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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-10867

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to ensure the sustainability of blood cancer diagnostic services.

£10 million of funding has been directed to support Cancer Waiting Times improvements in our NHS across 2022-23. Significant funds are going towards up-skilling nurses and investing in diagnostic tests to support extended working days/weekend working to increase capacity.

Meanwhile, work is underway to develop Scotland’s new cancer strategy, expected to publish Spring 2023. A recent public consultation received over 250 responses, including from blood cancer charities. A series of workshops are planned throughout September to help gain further insight and hear directly from those with lived experience to inform the focus of this strategy.

Question reference: S6W-10880

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to providing financial support to businesses impacted by rising energy costs.

The Programme for Government sets out our response to the cost crisis, as well as our ambition to create a better future in the longer term. This includes working with the business community to identify further measures that can assist in addressing increased costs and economic disruption. The Government has committed to an emergency budget review to assess all opportunities to target additional resources.

Energy policy is reserved to the UK Government and we have been calling for it to introduce a business energy cap for some time. While the support announced today will be welcome relief for businesses, substantial reform to the energy market is still required or there is a real risk that this temporary measure will prove to be inadequate.

We will continue to do everything within our resources and powers to help those most affected.

Question reference: S6W-10856

Asked by: Siobhian Brown, MSP for Ayr, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the statistics in Section 9.3.2 of the Review of Children (Scotland) Act 1995 consultation: analysis are accurate.

Yes, the statistics you refer to are accurate. The analysis can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/analysis-consultation-responses-consultation-review-children-scotland-act-1995/pages/9/ . There were 254 responses to the consultation, which asked a number of questions. As noted in the table at section 9.3.1 of the analysis, 124 consultees answered yes to question 31 on amending the Child Abduction Act 1984, with 13 answering no and 117 not answering the question. 124 of 254 is 49%, which is the figure referred to in section 9.3.2 of the analysis.

Question reference: S6W-10877

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with local authorities to roll out more Safe to School initiatives.

The Scottish Government is investing record levels of funding for active travel, in particular around schools and places of education. The £150m active travel budget for 2022-23 includes £12.3m of funding for behavioural change initiatives which local authorities can access through our active delivery partners dedicated programmes for schools and communities. The budget also includes a record £35m for the Cycling and Walking Safer Routes fund, which goes directly to local authorities on a pro-rata basis, enabling them to make the changes to the public realm that they see as having most impact for supporting safer daily journeys by walking and cycling.

Question reference: S6W-10894

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement that single adult bus fares in England will be capped at £2 between January and March 2023, whether it will consider a similar approach in Scotland.

In Scotland, we invest £300 million annually to provide free bus travel for over 2 million people, including all children and young people under 22, disabled people and everyone over 60. We haven’t raised the age at which older people qualify for free bus travel, and we are the only part of the UK now operating a national scheme giving children and young people under 22 free bus travel.

Additionally, in many areas, single fares are already below £2.00. For example in Edinburgh you can travel anywhere in the city for a flat fare of £1.80.

We will look carefully at how this new £2 flat fare scheme will work in England to see what more we can do here in Scotland to support and sustain affordable bus travel for more people during the cost of living crisis. One of the key issues is the cost of operating for many bus companies which face huge cost increases in energy and fuel – the UK Government must do more to support businesses, especially small operators, to cope. Additionally, Brexit impacts have compounded staffing shortages in the bus sector – one way the new Prime Minister can help alleviate this situation would be to include bus drivers on the shortage occupation list.

Question reference: S6W-10857

Asked by: Siobhian Brown, MSP for Ayr, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether data from the Review of Children (Scotland) Act 1995 consultation: analysis was used to prioritise the work that it committed to undertake as set out in the 2019 Family Justice Modernisation Strategy, and if this is the case, what data was used, and in what ways it informed the 2019 Family Justice Modernisation Strategy.

The Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/1/ ), published in September 2019, is a result of the 2018 consultation on potential changes to Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and related matters. We remain committed to the continued implementation of the Strategy’s actions.

As I stated in my foreword, the Strategy sets out work that was ongoing at the time of publication, work to be implemented through secondary legislation and improved guidance, areas that were subsequently covered by the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, and policy areas that require longer-term development. The Scottish Government is preparing an update to the Strategy, which will outline the actions that have been completed, the actions that have been superseded, and the actions which remain to be taken forward. We will publish this update in due course.

Question reference: S6W-10565

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding in total has been distributed through the Apprenticeship Employer Grant to employers to offer a Modern Apprenticeship or Graduate Apprenticeship.

Question reference: S6F-01364

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the One Parent Families Scotland report, Living Without a Lifeline – Single Parenting and the Cost of Living.

Question reference: S6F-01360

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to support the transition to net zero heating in rural homes.

Question reference: S6F-01353

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will announce the outcome of its review into the pausing of the Super Sponsor scheme for Ukrainian refugees coming to Scotland.