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: S5W-25041

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent figures are for the number of electric vehicle charging points that have been installed in Scotland.

There is currently around 1,800 charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network, of which around 1,100 are publicly available. In addition, there is a further 184 charge points funded through our Workplace Charging Scheme and just under 4,000 home charge points funded through our domestic home charge scheme. In addition, there is also a few privately funded electric vehicle charging networks in Scotland available to the public.

Question reference: S5W-25042

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether all electric vehicle charging points that have been installed in Scotland are compatible with all vehicles, or whether there are a variety of different types that only work with certain makes of vehicle.

All charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network, with the exception of three, are capable of charging any electric vehicle (EV) on sale in Scotland. There are currently over 1,000 publicly available charge points on the network including over 250 50kW rapid chargers capable of charging an EV from 0% to 80% in around 30 minutes. We are aware that some charge points that form part of private charging networks in Scotland may not be suitable for all EVs.

Question reference: S5O-03541

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when a women’s health group will be convened and whether it will prioritise the treatment of pre-eclampsia.

Question reference: S5W-24417

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths have been caused by drugs in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by drug.

The National Records of Scotland report Drug Related Deaths in Scotland in 2018 was published on 16 th July 2019. It states there were a total of 1,187 drug related deaths in 2018.

The report provides extensive information on the drugs implicated in or probable cause of death. Most drug related deaths were people who took more than one substance. Of the 1,187 drug-related deaths in 2018, there were just 68 for which only one drug (and, perhaps alcohol) was found to be present in the body.

Table 3 of the report provides details of drug related deaths by selected drugs reported for the years 2008 – 2018.

Table Y of the report provides information about a larger range of drugs on the basis of the Office for National Statistics "wide" definition (this includes deaths caused by drugs which were not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act).

Additional data tables on the NRS website Tables SUB1 and SUB2 show how often the name of each drug (or other substance) was reported to NRS as being involved in deaths which were counted in NRS's standard definition of drug-related deaths and in the ONS "wide" definition, respectively.

The full report and supplementary tables can be accessed from the following link.
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Question reference: S5W-24419

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it records the cause of a drug death in the same way as the rest of the UK and, if not, what the differences are.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) report Drug Related Deaths in Scotland in 2018 was published on 16 th July 2019. It states there were a total of 1,187 drug related deaths in 2018.

The NRS report records deaths as drug-related on the basis of its implementation of the ‘baseline’ definition for the UK Drugs Strategy. This is essentially the same as the definition of "drug misuse deaths" that is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for its statistics for England and Wales, and by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) for its figures.

There are a number of definitions of drug related deaths, details of some are given in Annexes A and B of the report.

The report also provides statistics based on the ONS ‘wide’ definition of 'drug poisoning' deaths, and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) ‘general mortality register’ definition. In both cases, NRS applies the same definitions as ONS and NISRA use to produce the corresponding figures for their areas. These are detailed in Annex G and Table X of the report.

In addition there are some technical differences between Scotland and other parts of the UK in some aspects of the collection of information about drug-related deaths, which may affect slightly the comparability of their statistics, these are outlined in Paragraph G10 of the report.

The full report can be accessed via the following link:

Question reference: S5W-24418

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths in each of the last five years have been caused by drugs prescribed for insomnia or other sleep-related conditions.

The National Records of Scotland report Drug Related Deaths in Scotland in 2018 was published on 16 July 2019. It states there were a total of 1,187 drug related deaths in 2018.

The report provides extensive information on the drugs implicated in or probable cause of death. Most drug-related deaths are people who took more than one substance. Of the 1,187 drug-related deaths in 2018, there were just 68 for which only one drug (and, perhaps alcohol) was found to be present in the body.

Specific analysis of drugs prescribed for insomnia or other sleep-related conditions is not included in the report. In addition the report does not link to prescribing data therefore it is not possible to determine if drugs were prescribed to the individual prior to death.

However, the report is accompanied by supplementary tables SUB1 and SUB2 which provide detailed information on drugs and other substances which were reported as being present in the body for drug-related. These tables include drugs which are known to be prescribed for insomnia.

The full report and supplementary tables can be found at the following link,

Question reference: S5O-03448

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether the UK Government has provided it with details about the Shared Prosperity Fund, which it claims will replace European structural funds, post-Brexit.

Question reference: S5W-23745

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the private sector.

Since the Scottish Government bought Glasgow Prestwick Airport (GPA) in 2013, we have been clear that it is our intention to return the business to the private sector when the time is right. The senior management team at GPA has continued to engage with potential buyers and investors to discuss proposals for developing the business under new ownership.

Good progress continues to be made by GPA to increase revenue; deliver operating efficiencies; and pursue exciting opportunities for the future including Spaceport. In light of that progress, GPA will shortly place an advert in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting expressions of interest in GPA. Any proposals submitted as a result of the advert would be considered carefully before any decision was taken to divest our shareholding in GPA or any part of it. We will provide an update to Parliament should any credible expressions of interest be received, while respecting the need to maintain confidentiality for commercial reasons.

Question reference: S5O-03404

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with devising and implementing the Coig tourism trail.

Question reference: S5F-03407

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2019

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to recent figures showing that the number of women and girls playing football in Scotland has almost doubled in the last five years.