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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-21434

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the development of the role description of the Women's Health Leads that took place in November 2022, how much time of the Women's Health Leads has been allocated to implementing the Women's Health Plan.

Question reference: S6W-21420

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consequences there are for local authorities that do not meet its commitment to provide every school pupil with their own laptop or other digital device.

We are committed to ensuring that every school-aged child has access to a device to support their learning by the end of this parliament in 2026.

We continue to work with COSLA and local authority partners to develop delivery plans. This includes consideration of funding, monitoring and reporting, as well as the development of a digital strategy for education to ensure that digital provision supports the broader aims of the education system.

Question reference: S6W-21445

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to develop and publish a new national strategy for palliative and end of life care.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing and delivering a new Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy. We have established a Strategy Steering Group to oversee the development and delivery which has now met six times. We have also established a number of working groups to gather evidence to inform the strategy and progress areas in parallel with the development of the wider strategy.

Question reference: S6W-21431

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is a requirement for CCTV in state hospitals to capture or record audio, and, if not, whether there are plans to require this in the future.

Under the Mental Health (Safety and Security) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 there is no requirement for CCTV in The State Hospital to capture or record audio.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to require that CCTV captures or records audio. Should there become a clear need for this requirement that cannot be addressed through other methods we will consider whether it would be appropriate to introduce this.

Question reference: S6W-21314

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place with relevant stakeholders regarding the potential for direct cargo and passenger or vehicle ferry routes from Scotland to the European continent.

The Scottish Government wants to see Scotland’s sea connections to Europe enhanced. We work closely with Scotland’s main ports across a range of issues including the potential for new freight and passenger ferry services. Commercial stakeholders are fundamental to any new service being realised. The former Minister for Business and officials met shipping and freight forwarding companies, port operators and hauliers to explore how Scottish exporters chose their routes to market, and current Ministers and officials continue to meet port operators and haulage and shipping associations to understand future market demand.

Question reference: S6W-20703

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19780 by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2023, what proportion of the (a) £830 million spend on additional support for learning in 2021-22 and (b) £15 million per year in additional funding since 2019-20 was allocated to each local authority.

The total spend on additional support for learning in 2021-22 is set out in the following table.

Local Authority	Additional Support for Learning - £000s
Aberdeen City	29,575
Aberdeenshire	39,957
Angus	11,681
Argyll & Bute	11,830
Clackmannanshire	11,917
City of Edinburgh	81,342
Dumfries & Galloway	21,070
Dundee City	15,835
East Ayrshire	19,100
East Dunbartonshire	17,771
East Lothian	16,244
East Renfrewshire	13,481
Falkirk	25,603
Fife	39,493
Glasgow City	123,924
Highland	40,636
Inverclyde	12,628
Midlothian	20,140
Moray	16,032
Eilean Siar	5,625
North Ayrshire	13,163
North Lanarkshire	50,248
Orkney Islands	4,411
Perth & Kinross	19,589
Renfrewshire	24,570
Scottish Borders	11,765
Shetland Islands	8,423
South Ayrshire	19,861
South Lanarkshire	47,670
Stirling	9,968
West Dunbartonshire	19,046
West Lothian	27,729
Scotland	830,327

Source - Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics 2021-22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The majority of funding available to local authorities, including the £15 million additional support for learning, is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government and it is for locally elected representatives to manage the allocation of their resources and the level of services that are delivered to their local communities.

Question reference: S6W-20927

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of any benefits of gene editing for the Scottish agriculture and horticultural sectors in terms of nitrogen efficiency.

The Scottish Government commissioned a review of gene editing for the benefit of plant health, published in January 2022, from the Plant Health Centre. The review included evidence gathering and participation from a wide range of Scottish academics and research providers, as well as from NFUS, and considered implications for the agricultural, horticultural and forestry sectors. It included impacts on the natural environment, and a variety of other areas, such as disease resistance, yield, inputs and food production.

The Scottish Government also has access to significant expertise in its advisors, including the Chief Scientific Advisor for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.

Question reference: S6W-20929

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of any benefits of gene editing for the Scottish agriculture and horticultural sectors in terms of improving biodiversity.

Question reference: S6W-21629

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many public sector grants have been awarded since 1 July 2023 that require recipients to both pay the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective worker voice, broken down by the value of each grant.

As Mr Johnson notes, the new requirement on grants has been in place since July this year. We are currently focussed on supporting all government portfolios and public bodies across Scotland to implement the new conditions.

Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where exceptions to the mandatory grant requirements are applied, grant managers are asked to record these. This information will be requested and collated at the end of the financial year.

Question reference: S6W-21461

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of NHS Scotland buildings suspected of containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, following the desk-based research commissioned by National Services Scotland.