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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-20874

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the status is of the £9.6 million loan granted by the Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres (SPRUCE) fund in 2012 for the development of 110 Queen Street, Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-21381

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 22 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support National Museums Scotland with approaching the City of Long Beach, California, regarding the potential acquisition of at least one of the original lifeboats from the RMS Queen Mary that were built by Hugh McLean & Sons Ltd, of Govan, Glasgow, for Scotland's national collection, in light of reported proposals to scrap 19 of the 22 boats.

This is an operational matter for National Museums Scotland and the Board of Trustees.

National Museums Scotland has advised officials that it is not looking to acquire one of the lifeboats from the RMS Queen Mary for the National Collection.

NMS does not actively collect full sized aquatic vessels in its transport collection. Space and storage limitations would prevent them from being able to care appropriately for an object of this size.

Question reference: S6W-21228

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons why the number of active construction projects in Glasgow and Edinburgh is reportedly lagging behind that of every other major British city.

There has been no specific assessment and it is important to note that these data only reflect Considerate Contractor members.

Scottish Government monitor the market dynamics through our data dashboard which was developed by the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) and can be viewed on the CLF website https://www.constructionforum.scot/ .

We work closely with the construction industry through the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF), chaired by myself, which is the main forum for Scottish Government/Industry interaction and meets every two months.

Question reference: S6W-21255

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many manufacturing jobs were created in each of the last 10 years.

Specific data on job creation is not collected. Over the past ten years, the estimated numbers of manufacturing jobs in Scotland, rounded to the nearest 1,000, were as follows:

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Total	184000	176000	189000	181000	179000	185000	181000	169000	178000	179000

‎Source: Business Register and Employment Survey (Office for National Statistics; 2022)
‎
‎The number of estimated jobs in manufacturing in each year since 2012 has fluctuated between 169,000 and 189,000. The most recent figure (2021) shows 179,000 estimated jobs.

Question reference: S6W-21128

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its engagement with the UK Government regarding whether there will be a third round of the Levelling Up Fund.

Question reference: S6W-21429

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of Glasgow City Council solicitors stating that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has "not been accepting planning prosecutions in recent years", what information it has on whether this is true, and, if it is true, what its position is on whether this has the effect of undermining the authority of the planning system.

Question reference: S6W-21043

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent CAMHS waiting time statistics, for the quarter ending in June 2023, which reportedly demonstrate a decrease in the number of children and young people being seen within the 18-week waiting time target.

The most recent CAMHS statistics show that the number of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral did in fact increase in quarter ending June 2023, and in comparison with the same quarter the previous year.

3,760 children and young people (CYP) started treatment within 18 weeks of referral during the quarter ending June 2023, a 3.0% increase from the previous quarter (3,652) and a 5.7% increase from the same quarter in the previous year (3,557).

This is the second highest number of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral for any quarter since 2019 . While the number of patients being seen is increasing, this is not yet reflected in performance against the standard as Boards also continue to work to treat those who have had longer waits.

Question reference: S6W-21042

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to increase the number of people starting psychological therapies within the 18-week target, following a reported decrease in the number of people being seen within that target window over the previous two quarters to March 2023.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We continue to provide targeted, tailored support towards those Boards with the longest waits and poorest performance.

We have allocated £48.6 million of supplementary funding to Boards this year via the Mental Health Outcomes Framework to improve the quality and delivery of mental health services for all. This is in addition to £36.7 million allocated to Health Boards via the Outcomes Framework in 2022-23; and to the total package of core funding that Health Boards receive.

Within the Outcomes Framework funding for this year, Boards are expected to: build capacity within psychological therapy services to deliver the standard and reduce backlogs; improve quality and access in response to local need; and implement the forthcoming national specification for psychological therapies.

Question reference: S6W-21165

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to take forward the recommendations made by the COVID-19 Recovery Committee in its letter to the Minister for Public Health and Women's Health on 5 July 2023 regarding its Recovery of NHS dental services inquiry, including the recommendation that "the Scottish Government provide costings for – and consults on – different service model options".

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing NHS dental payment reform on 1 November 2023 which will retain independent dental practices as the mainstay of NHS provision. Payment reform will also continue to comprise fee-per-item, capitation and allowance payments within a blended model.

In bringing forward payment reform, Scottish Government is seeking to address how best to maximise patient care and access to NHS dental services within a challenging financial position, and ensure value-for-money to the public sector. It is our view this can only be done by maintaining the blended system of payment, and our engagement with the sector during the development of reform has shown that dentists prefer being able to determine their own income and workload through the fee-per-item model.

The Scottish Government is currently responding to the committee’s letter in full, and this response will be published in due course.

Question reference: S6W-20969

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the reported 255 NHS buildings that are suspected to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete have been inspected by structural engineers.