Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-06485

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current percentage is of children and young people who are starting treatment from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) within 18 weeks of referral.

Question reference: S6O-00810

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that farms are at the cutting edge of innovation and technology.

Question reference: S6W-06238

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05456 by Patrick Harvie on 31 January 2022, what the phrase, “where technically feasible and cost-effective to do so", means in practice.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce – subject to consultation later this year – regulations requiring Scotland’s homes and other buildings to meet EPC Band C equivalent by 2033, where that is technically feasible and cost effective.

We have previously consulted, in December 2019, on proposals to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards in owner occupied housing, which included potential options for defining cost effectiveness and technical feasibility. We are further developing these definitions ahead of the planned consultation later this year, and in light of comments received to the 2019 consultation, the findings of which were published in February 2021.

Question reference: S6W-06244

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many bikes have been repaired through the Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme in each year since 2020.

Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme (SCRS) originally targeted to deliver 20,000 cycle repairs or services to people in Scotland, focusing on those that need the support the most. Repairs and servicing are provided through a network of over 300 shops, retailers, community organisations and sole traders. There have been two iterations of the scheme and the number of bikes repaired during each is as follows;

First iteration of Aug 2020 – May 2021: 31,562 bikes were repaired

Second iteration of Nov 2021 – May 2022: 8,153 bikes have been repaired so far.

Question reference: S6W-06245

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many free bikes have been given to school pupils since May 2021.

Question reference: S6W-06488

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of secondary schools currently have access to a mental health counsellor.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

The commitment to invest in school counselling ensures that every secondary school has access to counselling services, whilst also improving the ability of local primary and special schools to access counselling. Our local authority partners have confirmed this is now in place across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-06490

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many prison deaths there were in 2021.

Question reference: S6W-06009

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce pressures on marine habitats that are already known to be important carbon sinks.

The Scottish Government launched the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum (SBCF) in 2018 to increase our understanding of Scotland’s marine stores of carbon (“blue carbon”), their role in carbon uptake and their vulnerabilities to human activities. We have committed over £650,000 to the Forum’s research programme, which has leveraged significant match funding from partner organisations. The Forum’s expertise is recognised internationally. During COP26, the SBCF joined the International Partnership for Blue Carbon as its 50 th member and brought together science and policy experts from around the world for a two day conference “Blue Carbon: Beyond the Inventory” in Edinburgh, driving forward the research and policy agenda to protect and restore these important habitats.

Research by the SBCF continues to enhance our understanding of Scotland’s blue carbon habitats and will provide an improved evidence base for future decision making.

Many of the key habitats and species that research has identified as being important for blue carbon are Priority Marine Features (PMFs) and are also safeguarded within Scotland’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

With 37% of our seas already designated as MPAs, we have committed in the Programme for Government to deliver the outstanding fisheries measures required to achieve MPA conservation objectives by March 2024. We are also providing additional protection to our inshore waters by developing fisheries measures for the 11 PMFs most at risk from bottom trawling outside our MPAs, in line with the National Marine Plan. In combination these measures will help reduce pressures on marine habitats known to be important carbon sinks.

In the Programme for Government, we have also committed to designating at least 10% of Scotland's seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) by 2026. The policy and selection framework for HPMAs will provide for the protection of blue carbon habitats, using the growing evidence base.

Question reference: S6W-06243

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates it will cost to "replace when needed and upgrade as technology improves" the laptops, Chromebooks and tablets given to every school child in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-06242

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates it will cost to "update when necessary" the laptops, Chromebooks and tablets given to every school child in Scotland.