to allow key elements of the proposed Natural Environment Bill to be included in the consultation. The expanded consultation will be launched shortly with a view to final publication of the strategy and delivery plan later this year.