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-04180

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported figures suggesting that the cumulative excess summer mortality per 100,000 people was higher in 2021 than in each of the preceding 40 years.

Covid-19 was the highest single cause of excess mortality during summer 2021. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy. All those affected by the virus have our sympathy and we are working to prevent others from experiencing that same heartbreak.

As a result of the Scottish Government’s vaccination programme and increased medical knowledge of the virus, in summer 2021 the mortality rate was far lower, despite greater transmission of the virus. We are now offering boosters to protect the population further.

We are also working to remobilise our NHS safely and will be providing over £300 million in a winter funding package to support the health of people across Scotland this winter.

Question reference: S6W-03635

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) mental health workers and (b) Community Link Workers have been recruited in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

(a) Mental Health Workers

The main Mental Health professional groups that the Scottish Government holds data for are Psychiatrists, Mental Health Nurses and Psychologists, including other psychological clinical staff and therapists. The Scottish Government also holds workforce figures for CAMHS, which are multidisciplinary teams that include, in addition to the professions mentioned above, AHPs, counsellors and social workers.

(a).1 Consultant Psychiatrists

A breakdown of the number of Consultant Psychiatrists recruited in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES Medical and Dental Turas Dashboard at the following link:

(a).2 Mental Health Nurses

A breakdown of the number of Mental Health Nurses recruited in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES Nursing and Midwifery Turas Dashboard at the following link:

(a).3 Psychology Services Workforce

A breakdown of the staff recruited to the Psychology Services in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES Psychology Turas Dashboard at the following link:

(a).4 CAMHS Workforce

A breakdown of the staff recruited to CAMHS in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES CAMHS Turas Dashboard at the following link:

(a).5 Action 15

In addition to the data listed above, the Scottish Government also collects and publishes figures for mental health workers recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy, representing our commitment to recruit an additional 800 mental health workers between 2018-19 and 2021-22, to key settings such as A&E departments, GP practices, police station custody suites and prisons.

The latest recruitment figures as at 1 July 2021 can be accessed at

Since 2018/19, almost £68 million has been allocated to Integration Authorities (IAs) based on the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula. While the Scottish Government provides funding for recruitment under Action 15, workforce and service planning is conducted by IAs according to the needs of their populations.

Since 2018/19 654.3 WTE posts have been recruited, representing nearly 82% of the overall target of 800 WTE. As at 1 July 2021, the recruitment rate per IA ranges between 54% and 101%, with some IAs having exceeded their allocation in advance of the March 2022 deadline.

(b) Community Link Workers

The Scottish Government only holds data on additional Community Link Workers (CLWs) recruited as part of the 2016 manifesto commitment to recruit at least 250 CLWs by the end of 2021-22. Any data prior to the 2016 manifesto, or of similar held specialist posts employed outwith this programme, would be held by Health and Social Care Partnerships.

Since March 2018, 218 headcount (HC) posts have been recruited, representing nearly 87% of the target of 250 CLWs in post. There has been some scaling back on previous projected workforce numbers due to Covid related reasons of limited opportunities to provide support remotely; staff being redeployed elsewhere; contractual delays, but figures remain on track to recover by March 2022.

The Scottish Government published information on the number of CLWs employed by NHSScotland broken down by region on 12 October 2021 in response to a Freedom of Information Request submitted to the Scottish Government on 1 September 2021 (reference FOI/202100235471). The information can be accessed at:

Question reference: S6W-04427

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many severe mental impairment evidence forms have been issued by medical professionals in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6O-00449

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support the funding of flood mitigation schemes.

Question reference: S6W-03643

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been awarded in compensation for medical errors in each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-03658

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a national standard for electric vehicle charging points in housing developments.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on draft policy options for the installation of electric vehicle charge points in a number of different building types, including an option that sets out a minimum requirement for all new residential buildings with parking spaces.

The consultation ( Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed changes to Energy Standards and associated topics, including Ventilation, Overheating and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure ) can be found on the Scottish Government's website.

We aim to publish a consultation response in early 2022.

Question reference: S6W-03633

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many allotment spaces have been available in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-03660

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what consideration it is giving to reinstating passengers to the Edinburgh South Suburban railway line.

Question reference: S6W-03630

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of female genital mutilation have been (a) reported and (b) investigated in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-03640

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points, and how much funding it has provided to each local authority in each of the last five years in this regard.

The Scottish Government has provided £45M to all 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities and continues to offer support to enable the further increase in the number of electric vehicle chargers.

Investment in public charging infrastructure has enabled the development of the ChargePlace Scotland network (CPS), now one of the largest in the UK. Investment has also included schemes to support installation of business and domestic electric vehicle chargepoints, and associated infrastructure to support the decarbonisation of light and heavy vehicles in the public sector, and the decarbonisation of buses used for public transport.

Table 1 shows the investment within the last five financial years that each local authority has received to deliver public electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including a cumulative total. The majority of funding has been awarded through our Local Authority Install Programme, with a number of local authorities also being supported through challenge fund awards, including those under the Switched on Towns and Cities and Low Carbon Travel and Transport programmes.

Table 1

Local Authority / Financial Year	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	Total
Aberdeen City	£ 113,182	£ 82,000	£ 268,500	£ 300,000	£ 152,436	£ 916,118
Aberdeenshire	£ 73,000	£ 33,000	£ 331,500	£ 355,000	£ 122,420	£ 914,920
Angus	£ 11,000	£ 51,000	£ 515,300	£ 270,000	£ 130,897	£ 978,197
Argyll & Bute	£ 91,000	£ 62,000	£ 273,000	£ 150,000	£ 100,000	£ 676,000
Clackmannanshire	£ 22,000	£ 15,000	£ 216,000	£ 150,000	£ 107,000	£ 510,000
Dumfries & Galloway	£ 22,000	£ 51,000	£ 599,000	£ 250,000	£ 206,689	£ 1,128,689
Dundee City	£ 147,000	£ 60,000	£ 1,202,728	£ 452,902	£ 781,414	£ 2,644,044
East Ayrshire	£ 11,000	£ 33,000	£ 505,000	£ 300,000	£ 208,608	£ 1,057,608
East Dunbartonshire	£ 51,000	£ 27,500	£ 222,500	£ 250,000	£ 110,000	£ 661,000
East Lothian	£ 73,000	£ 11,000	£ 786,000	£ 200,000	£ 500,000	£ 1,570,000
East Renfrewshire	£ 11,000	£ 11,000	£ 150,000	£ 150,000	£ 132,000	£ 454,000
City of Edinburgh	£ 102,000	£ 99,000	£ 954,981	£ 1,187,677	£ 747,182	£ 3,090,840
Falkirk	£ 11,000	£ 11,000	£ 799,064	£ 676,977	£ 416,709	£ 1,914,750
Fife	£ 93,191	£ 100,000	£ 329,000	£ 597,370	£ 140,000	£ 1,259,561
Glasgow City	£ 102,000	£ 171,000	£ 1,629,295	£ 371,929	£ 524,878	£ 2,799,102
Highland	£ 130,000	£ 51,000	£ 1,483,000	£ 800,000	£ 175,000	£ 2,639,000
Inverclyde	£ 11,000	£ 22,000	£ 150,000	£ 150,000	£ 104,129	£ 437,129
Midlothian	£ 73,000	£ 51,000	£ 110,000	£ 160,000	£ 206,861	£ 600,861
Moray	£ 51,000	£ 51,000	£ 982,000	£ 150,000	£ 109,666	£ 1,343,666
North Ayrshire	£ 22,000	£ 20,000	£ 207,500	£ 250,000	£ 778,320	£ 1,277,820
North Lanarkshire	£ 51,000	£ 11,000	£ 235,000	£ 225,000	£ 2,708,409	£ 3,230,409
Orkney	£ 40,000	£ 11,000	£ 220,876	£ 180,000	£ 82,000	£ 533,876
Perth & Kinross	£ 102,000	£ 138,000	£ 600,547	£ 250,000	£ 177,500	£ 1,268,047
Renfrewshire	£ 51,000	£ 51,000	£ 687,500	£ 310,000	£ 566,840	£ 1,666,340
Scottish Borders	£ 97,000	£ 94,249	£ 922,411	£ 250,000	£ 99,700	£ 1,463,360
Shetland	£ 22,000	£ 11,000	£ 139,500	£ 150,000	£ 100,000	£ 422,500
South Ayrshire	£ 12,000	£ 35,000	£ 347,000	£ 250,000	£ 135,000	£ 779,000
South Lanarkshire	£ 73,000	£ 84,000	£ 1,266,375	£ 500,000	£ 2,771,548	£ 4,694,923
Stirling	£ 73,000	£ 60,000	£ 1,338,956	£ 437,211	£ 297,072	£ 2,206,239
West Dunbartonshire	£ 11,000	£ 13,500	£ 181,500	£ 170,000	£ 79,410	£ 455,410
West Lothian	£ 69,000	£ 67,000	£ 235,500	£ 320,000	£ 190,000	£ 881,500
Western Isles	£ 51,000	£ 11,000	£ 151,000	£ 150,000	£ 76,177	£ 439,177

Total: £44,914,084.89

Also included in 2020-21 is a £5.3m Scottish Government funded demonstrator project delivered by SP Energy Networks across North and South Lanarkshire (Project PACE). The project has been coordinated as part of a Strategic Partnership involving the Scottish Government and Scotland's electricity Distribution Network Operators, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and SP Energy Networks, which aims to demonstrate the benefits and efficiencies of a coordinated approach to the planning and delivery of electric vehicle charging and electricity infrastructure.

Future funding programmes have yet to be fully determined but the Scottish Government Infrastructure Investment Plan published in February 2021 committed to £120m investment for net zero electric buses and £287m from the Future Transport Fund to support a range of low and zero carbon transport initiatives between
‎ 2021-22 and 2025-26.