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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: S6W-13381

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports in the Sunday Mail on 18 December 2022 that 1,029 Police Scotland officers retired between January and October 2022, and that the number of police officers is at its lowest level in 14 years.

As I said in my answer to Donald Lumsden (S6O-01659), policing is and will continue to be a priority for the Scottish Government. Scotland has a higher number of officers than at any time during the last administration – and more per head of population than England and Wales (30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland, compared to 24 officers per 10,000 population in England and Wales (at 31 March).

Officer numbers fluctuate due to the cycle of recruitment and retirement, and this was further impacted by last year’s police pension changes. However, I was pleased to see that Police Scotland welcomed around 900 new recruits in 2022.

Our officers are the best paid in the UK, which recognises the hard work and dedication of the police workforce across Scotland. Basic starting salary for a constable in Scotland is around £5,000 more than in England and Wales and the maximum salary is also higher.

Question reference: S6W-13376

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what mode(s) of transport the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights used to attend the Open Government Partnership Europe Regional Meeting in Rome on 11-12 October 2022; what the job titles were of the Scottish Government officials or employees that attended with him, and what the total costs were of attendance at this meeting.

Question reference: S6W-13244

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme, whether any estimates have been made of the potential financial impact on producers and retailers in Scotland of any UK retailers outside Scotland that do not include the cost of the 20p deposit on scheme articles that are for sale online to customers in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13456

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many training places it has provided for adults interested in careers in the social care sector through the National Transition Training Fund.

The National Transition Training Fund was operational from October 2020 until August 2022. Within this period 885 training places were made available across a number of projects focused on social care. This number excludes college data from the 2021-22 academic year as this data is included within official Further Education Statistics (FES) due to be published in February. A report on the second and final year of NTTF will be published following the publication of FES data, and the college data will be included in the final published report.

Question reference: S6W-13246

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the point at which the Deposit Return Scheme commences, what enforcement measures will be available to SEPA to ensure that all UK retailers outside Scotland include the cost of the 20p deposit on all scheme articles that are for sale online to customers in Scotland.

Where an offence has been committed the enforcement options remain the same for retailers based outside Scotland as they are for those in Scotland. These include:

provision of advice and guidance;
fixed monetary penalties (FMP);
variable monetary penalties (VMP);
report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) recommending prosecution.

SEPA’s enforcement response would reflect the nature of the offence and be designed to be the most effective way of restoring compliance. SEPA holds a number of investigatory powers which will support evidence gathering across the UK.

Question reference: S6W-13245

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the point at which the Deposit Return Scheme commences, whether all UK retailers outside Scotland will be required to include the cost of the 20p deposit on all scheme articles that are for sale online to customers in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12903

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what value of Tenant Hardship Loan Fund loans have (i) been (A) repaid and (B) written off and (ii) yet to be repaid and remain outstanding.

Question reference: S6W-13617

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken with stakeholders to support and develop research projects to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on sexual health and blood borne virus service users and providers, and what research projects it has undertaken and/or supported in this regard.

Through Reset and Rebuild - sexual health and blood borne virus services: recovery plan, published in August 2021, the Scottish Government provided an additional £0.5m of funding to assist sexual health and blood borne virus services to begin recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.

Amongst the numerous projects funded through the Recovery Plan was the SHARE project launched by HIV Scotland, further details of which can be found here:

https://www.hiv.scot/stories/share-study-launch .

In addition, the Scottish Government has supported the Conundrum project, which was designed to understand factors shaping young people’s experiences of contraception, and provided insight into how young people’s access to condoms and contraception was disrupted during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Details of the project can be found here: University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Health & Wellbeing - News - CONUNDRUM project .

Understanding the impact of the pandemic will require on-going support, and it is expected that the next iteration of the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework, which will be published this year, will continue this work.

Question reference: S6W-13737

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is, regarding any impact in Scotland, on the role that increases in alcohol duty play as a public health measure to reduce alcohol-related harms.

Alcohol duty is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government would strongly recommend that the UK Government considers public health as part of any review to alcohol duty.

The Scottish Government believes that the stronger the beverage, the higher the duty should be, as it is the alcohol that causes the harms and stronger alcoholic drinks allow for faster consumption of alcohol. This is in line with the rationale behind our world leading minimum unit pricing policy which targets high strength, low-cost alcohol.

Our Alcohol Framework sets out our priorities for preventing alcohol-related harm. We take a whole population approach to tackling alcohol-related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.

Question reference: S6W-13736

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on alcohol-related harms and other public health impacts in Scotland of alcohol duty freezes.

Alcohol duty is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government would strongly recommend that the UK Government considers public health as part of any review to alcohol duty.

We have made no assessment of the impact of the six-month freeze on alcohol duty on alcohol harm in Scotland. We remain committed to reducing alcohol related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.