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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-02440

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the role that the third sector plays in supporting education and developing skills.

Question reference: S6W-19066

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates publishing the findings of its review of the environmental impact of non-methane volatile organic compounds emitted by the whisky industry.

Question reference: S6W-18738

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support people to incorporate more vegetables, pulses and wholegrains into their diets instead of other options such as ultra-processed foods, as suggested by the Eatwell Guide.

Food Standards Scotland recommends following a healthy balanced diet as represented by The Eatwell Guide . Doing so will increase consumption of vegetables, pulses and wholegrains and will likely reduce the consumption of less healthy food and drink. The Eat Well Your Way website supports people to make small and manageable changes to improve their diet.

Scottish Government is supporting a range of actions set out in our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan to encourage people to include more vegetables, pulses and wholegrains in their diet.

For example, we fund the Healthy Living Programme which helps 2,400 convenience stores to increase the range, availability, quality and affordability of fresh produce and healthier products from other categories, especially in areas of higher deprivation.

We also provide funding to Community Food Networks to promote a range of services such as cooking classes, benefit checks, ‘grow-your-own’ food groups, cafés and food pantries.

Our Parent Club website provides free advice on healthy eating, as well as low-cost recipe ideas to support people and families prepare healthier meals.

Question reference: S6W-19063

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the prevention of chronic kidney disease.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving care for people with chronic kidney disease through a number of activities which are aligned with the recommendations set out in Kidney Research UK’s Changing the Future for Chronic Kidney Disease in Scotland report, published in December 2022 with input from Scottish Government clinical advisors and partners.

We are raising awareness of the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and prevention of kidney disease by providing and promoting information on chronic kidney disease for patients and their families on NHS Inform .

Our Donation and Transplantation Plan was published in 2021 and sets out a dedicated priority to increase living donation and reduce the wait for a kidney transplant. This includes a number of recommendations to improve care, including developing resources and information to promote living donation , changing clinical practice in renal units, increasing direct engagement with patients and their families, and developing new guidance on staffing to support living donation.

We also continue to support the work of the Scottish Renal Registry which promotes excellence in renal care in Scotland including audits on the delivery of renal replacement therapy. The most recent report from the registry was published by Public Health Scotland in October 2022 and provides vital information for Health Boards, service managers and individual clinicians to improve care and standards for people with chronic kidney disease.

Question reference: S6W-19062

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure effective early detection of kidney disease.

We recognise the importance of early detection of kidney disease in preventing the progression of chronic kidney disease and its associated complications. We expect NHS Boards to adhere to current guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment options from authoritative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the UK Kidney Association (UKKA).

In Scotland we are at the forefront of using service and performance data to improve care and diagnosis of kidney disease. This includes the work of the Scottish Renal Registry which reports on patients receiving renal replacement therapy and promoting excellence in renal care in Scotland through best practice audits.

The National Cancer Quality Steering Group (NCQSG) has responsibility for the development and oversight of tumour specific national quality performance indicators (QPIs) to measure the quality of care for patients, this includes a set specifically for renal cancers.

We have also invested in research which is intended to inform new approaches for earlier diagnosis of kidney disease through the Scottish Chief Scientist Office: Kidney function and cancer risk: An analysis using creatinine and cystatin C in a cohort study (nih.gov) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8413238/ .

Question reference: S6W-18398

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with Circularity Scotland prior to the recently reported statements by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, suggesting that the Deposit Return Scheme may be "unviable" if an exemption to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is not in place by the end of May 2023.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with Circularity Scotland at each stage of implementing DRS, including following the UK Government’s last minute intervention which has caused a delay to the scheme. Throughout the process, CSL has been a trusted partner with a demonstrated expertise and knowledge in its field and we believe the business sector sees the merits in working to maintain the progress they have made and to be able to use this as a springboard for the future form of DRS.

Question reference: S6F-02247

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reported concerns that its proposals to ban gas and other direct emission heating systems in new build homes from next year could have a serious adverse impact on the housing sector.

Question reference: S6W-18403

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many businesses have now registered with the Deposit Return Scheme, which is due to launch in March 2024.

Over 670 producers responsible for more than 2 billion drinks containers, representing 95% of products sold in Scotland have registered with Circularity Scotland. This covers producers from global brands to small craft breweries and distilleries.

Following the UK Government’s decision not to provide a full exclusion to the Internal Market Act I have announced in parliament that we will be pushing the launch of the DRS back to October 2025. We will continue to work with producers on the development for DRS going foward.

Question reference: S6W-18405

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16757 by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023, whether the monitoring and analysis work will be carried out across all local authority areas equally, or by sampling a limited number.

There are several components to the DRS evaluation. This includes the consumer survey which is based on a three phase nationally representative sample where efforts will be made to ensure urban and rural/island areas are sufficiently accounted for within the sample design. Litter Monitoring System survey (funded by Scottish Government and developed by Zero Waste Scotland in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful and other stakeholders) will be used to collate litter data with the aim being to cover all Local Authority areas. Data from Management information will also be used to monitor and evaluate DRS, and this will include both national level and local authority level data. Given the recent changes and announcements the monitoring and evaluation plans for DRS may need revisiting to bring them in line with any changes made to the objectives of the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-18404

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what metrics it plans to use to review the (a) impact in general, (b) financial impact on (i) businesses, (ii) consumers and (iii) the wider economy and (c) environmental impact of the Deposit Return Scheme.

A set of impact assessments including an Equalities Impact Assessment, Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment and Island Communities Impact Assessment were published alongside the original DRS Regulations in 2020. The financial assumptions contained within the related Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) showed the projected cost of compliance with Scotland’s DRS regulations which were passed by this Parliament. These have been updated to reflect previous amendments and we will shortly publish revisions to these in light of the amendments laid in May.

Following the UK Government’s decision not to provide a full exclusion to the Internal Market Act I have announced in parliament that we will be pushing the launch of the DRS back to October 2025.