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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: S6O-02097

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what feedback it has received from MSPs and their staff regarding the roll-out of Webex.

The roll-out of Webex, the new phone system being used to replace our aging phone system at Holyrood, began for MSPs and their staff in February. While it is still in the early stages, so far feedback from offices using the new system, has been very positive. I do appreciate however that a very small number of offices in the initial phase have been rescheduled while a solution which meets their needs can be delivered.

Question reference: S6O-02096

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the SPCB) on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what benefits are available for SPCB and MSP staff.

The SPCB offers a range of benefits to SPCB staff and similar or identical benefits also underpin the employment relationship between MSPs and their staff. These benefits include generous annual leave, sick pay and maternity, paternity and adoption pay entitlements which exceed statutory provisions and which are competitive when compared with other public sector employers. Other benefits include pension schemes with employer contributions, a cycle to work scheme, interest free season ticket loans and discount schemes for selected retailers.

Question reference: S6O-02094

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

Question reference: S6W-15965

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to procure a federated data platform for NHS Scotland.

There are currently no plans to procure a federated data platform for the NHS in Scotland. However, we want to make sure that we have the technology and infrastructure in place to equip health and care professionals to better collect, store and use data.

There are a number of key national developments already underway. This includes the development of National Digital Platform , and its associated National Clinical Data Store which provides the foundation for consistent, access to information. These are being developed in line with the overall ‘Cloud First’ policy, which emphasises the requirement to consider the use of public cloud services first, before other options, when introducing new services or updating existing ones – and we will develop a specific action plan for the use of Cloud technology across health & social care.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for Health and Social Care – ‘greater access, better insight, improved outcomes: a strategy for data-driven care in the digital age’ was published on 22 February 2023. One of the core ambitions of the Data Strategy is to: empower the people of Scotland by giving individuals clear and easy access to, and the ability to manage and contribute to, their own health and social care data where it is safe and appropriate to do so. To achieve this, we will confirm data sources and data sets that are safe to be consistently shared. For individuals, data access will be enabled through the implementation of the Digital Front Door. This will enable individuals to share their health and care information with those involved in their care and support people to self manage.

Question reference: S6W-15774

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, for each ferry in the CalMac fleet, how many days each vessel has been out of service or unable to operate in each of the last 10 years because of (a) breakdown, (b) a refit, (c) refit overruns and (d) concerns over performance of the vessel in bad weather.

Question reference: S6W-15773

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, for each ferry in the CalMac fleet, how much has been (a) budgeted for each vessel’s annual refit, (b) spent on each vessel’s annual refit and (c) spent in total on both the vessel's annual refit and any additional repairs carried out, in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-15970

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £26 million of additional funding for colleges, as announced in the Scottish Budget 2023-24, will become core funding in future years.

Question reference: S6W-15859

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Transport Scotland's target for rail freight.

Question reference: S6W-16093

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15024 by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023, whether (a) the Minister for Transport, (b) CMAL and (c) Transport Scotland officials have held meetings with representatives of Pentland Ferries, from 1 October 2022 to date, regarding the chartering of the MV Alfred for the Clyde and Hebrides network, and, if so, when any such meetings took place.

Question reference: S6W-16135

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ban the use of direct emissions heating systems for existing off-gas-grid properties from 2025.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce legislation (subject to consultation) prohibiting the use of direct emission heating systems in Scotland’s homes by 2045. We plan to introduce such requirements from 2025 and are developing approaches to phasing in these regulations across the housing stock. As committed to in this year’s Programme for Government, we will consult on our proposals for this legislation this year.