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-25118

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 29 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of its decision to reduce the funding for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust on its work in the former coalfield communities.

The Scottish Government’s challenging budget position impacts on the budget available for the delivery of the Empowering Communities Programme which supports Coalfield Regeneration Trust’s (CRT’s) grant. Officials advised CRT that we would be unable to deliver funding at the same level as previous years and worked with the Trust to help prioritise their 2023-24 work programme on protecting those elements which have the greatest impact and outcomes for coalfields communities.

Question reference: S6O-03164

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will allocate through its Budget to fund any potential cost increases related to improvements to the A720 City Bypass grade separation of Sheriffhall roundabout.

Question reference: S6W-25632

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 28 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details, including the (a) timeline and (b) application process, of the £90 million Green Hydrogen Fund, which was reportedly due to be launched by December 2023.

The Hydrogen Action Plan, published in December 2022, set out a clear commitment to support renewable hydrogen production.

Grants from the first tranche of our hydrogen investment programme, the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, totalled over £7m and were announced in May 2023. The second tranche of up to £90m was intended to be the Green Hydrogen Fund (GHF). Due to the UK Government having inflicted a 10% cut on the Scottish Government capital budget, the GHF is not being taken forward at this time.

Whilst there are no immediate plans to open the GHF, the Scottish Government is working with Scottish Enterprise to consider delivery options for funding support to the hydrogen sector on a case-by-case basis, and to engage with projects as they come forward.

Question reference: S6W-25113

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have required emergency eye surgery at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, in each year since 1999.

Table 1 provides information on total number of inpatient, daycase and outpatient hospital episodes where an emergency eye surgery procedure was recorded, at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion by financial year from 2004-05. It is not possible to provide figures for 1999-2003, as prior to 2004 activity at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion was recorded under the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh along with activity from other facilities on the Lauriston Place site.

Table 1: Number of emergency Eye procedures at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, 2004-05 to 2022-23

Financial Year	Total procedures
2004-05	130
2005-06	128
2006-07	107
2007-08	221
2008-09	92
2009-10	194
2010-11	178
2011-12	190
2012-13	238
2013-14	150
2014-15	215
2015-16	229
2016-17	329
2017-18	270
2018-19	272
2019-20	296
2020-21	225
2021-22	214
2022-23	195

Source: Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-25114

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Food Standards Scotland (FSS) written submission to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee of 20 December 2023, in relation to public petition PE1997, what the timescale is for FSS to "seek views from businesses or organisations representing businesses with experience in providing information in braille on their food and/or non-food products" to inform its thinking on mandatory braille labelling of food products.

Question reference: S6W-25115

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Food Standards Scotland (FSS) written submission to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee of 20 December 2023, in relation to public petition PE1997, what the timescale is for FSS to discuss any proposed consultation on mandatory braille labelling of food products with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Food Standards Agency in Wales and Northern Ireland.

FSS officials meet with officials in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales and Northern Ireland, lead departments for food labelling in the rest of the UK, on a bimonthly basis. FSS continues to highlight that braille labelling of food products is being considered by the Scottish Parliament Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, and the importance being placed on this issue in Scotland. Development of any policy proposals would need to be considered on a four-nation basis under the UK Food Compositional Standards and Labelling Common Framework.

Question reference: S6W-25112

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have received cataract surgery at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, in each year since 1999.

Table 1 provides information on total number of inpatient, daycase and outpatient hospital episodes where a cataract surgery procedure was recorded, at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion by financial year from 2004-05. It is not possible to provide figures for 1999-2003, as prior to 2004 activity at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion was recorded under the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh along with activity from other facilities on the Lauriston Place site.

Table 1: Number of Cataract eye surgery procedures at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, 2004-05 to 2022-23

Financial Year	Total procedures
2004-05	1944
2005-06	2126
2006-07	2170
2007-08	3058
2008-09	3179
2009-10	3406
2010-11	3525
2011-12	4097
2012-13	3498
2013-14	3352
2014-15	3399
2015-16	3597
2016-17	3741
2017-18	3663
2018-19	4831
2019-20	4163
2020-21	1833
2021-22	2365
2022-23	3155

Source: Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-25109

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the NHS Scotland capital infrastructure budget update.

Question reference: S6W-25110

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment it has undertaken regarding the potential removal of charitable status of independent schools in Edinburgh.

No impact assessments have been conducted as the Scottish Government’s position is and remains that the charitable status of any organisation is a matter for OSCR. Whether independent fee-charging schools meet the charity test is a matter for OSCR who operate independently of the Scottish Government.

Any changes to the way OSCR determine charitable status would need to be made by primary legislation, following thorough consultation, impact assessments and analysis.

Question reference: S6W-25107

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 19 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review emergency planning legislation and the powers that are available to local authorities.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 is the legislation which outlines the categorised responders, and their duty to prepare for civil emergencies within Scotland.

The CCA divides responders into two categories, category 1 and category 2, with local authorities included as a category 1 responder. The CCA imposes a set of duties on each category of responders, but it does not confer any powers upon the categorised responders.

The UK Government has a legal obligation to review the CCA every 5 years. The most recent review was published in 2022 and the report, including the findings and recommendations, can be viewed here - .

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to review the accompanying regulations to the CCA.