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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-21313

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been undertaken of how many students entered further and higher education in the current academic year and are thought to be unprotected against four deadly types of meningitis, in light of estimates that up to one in eight students might be in such a category, and what steps will be taken to increase uptake of suitable vaccinations in response.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) routinely monitors and publishes vaccination uptake rates for those within education settings. The Scottish Government is working closely with territorial Health Boards and PHS to understand and promote uptake of the MenACWY vaccine in our student population. Regular communication between Health Boards and PHS provides intelligence on uptake levels in specific groups, allowing for targeted responses to improve uptake.

For additional information, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21082 on 19 September 2023. 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

Uptake of vaccinations among young people in Scotland remains high and is delivering lifesaving benefits.

Question reference: S6W-21320

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps and assistance it can offer frontline services to better prevent and deal with a reported rise in sexual extortion, particularly such crimes committed online and towards or amongst young people.

The Scottish Government is committed to making sure that robust measures are in place across Scotland to ensure our partners can identify and support victims of sexual extortion.

The National Child Protection Guidance was updated in August 2023 and supports frontline workers by defining and clarifying the roles and responsibilities for everyone working with children and young people, setting out the foundation for protective action to keep young people safe from harms including sexual exploitation.

The Scottish Government works closely with national and UK service partners including Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland to tackle cyber-crime and online sexual extortion scams. We are also members of Police Scotland’s Multi-Agency Group on Preventing Online Sexual Abuse which helps us to recognise and respond effectively to new and emerging trends in online child sexual abuse and exploitation, such as the financially motivated sexual extortion of our young people.

I chair the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce which convenes key partners involved in tackling organised crime, disrupting the activities of organised crime groups and reducing the harm it causes our communities. In June of this year we published guidance for practitioners on criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults on behalf of the Taskforce.

The Scottish Government’s “Our Delivering Equally Safe” fund has awarded over £110,000 to the South West Grid for Learning to deliver advice to victims of intimate image abuse and to improve awareness of sexual exploitation – or ‘Revenge Porn’ across Scotland. The Safer Scotland website was updated earlier this year to provide information, links to support and advice for victims on reporting intimate image abuse. The Scottish Government’s Parent Club website also offers advice for parents on how to protect their children from online harms. We are currently reviewing the content of the Hub to include advice for parents and carers on sexual extortion as well as other emerging risks for children online.

Question reference: S6W-21326

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its latest and revised best estimation is for the in-service delivery date for when the Glen Sannox ferry will be operable on the CalMac route, and the total estimated overall cost of the vessel upon delivery.

Question reference: S6W-21323

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the potential for again making available free COVID-19 testing to the general population, in light of recent reports of new variants and a potential winter rise in cases and mutations.

Targeted testing is in place to support clinical decision making and surveillance. We are working closely with Public Health Scotland, our clinical advisors and the other UK nations to routinely review our position and the clinical advice on COVID-19 in light of new variants. Evidence to date does not support a return to widespread community testing however we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Question reference: S6W-21052

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure the safety of all road users and pedestrians, in light of Police Scotland figures revealing that there have been over 2,000 incidents involving e-scooters reported in the last year.

In Scotland it is illegal to ride an electric scooter on a public road, pavement, cycle paths, shared paths or any public place. Enforcement of this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority.

More broadly, the Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland’s road travel safe for everyone. The Scottish Government published a Road Safety Framework to 2030 in 2021. The framework sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and an ambitious long term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.

Question reference: S6W-21083

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide adult carers who live on islands with additional financial support, in light of it stating in its publication, Carer Support Payment: island communities impact assessment, that "the value of Carer Support Payment in real terms will be lower for island and rural carers".

Island and rural carers will benefit from the introduction of Carer Support Payment, which will replace Carer’s Allowance in Scotland, including through support from Social Security Scotland’s local delivery service and better signposting to wider support available to carers. Island communities will also continue to benefit from the extra support only available in Scotland from the Carer’s Allowance Supplement. By the end of this year, carers in Scotland continuously in receipt of the Carer's Allowance Supplement since its introduction in 2018 will have received over £3,300. The Carer Support Payment is being delivered in the context of wider cross-governmental work to positively impact rural and island communities, such as the commitments in the National Islands Plan to tackle the higher costs of fuel, transport and housing as well as to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Further planned improvements for Carer Support Payment are set out in the Scottish Government’s response to the consultation published on 24 March 2023. We will continue to engage with rural and island carers and organisations in developing Carer Support Payment and to ensure our plans to join carers to wider carer support services, such as income maximisation, meet the needs of island and rural carers.

Question reference: S6W-21082

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure a high rate of vaccination against diseases among young people, in light of UK Health Security Agency data revealing that 13% of new students are unprotected against four deadly types of meningitis.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Public Health Scotland (PHS), territorial Health Boards and other key partners to promote uptake of immunisation against vaccine-preventable disease in young people, including our student population.

PHS has targeted new students through a range of communications, highlighting the importance of ensuring that their vaccinations, particularly MMR and MenACWY, are up to date prior to arrival at college or university. These complement specific resources for new entrants arriving in Scotland, including new international students. Information about vaccines for new students can be found at Vaccines for students | NHS inform

( https://www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/vaccines-for-students/ ).

Uptake of vaccinations among young people in Scotland remains high and is delivering lifesaving benefits.

Question reference: S6W-21041

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider closing the 35 schools in Scotland that were found to have been built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, as has been done in other jurisdictions.

The Scottish Government has been actively engaging with local authority partners, who have statutory responsibility for school buildings in Scotland, for some time.

Those schools where RAAC has been identified are taking mitigation steps in line with guidance from the Institute of Structural Engineers which has not changed. Any local authority which deems it necessary to close a school in their authority, in whole or in part, is empowered to do so. For example, Riverside Primary School in West Lothian fully closed its building over the summer holidays and moved pupils in to alternative provision.

COSLA have confirmed that safety is the central consideration and there is robust guidance which is followed by every local authority to ensure these settings are safe for the pupils, staff and the public to be in.

Question reference: S6T-01548

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing a ban on American XL bully dogs, in light of a series of reported attacks involving such dogs.

Question reference: S6W-21170

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any properties that it has purchased in the last two years for the purpose of housing asylum seekers, including the cost of any such purchases, and the number of any asylum seekers who have been housed in each property.

The Scottish Government has not purchased any properties for the purpose of housing people seeking asylum.

Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes responsibility for providing accommodation to people seeking asylum who would otherwise be destitute while awaiting a decision on their asylum application from the Home Office. The Scottish Government has no control of these processes.