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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-00351

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 11 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, following the introduction of the Civil Liability Act in England and Wales, whether similar reforms regarding whiplash claims will be introduced in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-00608

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-00360

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being put in place to track the progress of ventilation improvements and the deployment of ventilation monitoring equipment (CO2 sensors) across all primary and secondary schools.

Our Coronavirus guidance on reducing the risks in schools was developed in collaboration with local authorities, unions, parents representative groups and teaching bodies, with input from technical experts working across the UK. This includes a section on the potential use of CO2 monitors to assist in assessing whether adequate ventilation is being provided. Each local authority and school can utilise this technology as appropriate to their particular circumstances.

We have worked from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Scottish Heads of Property Services forum to get input and feedback on guidance, and ventilation is a standing agenda item at each meeting. The forum was used to request progress information including: local authority plans to utilise CO2 monitoring, ventilation upgrades required, observations from operational schools and issues arising during different weather conditions where ventilation and thermal comfort could be in tension. The Scottish Heads of Property Services use this forum to share expertise and learning to ensure that efforts and resources are best deployed to optimise solutions across the whole learning estate in Scotland. Links have also been established with other expert groups representing the UK governments to help inform future guidance.

Question reference: S6W-00379

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether an economic impact assessment has been conducted in respect to the lockdown restrictions in the Falkirk Council area, and, if so, whether it will publish this assessment.

The virus continues to have severe direct impacts on people’s health, and the potential to put significant pressures on NHS capacity. For this reason, and to tackle the new, faster-spreading Delta variant, we have made the difficult decision to delay a move to Level 1 for some Local Authorities which have displayed high or rapidly increasing levels of incidence.

The decision to allocate areas to a Level, finely balances the need to control the virus and to minimise the wider economic and social harms of the restrictions. Consideration of the economic harms from Covid (Harm 4) is factored into the design of the Levels themselves, and a 4 Harms Assessment was undertaken on these Levels when they were last updated and published.

On 1 June, we published Coronavirus (COVID-19): Protection Levels allocation to local councils which explains the basis on which Levels 2 and 1 were applied to local council areas in Scotland. The Government also has a legal duty to undertake statutory Impact Assessments when Regulations concerning the Levels are changed. These include Equalities, Islands, Child Rights/Wellbeing, and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessments, and they are now published.

Question reference: S6W-00398

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider providing specific support for the mental health of people working in Glasgow, including self-employed people.

The Scottish Government is working with mental health organisations, employer groups and trade unions to improve mental health support in workplaces across Scotland.

In October 2020 we published our ‘Mental Health – Transition and Recovery’ plan which outlines our response to the mental health impacts of COVID-19. We have recently convened a short life working group aimed at addressing 3 key employment actions from the plan: Mentally Healthy Workplaces; Fair Work Practices; and Home Working.

The focus of the group will be on identifying the key challenges that businesses of all sizes, including self-employed people, will face in supporting the mental wellbeing of their workforce. We will review existing practice and identify any key gaps that may prevent a positive mental health and wellbeing culture within the workplace.

Question reference: S6W-00205

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric charging points ChargePlace Scotland has installed in each year since 2012-13.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency and improving air quality in our cities. To help incentivise this shift, the Scottish Government have invested over £45 million in Scotland’s own electric vehicle charging network, ChargePlace Scotland, which has steadily grown since 2012 with the highest number of installs being recorded in 2020 for both private and publicly owned charge points.

The ChargePlace Scotland network currently hosts 2080 electric vehicle charge points, which includes 335 charge points that are not available for public use but will support the blue light services, fleets and depot charging.

Year	Total	Public	Private
2013	122	122	0
2014	129	129	0
2015	277	277	0
2016	107	107	0
2017	170	170	0
2018	118	118	0
2019	321	267	54
2020	556	371	185
2021	280	184	96
	2080	1745	335

Question reference: S6W-00412

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had or plans with COSLA regarding fulfilling the Scottish National Party manifesto pledge that “we will increase the school uniform grant to at least £120 in primary school and £150 in secondary school”.

Question reference: S6W-00414

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional resources to local authorities to help fulfil the Scottish National Party manifesto pledge that “we will increase the school uniform grant to at least £120 in primary school and £150 in secondary school” and, if not, what proportion of the funding required to meet this commitment it will ask local authorities to contribute.

Question reference: S6W-00260

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to assembling half of all new trains procured for the domestic railway network within Scotland, equivalent to the commitment made by the Welsh Government.

Firstly, as means of clarification the Welsh Government did not commit to 50 percent of its fleet being assembled in Wales prior to its procurement. Both the Welsh and Scottish Governments must comply with relevant procurement law.

The procurement strategy for new rolling stock, to be produced by the wholly owned Scottish Government company named ScotRail Trains Limited, will be subject to approval by Transport Scotland. Through that process, the Scottish Government will seek to maximise opportunities for the involvement of the local supply chain.

Transport Scotland has already undertaken informal market testing with manufacturers to ensure the importance of local input is clear and any procurement will restate this. The current Class 314 conversion project at Bo’ness is focussed on developing a local supply chain which will support the need for diesel train replacement by zero emissions fleets.

Question reference: S6W-00236

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many delays to ferry services operated by CalMac have been caused by mechanical complications in the last five years.

The number of times a mechanical problem has resulted in a delay to ferry services operated by CalMac Ferries Ltd between October 2016 to March 2021 is detailed in the following table.

Period	Scheduled Sailings	No. of Sailings Delayed	% of sailings delayed
Contract Year 1 Oct 2016 – Sept 2017	156,820	213	0.14
Contract Year 2 Oct 2017 – Sept 2018	163,892	198	0.12
Contract Year 3 Oct 2018 – Sept 2019	164,161	249	0.15
Contract Year 4 Oct 2019 – Sept 2020	119,651	272	0.23
Contract Year 5 Oct 2020 – March 2021	68,966	86	0.12
TOTAL	673,490	1,018	0.15