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-15741

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13177 by Ben Macpherson on 10 January 2023, how many people received the Winter Heating Payment in February 2023, and how many outstanding payments remain to be made as of 1 March 2023.

The data required to make Winter Heating Payments was supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions on 31 January 2023. Following this, Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland carried out internal assurance processes on the around 400,000 records received. To ensure the safety and security of the payments, payments began in small batches.

As of 28 February 2023, 34,261 people had received the Winter Heating Payment and a further 365,303 eligible clients were to be paid. We expect to distribute £20 million in this round of Winter Heating Payments, more than double the £8.3 million provided on average by the Department for Work and Pensions in each of the last seven years of Cold Weather Payment.

A first release of Official Statistics on Winter Heating Payment will be published on 6 June 2023. These will be available at our statistics publication page at:

Question reference: S6W-15698

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation by the Children’s Parliament that the Scottish Government should stop alcohol sponsorship of events at which children may be present.

It is crucial that the voices of children and young people are at the heart of developing our next steps on alcohol policy.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion directly references the recommendations of the Children’s Parliament and contains a section, and questions, on potential restrictions on alcohol sponsorship of events.

The consultation closed on 9 March. An independent contractor will comprehensively analyse the responses and publish a report. We will then further consider possible restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-15700

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to “introduce restrictions on alcohol advertising in locations where children would be readily exposed to it”.

Question reference: S6W-15914

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of whether trade unions have been, or will be, involved in its work with the Office for National Statistics on the definition of a "green job".

On the 13th March 2023, following substantial stakeholder engagement, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released an article; "Green jobs" update current and upcoming work - Office of National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) announcing that ONS will now define a green job as:

Employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has continued to review the approaches, expectations and challenges of defining and measuring green jobs, supported by a range of research and engagement with stakeholders and users, many of which were open to the public. This has included a public user engagement exercise (Response summary: Defining and measuring green jobs - ons.gov.uk), an interactive workshop, bilateral conversations with several stakeholders, and discussions with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Economic Experts Working Group (EEWG). All ONS engagement was conducted in line with the existing code of practice for statistics and they will continue to engage as they develop the detailed framework behind the definition.

Question reference: S6W-15915

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the Friends of the Earth Scotland report, Our Power: Offshore workers' demands for a just energy transition, and, if so, what its response is to the report's recommendations to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government welcomes the report detailing offshore workers’ demands for a just energy transition, and agrees that listening to and acting on recommendations from workers is critical to ensure a Just Transition. This is why we have provided £100,000 in funding to the STUC to ensure workers’ voices are at the heart of our just transition planning. The recommendations provided within this report will be considered in full during the consultation period for the Energy Strategy Just Transition Plan and responded to in the final draft.

Question reference: S6W-14801

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 March 2023

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To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a list of any disused train (a) stations and (b) lines that it is currently considering reopening.

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Transport Scotland has a highly successful record of reintroducing stations and routes to the network, reconnecting and bringing new opportunities to Scotland’s communities. These include the Airdrie to Bathgate line and the Borders Railway, and most recently, the reopening of Reston Station. A new station at East Linton is expected to open before the end of this control period. Work is well underway on the Levenmouth Railway, which will enter service in 2024, reversing historical closure and returning stations and new journeys and economic opportunities to the communities surrounding Leven and Cameron Bridge.

Question reference: S6W-15624

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions regarding the proposed Scottish Deposit Return Scheme have (a) the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, (b) the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and (c) any other Scottish Government minister had with the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has been following the agreed process for excluding the deposit return scheme regulations from the Internal Market Act.

We first raised the issue with the UK Government in 2021, and on 28 February 2023 we published correspondence and a timeline setting out the steps that have been undertaken to secure an exclusion. .

On 6 March I met with Ministers and Senior Officials from each UK administration at the inter-ministerial group on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ask for an urgent decision from the UK Government for securing an exclusion from the Internal Market Act.

I will keep Parliament updated on further developments.

Question reference: S6W-15708

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the World Health Organization’s assessment that restricting alcohol marketing is one of the most cost-effective measures to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion reflects the WHO’s recommended approach and sets out a range of potential options to restrict alcohol advertising and promotion, in order to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harms.

The consultation closed on 9 March. An independent contractor will comprehensively analyse the responses and publish a report. We will then further consider possible restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-15705

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government who was involved in approving the consultation on restricting alcohol marketing and promotion, before it was published on 17 November 2022.

The Scottish Government’s public consultation on potential restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland was approved by the Minister for Public Health.

A commitment to consult on such restrictions was agreed by Cabinet in August 2021 as part of the Programme for Government 2021-22. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation approved the publication of this consultation paper in November 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15709

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on preventing young people from being exposed to alcohol marketing; reducing the presence of alcohol cues that can induce reactivity and craving in alcohol-dependent persons, and preventing influence on social norms relating to alcohol consumption in general.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion directly references and endorses this threefold rationale as set out below:

The purpose of taking action to restrict alcohol marketing is threefold and summarised by the WHO as:

to prevent young people from being exposed to alcohol marketing (which is known to influence the decision to start consuming alcohol and to increase alcohol use)
to reduce the presence of alcohol cues that can induce reactivity and craving in alcohol-dependent persons
to prevent influence on social norms relating to consumption in general, given the negative public health, economic and social consequences of alcohol use.