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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6O-01209

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland’s education system is properly aligned with the future workforce requirements of the emerging green economy.

Question reference: S6O-01208

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications of its Resource Spending Review are for the roll-out of Social Security Scotland's planned programme of benefits.

Question reference: S6O-01181

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures community representation is maintained on Marine Planning Partnerships.

To date, Scottish Ministers have delegated regional marine planning powers to three Marine Planning Partnerships, which are required by the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to include in their governance arrangements representatives with an interest in; the protection and enhancement of the region, its use for recreation and its use for commercial purposes.

The Scottish Government will shortly publish its response to the inquiry of the Scottish Parliament’s former Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee into the development and implementation of regional marine plans in Scotland. This response will include recommendations to support partnerships to identify opportunities to improve community representation in regional marine planning and marine licensing decisions.

Question reference: S6W-08628

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of packaging from theatre equipment at NHS hospitals was recycled in each of the last five calendar years.

The requested information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has advised waste data collection is not measured by product type or hospital department, therefore the requested information is unavailable.

Within the upcoming NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability strategy there is a commitment to work with our existing suppliers to reduce unnecessary plastic and take steps to ensure that unavoidable single-use items contain a high minimum recycled content and are themselves fully recyclable. This strategy is expected to be published in summer 2022.

Question reference: S6W-08593

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation in the Independent Report from the National Partnership for Culture, published in March 2022, that a dedicated funding stream for culture initiatives should be developed within the health portfolio.

We were pleased to receive the report and recommendations from the National Partnership for Culture, and recognise that the broad themes in the report align with our priorities across Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials are working together across the Health and Culture portfolios to review the Health and Wellbeing recommendations. Our response to the National Partnership for Culture recommendations will be published shortly.

Question reference: S6W-08994

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its rail decarbonisation programme and the rolling programme of rail electrification schemes.

The first phase of a rail decarbonisation scheme to electrify the Fife route (Haymarket to Dalmeny section), is moving to construction.

Work on this estimated £55 million scheme will begin in June 2022 with the section between Haymarket and Dalmeny. It is due for completion by December 2024.

This scheme forms part of a rolling programme that is expected to see electrification extended to Dundee and Aberdeen.

Beyond this, further development work on the business cases for decarbonising the Borders Line has been approved to progress to the next design phase for partial electrification of the route using battery electric multiple units.

This continues the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of railway electrification, with work already in delivery on the East Kilbride and Barrhead routes.

Approval has also been given for a procurement competition to identify a preferred manufacturer and financier for new trains to operate decarbonised rail passenger services on the Fife and Borders routes .

Question reference: S6W-08622

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its proposed timetable is for delivering its commitment to establish a National Register of Ancient Woodlands.

Question reference: S6W-08629

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of waste from NHS hospitals was recycled in each of the last five calendar years.

The requested information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has advised the most accurate data source on NHS Scotland waste performance are the annual Public Sector Reports on Compliance with Climate Change Duties which are available for each Health Board. These reports are published on the Sustainable Scotland Network website ( Sustainable Scotland Network - The Sustainable Scotland Network ) and are available from the period 2014-15 to 2020-21.

We have outlined clear actions within the upcoming NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability strategy to manage the risk of environmental harm from our activities, promote good environmental stewardship and reduce the impact of our waste. This includes working to improve data recording of waste collections and reporting against the national waste target of recycling and composting 70% of all Scottish waste by 2025, and sending no more than 5% to landfill.

Question reference: S6W-08599

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any barriers that tenant crofters have in accessing Woodland Carbon Code funding, and, if so, what steps it is taking to address these issues.

The Scottish Government is taking steps to make it cost-effective for smaller projects to sell carbon credits under the Woodland Carbon Code, which will benefit crofters given crofts are generally much smaller units of land. It is recognised that the finance that could be available through the sale of carbon credits under the Code could make the difference between projects being viable or not viable. The Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat at Scottish Forestry has developed a ‘streamlined’ application process for small woodland creation projects (up to 5 hectares) which simplifies the prediction of carbon sequestration, reduces the requirement for regular plot surveys and has fewer requirements throughout the validation and verification process.

Projects can also be ‘grouped’ together by a project developer for validation and verification which further reduces cost. This removes some of the cost and administrative barriers for smaller projects. This could open the opportunity for crofters to form informal “co-operatives” where they wish to embark collectively on validating and verifying their projects, but any crofters wishing to do this would should contact Scottish Forestry or one of the WCC project developers for further guidance.

Scottish Forestry has also been working with both crofting and farming tenants through the Integrating Trees Network through a series of webinars allowing both crofters and tenant farmers to ask questions and find out more information about tree planting.

Question reference: S6W-08631

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that clinicians are acting in accordance with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ recently-released clinical guidance on sepsis, in light of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reportedly having also agreed to update its guidance on sepsis.

Sepsis improvement is a well-established part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s (HIS) Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP). The SPSP launched a revised deteriorating patient driver diagram and change package in 2021 which includes sepsis as a core part of recognising and responding to deterioration.

On 27 May 2022, the SPSP issued a statement regarding the Society of Critical Medical Care’s Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) Statement on the initial antimicrobial treatment of sepsis. The statement outlines the SPSP’s revised approach to the identification and management of adults with sepsis.

Furthermore the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) are currently reviewing SIGN Guideline 139 – Care of Deteriorating Patients to include an updated section on sepsis.

Clinical guideline implementation is the responsibility of NHS Boards. The ultimate decision about a particular clinical procedure or treatment will always depend on each individual patient’s condition, circumstances and wishes and the clinical judgement of the healthcare team.