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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: S6O-02061

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on what progress it has made in preparing for the operation of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6O-02028

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on what preparations it has made for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6O-02099

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on pay negotiations with trade unions representing Scottish Parliament staff.

Question reference: S6O-02098

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what discussions it has had in relation to access to translation services for cross-party groups.

Question reference: S6O-02095

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will next meet with representatives from the GMB trade union MSP staff branch.

Question reference: S6W-16014

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the take-up rate of the Warm Home Discount is amongst the Broader Group.

The value of the rebate and total value of the scheme in Scotland was established in regulations approved by the Westminster Parliament. The Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) .

Information about the number of rebates provided by the scheme is published as an annual report by Ofgem, the independent regulator. Warm Home Discount (WHD) - Reports and data | Ofgem Further information about delivery of the 22-23 Warm Home Discount scheme has not yet been provided to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-16010

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of provisions in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 ("the Act") requires Scottish Ministers to publish a national good food nation plan. Work on the first iteration of the plan is currently underway. The Scottish Government expects to publish a draft of the national good food nation plan for consultation in summer 2023. Our intention is that, following completion and analysis of the consultation, the draft plan will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in spring 2024, with the final version of the plan published in late 2024.

In addition, the Act requires that the Scottish Ministers must, when exercising a specified function or a function falling within a specified description, have regard to the national good food nation plan. These specified functions must be set out in secondary legislation. We expect to consult on the proposals for specified functions in 2023, and to lay the relevant secondary legislation in time for it to come in force around the same time as final publication of the national plan.

The Act also requires that relevant authorities (defined in the Act as health boards and local authorities) must produce their own good food nation plans. We expect that relevant authority plans will be published in 2025. This allows time for relevant authorities to have regard to the content of the national plan when preparing their own plans, and to consult on the content.

Question reference: S6W-16004

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has decided to end the provision of routine breast screening for women aged over 75, and, if so, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10348 on 29 August 2022, which outlines that the restart of self-referrals must be conducted in a careful, phased manner in order to understand and mitigate impacts on those for whom screening is recommended, and for whom it has the most benefits.

In November 2022, self-referrals for breast screening appointments were reinstated for those between 71 and 74, and anyone over 75 with a history of breast cancer.

The Scottish Government understands the wish some people have for this to be widened to include all those over the age of 75 without a history of breast cancer, but it is imperative to understand the impact this initial re-instatement is having on both programme capacity and overall wait times, before any further decisions regarding eligibility are taken. The current advice from the UK National Screening Committee is that breast screening should be provided to those age 50-70 years.

These impacts are being regularly reviewed, and an update will be provided to parliament once any decisions have been reached.

Question reference: S6W-15939

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many planning application appeals it has received in each of the last five years on the grounds of non-determination, where a local authority has been unable to reach a decision within six months, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) type of application.

The number of planning appeals received, in each of the last five years, on the grounds of *non-determination and where a local authority has been unable to reach a decision within six months, is held in the following table :

Case Reference	Planning Authority	Application Type	Case Details	Total per authority
PPA-230-2241	City of Edinburgh Council	Planning Permission in Principle	Residential Development	3
PPA-230-2343	City of Edinburgh Council	Planning Permission	Residential Development
PPA-230-2387	City of Edinburgh Council	Planning Permission in Principle	Residential Development
PPA-170-2149	Dumfries And Galloway Council	Planning Permission	Erection of a ten turbine windfarm	3
PPA-170-2152	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Planning Permission	Erection of a seven turbine windfarm
PPA-170-2153	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Planning Permission	Erection of a nine turbine windfarm
PPA-210-2085	East Lothian Council	Planning Permission in Principle	Mixed use development including residential and commercial	1
PPA-240-2067	Falkirk Council	Planning Permission	Erection Of Church	1
PPA-260-2153	Glasgow City Council	Planning Permission	Residential Development	1
PPA-290-2060	Midlothian Council	Planning Permission	Residential Development	2
PPA-290-2061	Midlothian Council	Planning Permission in Principle	Residential Development	2
PPA-340-2130	Perth and Kinross Council	Planning Permission	Residential Development	2
PPA-340-2131	Perth and Kinross Council	Planning Permission in Principle	Residential Development	2
PPA-350-2043	Renfrewshire Council	Planning Permission	Residential Development	1
PPA-140-2074	Scottish Borders Council	Planning permission in Principle	Residential Development	1
PPA-380-2076	South Lanarkshire Council	Planning Permission	Erection Of Care Home	1
PPA-400-2113	West Lothian Council	Planning Permission in Principle	Residential Development	1
Total received				17

* Planning authorities have a two month period in which to determine planning applications, extended to four months in the case of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development (unless an extension to that timescale is agreed by the applicant and planning authority).

Decisions are made in line with the development plan for the area and national policies. Each appeal is considered on its own merits.

Question reference: S6W-16009

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the establishment of a Food Commission.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 contains provisions to establish the Scottish Food Commission. Establishing a new public body is complex and it takes time to work through the processes associated with setting up a new body. The Scottish Food Commission’s functions are directly linked to the good food nation plans required by the Good Food Nation Act. We therefore intend to establish it in a similar timeframe to the publication of the final version of the Scottish Government’s first national good food nation plan, which is expected in late 2024. This will allow the Food Commission to take up one of its key tasks, which is to scrutinise and make recommendations in relation to the first national good food nation plan.