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-19366

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18926 by Michael Matheson on 20 June 2023, (a) how many and (b) which properties that the desktop review has assessed need to be investigated.

The purpose of the desktop review was to assess which properties should be investigated for the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

In response to part (a), the desktop review identified that 254 buildings have two or more characteristics which are consistent with the presence of RAAC and that these should be further investigated to determine whether RAAC is actually present.

NHS Scotland Assure is leading on the national RAAC survey programme for NHS Scotland and has prepared options on how to proceed with discovery surveys of these properties, which are under consideration by the Scottish Government.

In response to part (b), a list of the Health Board properties which have been assessed as requiring further investigation has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 64387).

Completion of the discovery surveys will provide an accurate assessment of how many, and which, of these properties contain RAAC.

Question reference: S6W-19602

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 20 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding statistics that it records and holds, how it categorises Hong Kong BNO visa holders resident in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19493

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the specific reasons for the reported delay in the allocation of funding for community groups and local authorities to build and provide Changing Places toilets.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing in Changing Places Toilets during this parliamentary term, in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country and to support mobile Changing Places Toilets to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

I refer you to written submission PE2027/A I provided in response to a petition published on 18 May 2023.

/get-involved/petitions/view-petitions/pe2027-launch-the-changing-places-toilet-fund.

Question reference: S6W-19603

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many Hong Kong BNO visa holders are currently enrolled in schools in each local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-19076

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what investigations Transport Scotland has undertaken to determine whether any of the buildings that it manages were fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and what the cost was of conducting any necessary repairs, broken down by building.

Transport Scotland owns and manages a small number of buildings but has not carried out any assessments of this kind. They have confirmed with its building occupiers that no assessments for this material have been carried out. Transport Scotland lease their corporate office space, so don't have any property management responsibilities in this regard. They will now consider the relevant guidance, explore what may be needed and advise once these investigations have been carried out.

Question reference: S6W-19075

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what investigations the public corporations have undertaken to determine whether any of the buildings that they manage were fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and what the cost was of conducting any necessary repairs, broken down by building.

Question reference: S6W-19360

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many special advisers it has had, and what the total cost of them has been, in each year since 2007, and what the projected total cost of special advisers is for the current financial year.

I refer the member to the answers to the following questions:

S4W-05728 on 2 July 2012
S4W-17608 on 3 October 2013
S4W-25214 on 2 April 2015
S4W-26746 on 17 July 2015
S5W-00837 on 20 June 2016
S5W-12960 on 24 November 2017
S5W-17596 on 5 July 2018
S5W-26805 on 19 December 2019
S5W-36009 on 24 March 2021
S6W-17817 on 5 May 2023
S6W-16899 on 5 May 2023

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-19077

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what investigations non-departmental public bodies have undertaken to determine whether any of the buildings that they manage were fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and what the cost was of conducting any necessary repairs, broken down by building.

That information is not held centrally.

Building safety is a matter for the owner of the building. Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), including information relating to any repair and maintenance works, are best answered directly by each NDPB.

Reference can, however, be made to the response to previous questions, S6W-18838 to S6W-18842 on 13 June 2023, asked of five individual NPBDs.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-19146

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the train line between North Berwick and Edinburgh to (a) reduce journey times, (b) increase the number of daily services and (c) improve reliability.

The only obvious way to improve times would be to remove existing calls at intermediate stations and this is not currently being considered due to the adverse impact it would have on these communities.

The current service levels are based on projected demand which is regularly reviewed. Based on the projected demand, there are currently no plans to increase the number of daily services on this route.

The performance of trains on the North Berwick to Edinburgh route is currently very good at 92.4% PPM, which is markedly better than the GB average.

Question reference: S6W-19226

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many adult social care workers are not currently receiving the adult social care workers minimum pay, broken down by sector.