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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-00564

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to enact sections 5 to 7 of the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019.

Question reference: S6W-04649

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to reduce the waiting times for orthopaedic surgery in NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work with the operational and clinical teams in NHS Dumfries and Galloway to support the remobilisation of all services, including surgery for orthopaedic patients.

Whilst local capacity for surgery has been reduced, due to ongoing pressures, the Board have utilised orthopaedic capacity at Golden Jubilee National Hospital for a mix of routine long waiting patients and urgent patients.

To support the system as a whole we published our NHS Recovery Plan, which is backed by more than £1 billion of investment, sets out how we will take forward our aim of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs of the country.

Question reference: S6W-04647

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding is available for (a) Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes and (b) other lifeline charities whose fundraising activities continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, we announced a funding package of £350m for an emergency communities fund to ensure local authorities, community groups, the third sector and social enterprise sector were able to support people and communities affected by COVID-19.

This included the £25 million Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF) and the
‎ £40 million Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme (CTSRP).A further £22.5 million was added to the CTSRP fund in 2021-22 to enable it to continue through to late summer.

These funds are now closed however third sector organisations may also contact their local Third Sector Interface for advice and information on funding sources. Here are the contact details for your local interface, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway: www.tsdg.org.uk

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, SCVO, has a website, ‘Funding Scotland’ offering a one stop shop for information about possible sources of funding for third sector organisations and providing details of possible sources of funding from public sector organisations, corporate and charitable trusts - http://www.funding.scot

Question reference: S6O-00544

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to support the promotion of cultural assets connected to Robert Burns in Dumfries and Galloway.

Question reference: S6W-04646

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether Skills Development Scotland has extended contracts issued during the commissioning process for 2021-22; if so, for what reason, and what its advice is to others seeking to bid for contracts.

Skills Development Scotland wrote to contracted training providers and employers in October 2021, setting out their intention to extend Modern Apprenticeships (MA) contracts. This extension was for a period of 12 months from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. SDS can extend these contracts for a further 12 months from 2023 to 2024. Any extensions are subject to budget allocation for that financial year.

SDS have made clear that any organisation seeking to bid for MA contracts out with the commissioning period can do this as a sub-contractor, working with an existing contracted provider.

SDS may also extend other contracts such as for IT services or facilities, in line with normal practice for these type of contracts.

Question reference: S6W-04648

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a domestic replacement for the EU school milk subsidy scheme, in light of the rollover of funding expiring at the end of the current academic year, and what plans it has to consult with stakeholders on the details of any new scheme.

Prior to October 2020, Scottish local authorities could claim for subsidy from the EU School Milk Scheme to put towards their local school milk schemes. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, the Scottish Government committed to providing funding to allow Scottish local authorities to continue offering subsidised milk in their schools.

This funding arrangement will continue for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year during which time we will be working with our local authority partners to develop a free school milk scheme which provides for children’s dietary needs. Stakeholder engagement will take place appropriately during that process.

Question reference: S6W-04376

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many school inspections have been carried out since the start of this school year.

The arrangements for school inspections this academic year take account of the current situation with COVID-19. As announced on 16 September 2021 HM Inspectors of Education are taking forward a phased approach to scrutiny activity. Initially HM Inspectors are visiting over 90 schools awaiting a further inspection following an inspection before the pandemic. These visits are taking place currently and 64 schools have been visited so far with visits to the other schools planned. HM Inspectors of Education are also visiting schools as part of national thematic inspections. To date 61 school visits have taken place as part of national thematic inspections.

Question reference: S6W-04235

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which sites have had river gravel extraction licences granted in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for regulating gravel extraction from rivers under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR). Due to the cyber attack SEPA experienced at the end of 2020 it only currently has licence information available for 2021 until the impacted data is recovered for previous years.

In 2021 SEPA issued six licences where sediment management was one of the activities, as detailed in the following table. These activities fall into two main categories – either flood prevention (where there is no practical alternative e.g. clearing under a bridge or other pinch point) or as part of works to protect/ repair an asset.

SEPA CAR Licence	Location	Description
CAR/L/1198235	Dalmakether Burn, Dumfries and Galloway	Removing sediment from a blocked rail culvert.
CAR/L/1197448	Loch Ericht, Dalwhinnie	Removing and redistributing sediment within Loch Ericht to maintain operation of Hydro scheme.
CAR/L/SEPA2021-272	River Lossie, Elginshire	Sediment removal to maintain existing realigned channel.
CAR/S/SEPA2021-245	Kilmarnock	Removing sediment from under a bridge for flood prevention.
CAR/S/1198199	Haulkerton, Laurencekirk	Sediment removal under a railway bridge linked to repair work.
CAR/S/SEPA2021-569	River Nairn, nr Cawdor	Sediment management as part of works to protect electricity pylon.

Question reference: S6W-04234

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available for flood prevention schemes where designs have been approved but building works have not yet commenced.

In July 2016 it was agreed by Scottish Ministers and COSLA that from 2016-17 onwards 80% of the flood component of the general capital grant would be allocated to large scale projects and distributed according to the SEPA prioritisation of flooding schemes and works set out in the Flood Risk Management Strategies. There were 40 eligible schemes on SEPA’s prioritised list, which was published in December 2015. The Scottish Government is currently committed to funding these 40 schemes subject to the caveat that these remain viable projects. For an eligible scheme, grant funding will also cover all capital expenditure related to the scheme before building work has commenced. What is a capital cost is determined in accordance with proper accounting practice.

Question reference: S6W-04207

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the potential impact that the integration of children’s services may have on its commitment to keep The Promise.

The Scottish Government has committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030 and will continue to work with The Promise Scotland, and partners to do so.

The consultation on the creation of a National Care Service closed on 2 November 2021 after receiving over 100 written responses, over 3000 people reached through engagement events. The consultation paper set out questions, which go further than the recommendations, made in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, and propose that social work and social care services for children and young people should be considered as potentially beneficial for inclusion within the scope of the NCS.

Scottish Government need to consider how best to ensure the consistent delivery of services to all families, with a focus on those children and families in vulnerable situations. This is frequently related to the need for provision of joined-up support to families, and wellbeing needs arising where a parent/carer requires services for adults.

All views on the National Care Services and the inclusion of Children’s Services are welcomed and will be carefully considered in planning for the future design and delivery of the NCS. We are working with children’s participation groups to ensure that meaningful engagement can take place with children and young people.