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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-17894

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether patients should be required to pay a deposit to register with an NHS dentist.

Question reference: S6W-17570

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have indicated directly to the Scottish Government that they have not joined the Deposit Return Scheme due to the UK Government's position on the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-17545

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15907 by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023, in light of the delay to the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme, whether it will provide an update on what impact this will have on the proposed Circular Economy Bill.

Question reference: S6W-17555

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how the additional £10 million funding for the Fuel Insecurity Fund will be allocated.

As the First Minister recently announced, the Fuel Insecurity Fund’s budget for 2023/24 has increased from £20 million to £30 million. The Fund has been allocated as follows:

£9 million to enable Advice Direct Scotland to administer Home Heating Support Fund grants to those struggling with the rapid increase in gas, electricity and oil prices;
£8.5 million for the Fuel Bank Foundation to rapidly support more than 85,000 households, including those with prepayment meters and at risk of imminent self-disconnection;
£7.25 million to enable the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to provide more than 55,000 households across Scotland with advice, support with bills and energy-saving items;
£5 million for one-to-one mentoring for households to be provided by a new funding partner, The Wise Group, as part of a longer-term approach to tackling poverty and its causes;£250,000 for Energy Action Scotland to support both an uplift to their core staff costs and opportunity for expanded roles to aid our longer-term approach to tackling fuel poverty.

Question reference: S6W-17568

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many new roles will be required to successfully operate the Deposit Return Scheme and, of those, how many have already been filled.

Question reference: S6W-17484

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of any meeting(s) that the First Minister and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity had with stakeholders regarding the proposed Deposit Return Scheme on 20 April 2023.

The Scottish Government understands that details of the Deposit Return Scheme are matters of public interest and should be properly scrutinised and debated in parliament. We are committed to transparency and openness in our administration of the Deposit Return Scheme, and going forward we aim to proactively publish on a monthly basis key information such as notes of meetings, letters, and other information which will help people understand how decisions are made.

This commitment to publish information must be balanced against the continued need to protect peoples personal data, and meet our commitments to protecting commercially confidential information. This is in line with the General Data Protection Regulation, Environmental Information Regulations, and other legal obligations.

Question reference: S6O-02243

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Court of Session's ruling that a so-called nil cap for sexual entertainment venues under provisions in the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 is unlawful.

Question reference: S6W-17556

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what impact the Fuel Insecurity Fund has had in reducing fuel poverty.

As part of the tripling of the Fuel Insecurity Fund, announced by the First Minister this year, an assessment of impact to date on Fuel Poverty Act 2019 statutory targets is being considered by officials to inform next steps and advice to Ministers. This is part of a wider long-term holistic and sustainable approach to addressing poverty, and investment in change.

The Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) has been and continues to be a direct lifeline for tens of thousands of households, providing emergency short-term crisis support to those at risk of self-rationing their energy use, or self-disconnecting entirely. Since being established in the winter of 2020, as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, a total of £33.595 million in support has been distributed from the FIF through our third sector delivery partners.

Our Tackling Fuel Poverty strategy sets out the actions towards meeting our statutory targets as set out in the Fuel Poverty Act 2019. We are presently consulting with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel in respect of next steps with our strategy.

Official statistics on fuel poverty in Scotland are published as part of the annual Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS). However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the most recent available figures relate to 2019, and so predate the establishment of the FIF. The SHCS for 2021 is due to be published on 30 May.

Question reference: S6W-17392

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its new Climate Change Plan.

Question reference: S6W-17396

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the First Minister had with the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity between 29 March and 19 April 2023, and on what dates these meetings occurred.