- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many tenancy deposits were unclaimed at the end of the tenancy agreement in each year since 2021-22, and what action it takes to promote the uptake of deposits.
Answer
The requested information is detailed in the following table:
Financial Year | Increase in unclaimed deposits from previous year | Total number of unclaimed deposits |
2021-22 | 862 | 12,912 |
2022-23 | 988 | 13,900 |
2023-24 | 6,297 | 20,197 |
The total value of unclaimed deposits in the requested financial years can be found in our previously issued response to S6W-33204 on 20 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
In reference to the increase of number and value of unclaimed tenancy deposits in 2023-24, Scottish Government received notification from one of the schemes in August 2023 explaining that they had reviewed the criteria used to report on unclaimed deposits. This has resulted in a fluctuation in their figures with a corresponding increase in the total number of unclaimed deposits amongst the three schemes.
Each of the three schemes may calculate unclaimed deposits differently, as an unclaimed deposit is not currently defined in law. Provisions within the Housing (Scotland) Bill will create a legal definition of when a tenancy deposit can be considered unclaimed, ensuring there is consistency in all three schemes figures if the Bill is approved.
The tenancy deposit schemes have taken a number of active steps to reunite unclaimed deposits with former tenants and have recently shared best practises amongst each other. The Scottish Government intend to take forward additional changes to support tenants to reclaim their deposit at the end of the tenancy. This includes providing more information to tenants about unclaimed tenancy deposits to raise awareness of the issue and to be clear about what would happen if they don’t reclaim their deposit, as part of implementation of the measures in the Bill.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government which routes has the Marine Directorate deployed (a) patrol vessels and (b) patrol planes to in each year since 2021, and for what reason.
Answer
Marine and aerial taskings are determined by a rigorous risk assessment process, using live data and intelligence to prioritise the areas where assets are directed.
In 2024 our three patrol ships carried out 866 patrol days, and our two-surveillance aircraft undertook 165 flights, it is therefore not possible to describe the routes taken other than to state they include Rockall, Shetland, the West Coast and North Sea.
A copy of a document detailing heat maps showing patrol areas for each year has been provided to the Scottish Parliaments Information Centre (Bib number is 65620)
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has gathered in relation to a “qualitative insight into experiences of other underrepresented groups in fisheries”, as referenced in the June 2022 publication, Women in Scottish Fisheries: A literature review on experiences, challenges and opportunities for women working in the Scottish fishing industry.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of engaging with under represented groups across the fishing industry. Where research is conducted, this is designed with the aim of trying to include those who are less well engaged.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32178 by Tom Arthur on 19 December 2024, what percentage of employers in Scotland have adopted the Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy, and what specific action it is taking to ensure that self-employed women with endometriosis are not excluded from workplace support initiatives.
Answer
The Menopause and Menstrual Health Workplace Policy, launched on 31 October 2023, is for NHS Scotland. There are 22 NHS Scotland Boards, who have all adopted this policy (each being separate employers). There are 124,032.8 whole time equivalent (WTE) female staff working across NHS Scotland and women represent 77.1% of the NHS Scotland workforce as of September 2024.
The policy has supporting resources, including line managers, workplace adjustment guides, and signposting to more information on symptoms and conditions including endometriosis. These are intended for use more widely across a variety of employment sectors and are available on the National Wellbeing Hub, which is accessible to the public and self-employed women.
For self-employed women workplace support via income replacement benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit, which provide financial support to people of working age who are unable to work due to illness, are fully reserved to the UK Government. However, our Adult Disability Payment provides financial support to recognise the additional costs of living with a disability or long-term health condition.
The health and wellbeing of women at work is a key element of fair work and we know that lack of support for women experiencing menstrual or reproductive health conditions can have a detrimental impact on their employment.
Our Fair Work First Guidance provides good practice examples for supporting women and allowing them to maintain their careers. For example, access to flexible working is of vital benefit to workers who may need to balance work with managing health conditions. Asking employers to offer flexible working from day one of employment has been a principle of Fair Work First since October 2021.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-32184 and S6W-32185 by Jenni Minto on 23 December 2024, how many young people engaged with the campaign; what measurable outcomes were achieved, and what steps have been taken to ensure that menstrual health, including endometriosis, is integrated into the school curriculum as part of standard health education.
Answer
A campaign report evaluating the campaign on Endometriosis for young people in Scotland was provided by Young Scot in April 2023 which measured young people’s engagement with the campaign.
High engagement was achieved across the campaign webpages through social media and paid marketing:
- 2.3 million impressions which is the number of times a user sees a piece of content, regardless of whether they interact with it;
- 56,000 social media engagements which represents number of people interacting with the social media accounts and content; and
- 84,000 video views which reflects the number of times the video content was watched.
With regard to ensuring menstrual health, including endometriosis is included in the school curriculum, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-30034, on 3 October 2024, and S6W-32189, on 23 December 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to expand home healthcare services in rural areas, and how it monitors their impact on patient outcomes.
Answer
A key way in which Scottish Government is looking to expand home healthcare services in rural areas is through the expansion of Hospital at Home.
Hospital at Home is a short-term, targeted intervention that provides a level of acute hospital care in an individual’s own home that is equivalent to that provided within a hospital.
There is strong clinical evidence for Hospital at Home, which has improved patient outcomes such as being able to manage their own care, being more independent and being able to keep their care package whilst receiving care. The service also reduces admissions to nursing homes and reduces the likelihood that patients will be living in residential care in the months after being in hospital.
All hospital at home services capture patient feedback via Care Opinion (www.careopinion.org.uk) as well as locally developed feedback forms. That information is used to understand the impact of their service and inform improvement.
Every Health Board in Scotland operates a Hospital at Home service for adults, including some of the most remote and rural areas of the country. Between April 2023 and March 2024 Hospital at Home Older People’s services treated 14479 patients. Specifically, services in Western Isles treated 383 patients and Oban treated 91.
Further expansion of the service was set out in the 2025-26 draft budget statement where set out plans to expand the number of Hospital at Home beds to at least 2,000 by December 2026.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to prevent counterfeit whisky from damaging the reputation of Scotch whisky globally, in light of a 2018 report by Rare Whisky 101, which reportedly found that, of 55 selected bottles acquired from different sources, 21 proved to be fake.
Answer
Geographical Indication status for Scotch Whisky provides high levels of protection to the whisky sector, both in the UK and across the globe. Scotch Whisky has a global reach, and the industry itself through the Scotch Whisky Association has the expertise and knowledge to tackle instances of fake or misleading whisky which can damage the reputation of the product. There has been considerable progress made since 2018 by both government and the industry in this area particularly with the increase in use of lot codes.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33178 by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025, how many of the 227 street lights were (a) replacements and (b) upgrades in each year.
Answer
Further to question S6W-33178 please see the following table which provides the number of street lamps replaced or upgraded on the A90 trunk road by year.
Year | Replaced | Upgraded |
2020 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 9 | 0 |
2023 | 79 | 0 |
2024 | 50 | 89 |
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what “quantitative evidence on the representation of women across the sector, especially related to onshore work in sales/finance for which there is little data” it has gathered, as referenced in the June 2022 publication, Women in Scottish Fisheries: A literature review on experiences, challenges and opportunities for women working in the Scottish fishing industry.
Answer
We acknowledge that there is an overall lack of data and evidence on women in fisheries for a number of reasons, and we agree that steps are needed to improve this. This is an important issue and many of these gaps will need to be filled in collaboration with the industry and the wider research communities.
The Commercial Fisher Social Survey Scotland pilot is testing methods to deliver a representative social survey with the goal of capturing diverse industry voices and addressing underrepresented groups like crew members and a range of onshore roles that women may be involved in.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how often the Marine Directorate consults (a) fishermen, (b) fisheries businesses and (c) fisheries representative groups about its performance.
Answer
The Marine Directorate has several formal stakeholder engagement forums where there are opportunities to discuss the performance of the Marine Directorate with fishermen, their representatives and fisheries businesses. These include the Fisheries Management and Conservation Group (FMAC), and Regional Inshore Fisheries Management Groups RIFG. Additionally, there are many ad hoc meetings with stakeholders and regular engagement through direct correspondence with relevant officials where the Marine Directorate’s activities and performance can be discussed.
Marine Directorate Compliance Operations portfolio publish inspection data with the latest data being published shortly. (Reporting statistics from marine and fisheries compliance - gov.scot) We will continue to develop the data we publish.