Chamber and committees

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: S6F-00453

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-03109

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Scotland has offered GP practices financial incentives to hold patient appointments remotely and, if so, (a) how much was offered and (b) to how many practices.

NHS Scotland did not offer GP practices financial incentives to hold patient appointments remotely.

General practices are following Public Health Scotland’s advice on management of face to face appointments in primary care settings. While the number of virtual appointments will have risen during the pandemic, GP practices could adopt virtual or other forms of remote working before the pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-04231

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether face-to-face breastfeeding support services are available to all women who request them.

Scotland was the first country in the UK to achieve 100% Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation in Maternity and Community and Neonatal services. Scottish Government has invested in the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) across NHS Scotland to provide support planning for sustainability. This initiative includes best practice standards for health professionals and services to support women to successfully establish and continue breastfeeding.

We have also provided more than £800k funding to our Third Sector partners over the past three years. This investment is being used to develop their breastfeeding peer support programmes as part of a tiered service of support, including face-to-face contacts.

It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population including how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to deliver these services.

Question reference: S6W-04230

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time for breastfeeding support services was in each month between March 2019 and September 2021.

The Scottish Government recognises the positive health benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and babies and expects breastfeeding support to be available to mothers whenever this is required, particularly in the early days and weeks of a baby’s life.

Information on local breastfeeding services is not held centrally. It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population including how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to deliver these services.

We provide £2.3m per year to support the 2011 Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework Action Plan which includes breastfeeding support, and have provided more than £6m over the past four years to NHS Boards and third sector partners to improve the quality of breastfeeding support.

Question reference: S6W-03991

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress that has been made towards retaining skilled rail infrastructure workers in Scotland.

Network Rail is responsible for maintaining and renewing the rail network across the UK including Scotland. While the Scottish Government fund Network Rail north of border, its operations are a reserved matter therefore any questions on employment issues would be for UK Ministers.

Our view remains that a fully devolved, public sector controlled and better integrated railway would deliver more for Scotland’s economy and communities. The UK government is more than aware of our position and, yet, the Williams-Shapps proposals not only ignore these requests, they add further complexity in terms of how GB/devolved operations will interface.

Despite these complexities, we are future proofing Scotland’s rail network through our Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 and our Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan. Our work to remove diesel services by 2035, through a mix of electrification and alternative powered trains, will create more skilled and sustainable jobs which can provide a significant contribution to our economy.

Further information on the decarbonisation action plan can be accessed via:- rail-services-decarbonisation-action-plan.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-03992

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the initial budget for Scottish rail infrastructure renewals and enhancements for Control Period 6.

The published Statement of Funds Available (SOFA) covers funding available towards Network Rail operations, maintenance and renewal activities in Scotland as well as enhancement projects. The funding available for Control Period 6 as per the SOFA includes allocation for the completion of projects which carry over from Control Period 5 as well as projects commencing in Control Period 6.

As per the Statement of Funds Available, the budget figure for Control Period 6 in Scotland is £4.85 billion. We are currently in the process of considering the basis on which the funding required for Control Period 7 will be determined and expect this to be reflected in a further SOFA publication to align with the commencement of Control Period 7 anticipated as April 2024.

Further information on the SOFA can be accessed via:- sofa-2019-24-25-jan-2018.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-03996

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential risk to the safety of rail passengers and rail workers if planned drainage works are not carried out or scaled back during Control Period 6.

Question reference: S6W-03856

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that Scotland's two nuclear power stations provide approximately 34% of Scotland’s daily electricity needs, from where that electricity will be sourced following their closure.

Scottish electricity supplies are currently considered secure. Security of supply is currently provided by a combination of large scale hydro, gas and nuclear power stations as well as the capacity to import electricity from elsewhere in the UK.

Maintaining a secure electricity supply will require increased investment in networks, greater interconnection to the rest of GB, growing electricity storage capacity (in particular pumped storage hydro), and other forms of low carbon generation. The Scottish energy strategy, published in December 2017, confirmed the Scottish Government’s continued opposition to new nuclear stations under current technologies. Our priority continues to be to support energy efficiency, develop Scotland’s huge renewable resource and to promote storage and flexibility.

Question reference: S6W-03839

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33434 by Kate Forbes on 7 December 2020, whether it will provide figures for (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 to date.

The following table details how many vehicles have been in the Government Car Service (GCS) fleet since 2020/21 to date, broken down by Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV’s

Year	Number of ULEV’s on fleet	Total number of vehicles on fleet (1)
20-21	31	41
21-22	28	28

Notes

1. During each year there are a number of purchases and disposals. While we generally keep an operational fleet of between 25 – 30 vehicles at any given point, this number grew 20/21 whilst surplus vehicles were awaiting disposal.

Question reference: S6W-03674

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that designers and planners are aware of Cycling By Design, published on 17 September 2021, so that the new guidance is followed in the future.

The publication of Cycling by Design was announced to the media and publicised on social media along with targeted distribution of the document via Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) and Transport Scotland networks. In addition, the Steering Group, comprising SCOTS, Sustrans and Transport Scotland, who have overseen delivery of the document are currently progressing plans for awareness raising sessions for industry, including training sessions and presentations through professional institutions.