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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-00605

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling fuel poverty in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

Question reference: S6O-00602

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support ferry services in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-05016

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what additional measures it is planning to put in place in response to reports of confirmed avian influenza cases in wild birds and hens in Dumfries and Galloway and Angus.

On the 3rd of November, and in response to an increase in risk to poultry of highly pathogenic avian influenza linked with increasing numbers of wild birds testing positive for the disease, the Scottish Government, along with Defra, DAERA and the Welsh Government, acted swiftly to declare an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across the whole of the UK. This declaration legally required keepers to apply strict biosecurity measures in order to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease. These measures were further enhanced on 29 November, requiring all bird keepers to house their birds or otherwise keep them separate from wild birds.

When outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been confirmed, such as those in Angus or Dumfries and Galloway, a 3 km Protection Zone and 10 km Surveillance Zone are declared around the infected premise. Within these zones, movement restrictions are applied on poultry, other captive birds, carcasses, eggs, and a range of poultry product and associated equipment, all aimed at halting the spread of the disease. A full epidemiological investigation is carried out in every case to identify the source of the virus and any potential onward transmission routes.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with other UK administrations and its operational partners to put out communications to keepers ensuring they are aware of the risk and to promote compliance with the Avian Influenza prevention zone biosecurity measures. Whether keepers have just a few birds or thousands they must take action now to protect their birds from this highly infectious disease.

Question reference: S6W-04930

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) full- and (b) part-time jobs have been created through tree planting as a result of the activity of the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Question reference: S6W-04684

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school teachers have left their post in each year since 2018, broken down by (a) subject taught and (b) local authority area.

Table 1 shows the number of secondary teachers in each Local Authority at the time of the census and who did not hold a post in the following year's census. Some teachers may be double counted if they are recorded as working in two different local authorities.

Table 2 shows the number of secondary teachers by their main subject at the time of the census and who did not hold a post in the following year's census. Some teachers may be double counted if they have a post at more than one schools and are recorded as having a different main subject at different schools.

In both tables teachers who were not teaching at the time because they were either on leave or seconded from their post (e.g. on maternity leave) are counted as holding a post. The total figure in table 1 and table 2 are different as some teachers may be double counted.

There are a number of reasons why a teacher would not hold a post in the following year's census, these include resignation, retiring, end of contract, moving to independent schools etc.

Table 1

	post held in 2018 census but not in 2019 census	post held in 2019 census but not in 2020 census
Aberdeen City	60	51
Aberdeenshire	94	75
Angus	42	28
Argyll & Bute	38	26
Clackmannanshire	15	7
Dumfries & Galloway	51	50
Dundee City	39	30
East Ayrshire	40	24
East Dunbartonshire	56	44
East Lothian	40	28
East Renfrewshire	63	72
Edinburgh City	116	121
Falkirk	59	39
Fife	134	117
Glasgow City	154	142
Highland	125	87
Inverclyde	32	22
Midlothian	30	24
Moray	34	37
Na h-Eileanan Siar	28	21
North Ayrshire	47	31
North Lanarkshire	121	91
Orkney Islands	13	5
Perth & Kinross	56	50
Renfrewshire	68	45
Scottish Borders	52	38
Shetland Islands	16	13
South Ayrshire	39	28
South Lanarkshire	75	65
Stirling	39	33
West Dunbartonshire	27	36
West Lothian	52	39
Grant aided	5	2
Total	1,860	1,521

Table 2

	post held in 2018 census but not in 2019 census	post held in 2019 census but not in 2020 census
Art & Design	84	97
Biology	102	82
Business Education	89	55
Chemistry	69	57
Classics	1	0
Computing	48	40
Drama	32	22
English	217	165
French	62	58
Gaelic	7	2
Geography	73	53
German	16	3
Hearing Impairment	8	1
History	56	58
Home Economics	84	66
Italian	2	1
Learning Support, Primary	23	13
Learning Support, Secondary	68	58
Mandarin	4	3
Mathematics	205	149
Modern Studies	54	49
Music	60	66
Other	47	28
Other Modern Languages	39	45
Physical Education	114	97
Physics	66	51
Primary TQ	2	2
PSE/Guidance	20	25
Religious Education	66	38
Science (general)	18	14
SEN (recorded pupils)	6	7
SEN (Secondary) non-recorded pupils	3	4
SEN Behavioural Support	8	8
SEN Learning Difficulties	10	12
Spanish	8	9
Technical Education	91	78
Visual Impairment	2	1
Education	0	1
ESL	0	1
Media Studies	0	2
N/A (1)	1	3
All subjects	1,865	1,524

(1)Some teachers may have no teaching responsibilities (e.g. some head or depute teachers) and therefore have not recorded a main subject.

Question reference: S6W-04976

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been awarded through the Better Places Green Recovery Fund in 2021-22; who received funding, and how much each received.

A list of the NatureScot Better Places Fund recipients can be found on its website using the link below. It includes both recipients of the first round of the Better Places Fund in 2020-21, a NatureScot initiative, and a second round of funding in 2021-22.

Better Places Green Recovery Fund - Closed for applications | NatureScot

This second round of funding was provided by the Scottish Government specifically to support communities, local authorities and public bodies as they prepared for the 2021 season.

In total the £3.2m fund has supported 125 projects including 75 ranger posts, 54 visitor operatives and infrastructure such as advisory signage, recycling litter bins, temporary toilets, over-flow parking areas, car park upgrades and other developments.

Projects have covered a variety of locations across the majority of the country.

Question reference: S6W-04913

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister has visited any care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic to listen to the views of residents, and, if so, (a) where and (b) when these visits took place.

Question reference: S6W-04916

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought advice from the Australian government on delivering an apology for historic forced adoption, and, if so, whether it will provide dates of any meetings, telephone calls and correspondence.

Question reference: S6W-04865

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) planning it has undertaken and (b) action it has taken to ensure that people who experience power cuts are able to contact the emergency services in instances where they cannot make phone calls due to their mobile phone battery expiring or their landline being internet-based.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of mobile and broadband connectivity for almost all aspects of everyday life which is why we work closely with Local Resilience Partnerships, telecoms providers and the UK Government - both in preparing for, and responding to severe weather events which may impact telecommunications in Scotland.

It is important to note that resilience of the Communications Sector, which includes telecommunications and internet, is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Major outages are extremely rare, but most telecoms equipment is dependent on a power supply in order to function which can be disrupted by extreme weather.

During the Storm Arwen response effort, welfare centres offered Wi-Fi and mobile phone charging facilities where possible. Additionally, in the in the run-up to Storm Arwen, the Scottish Government’s Ready Scotland campaign was activated using local radio and digital channels and was geographically targeted on the areas affected by the Amber and Red Met Office warnings.

The ‘Ready Scotland’ website, at ready.scot , provides advice to the public on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies; including utilities loss and severe weather.

We will continue to press the UK Government and the regulator (Ofcom) for assurance that increasing resilience of the telecoms network in Scotland is a priority.

Question reference: S6W-04832

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase current Scottish Child Payment bridging payments for children from six years and above, who would be entitled to the Scottish Child Payment under the full roll-out, to bring them into line with the increased payment rate of £20 per week.

This year’s Scottish Budget is a budget of choices and we have chosen to back our national mission to tackle child poverty and strengthen support available for families during the cost of living crisis.

The Budget commits almost £200 million to double the Scottish Child Payment to £20 from April 2022, immediately benefiting 111,000 children under the age of 6.

We remain committed to delivering the Scottish Child Payment for children and young people aged 6-15 by the end of 2022, subject to receipt of the necessary data from DWP, at which point more than 400,000 children will be eligible.

In advance we are supporting as many school age children and young people as possible through our Bridging Payments, worth £520 in 2022. This innovative response, which makes use of the data local authorities have, is delivering immediate support to around 150,000 children.

The Scottish Child Payment remains the best way to provide the support low income families need now which is why we have acted to double the payment from April.