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-12584

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff absences due to mental health reasons were recorded by (a) 999 and (b) 101 call centre staff, in each year since 2014.

The Scottish Government welcomes initiatives being undertaken by Police Scotland to support its workforce through the “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme which covers psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on staff absences due to mental health reasons. Delivery of call handling services and associated staffing issues are a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA.

Question reference: S6W-12485

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children have been admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of asthma in NHS (i) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) Ayrshire and Arran in (A) 2011, (B) 2016, (C) 2020, (D) 2021 and (E) 2022 to date.

Question reference: S6O-01699

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport last met with CalMac representatives.

Question reference: S6W-12470

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much its Justice Directorate has spent on external management consultants in (a) 2012 and (b) each year since 2016.

The Justice portfolio has spent a total of £301,853.07 on external management consultants in 2012 and 2016-2019. This data relates to direct spend by the Scottish Government and does not include expenditure on consultancy services by public bodies. There was no spend on management consultancy services in the years 2020-2022. A breakdown of these costs is provided in the following table:

Year	Total	Business area
2012	£216,511.61	Police and Fire policy
2016	£3,904.60	Digital evidence sharing capability
2017	£26,973.46	Digital evidence sharing capability Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) job evaluation

	£2,000
2018	£51,168	Roadmap for transformation of the criminal justice sector
2019	£5,200	Independent Review into Police Complaints

Question reference: S6W-12472

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its Justice Directorate's budget has been spent on first class train travel for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in each year since 2016.

The Justice Portfolio has spent £11,610.31 on first class rail travel for civil servants since 2016. Ministerial travel costs are paid for from a separate budget. A breakdown of the total cost is provided in the following table:

Calendar year	Calendar year spend (£)
2016	£1860.55

2017	£3975.54

2018	£3392.43

2019	£1009.24

2020	£292.25

2021	£998.35

2022 to date	£81.95

The Scottish Government’s rail travel policy dictates that civil servants should use standard class for all rail journeys. Scottish Government staff are also encouraged to aim to buy reduced rail fares, including day returns, saver tickets and also avoid expensive flexible/anytime rail fares whenever possible.

Civil Servants are, however, allowed to make use of first class rail travel on overnight journeys such as the Caledonian Sleeper or Eurostar. These journeys are reflected in the costs noted above.

Question reference: S6W-12478

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent Quarterly Fines Report from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

The independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has the operational responsibility for the collection of criminal fines in Scotland. On 17 October 2022, SCTS published their latest quarterly fines report. This report is an official statistics publication and uses a rolling three year collection rate which reflects that fines and financial penalties, by their nature, require time to pay. As such, using a full three year period containing both newer and older fines gives a more balanced view of collection rates.

The latest report indicated that the three year collection rate for all fine/penalty types showed improvement for both value and number when the figures as at 19 July 2022 are compared with 17 October 2022. For example, 86% of sheriff court fines were either paid or on track to be paid as at 17 October compared to 85% as at 19 July.

We welcome this improvement and support the efforts of SCTS to collect and enforce fines using all the available tools at their disposal.

Question reference: S6W-12487

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Legionnaires' disease has been detected on the Police Scotland estate in each year since 2013.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information to answer this question. I have asked Police Scotland to write to you providing the information you have requested. However, Police Scotland has reassured me that they conduct regular legionella testing across the Police Estate and if legionella bacteria is detected an immediate mitigation plan is put in place. Police Scotland has confirmed that there have been no cases of Legionnaires disease reported since 2013.

The Member will be aware of the temporary closure of the Scottish Police Collage at Tulliallan from 6 December. This was the result of routine testing and, as a precaution, Police Scotland’s leadership team has decided to temporarily close Tulliallan to allow further investigations and action to be undertaken.

There are no confirmed cases and the risk to individuals remains extremely low. However, Police Scotland has been clear that the safety and wellbeing of officers and staff is paramount. The closure will allow for a full flush of all water systems to be carried out, and further testing done to ensure there is no trace of bacteria remaining. There will be no impact on operational policing as a result of this.

Responsibility for the management of the police estate sits with Police Scotland, which is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority.

Question reference: S6W-12592

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the current (a) timescales, (b) plans and (c) legislative changes it plans to propose to reform the dual role of the Lord Advocate, in their capacity as head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and as a minister in the Scottish Government and its principal legal adviser, in line with its commitments to do so.

The Programme for Government published in September 2021 covered this Parliamentary session running up to March 2026. Within it, there is a commitment as follows:

'The Scottish Government’s law officers, amongst other roles, act as the head of the independent prosecution service and as members of the Scottish Government. We will consult on whether the prosecution and government functions of the law officers should be separated.'

Work is continuing to progress towards a Scottish Government consultation. Development of the consultation will be informed by an initial phase of expert research, which is currently underway. This research will ensure a detailed baseline understanding of the many distinct roles and functions of the Law Officers and will provide information on how the functions of Law Officers operate in other countries.

Question reference: S6W-12469

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many separate video files have been uploaded by the public to Police Scotland’s National Dashcam Safety Portal.

Question reference: S6W-12471

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to improve positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) waiting times in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are currently achieving their 14 day wait to scan, with their current wait to scan being 11 days.

The published in August 2021, sets out the plans for health and social care over the next 5 years. Backed by over £1 billion of funding, the plan will support an increase in planned care and diagnostic capacity, including through seven mobile MRI scanners and five CT scanners across NHS Scotland. This additional capacity will support PET-CT waiting times across NHS Scotland.

The Scottish Government have also significantly increased the number of available Clinical Radiology training places, following the recommendations of the Scottish Shape of Training Transition Group (SSoTTG). Since 2014, Scottish Ministers have created 573 additional training places for trainee doctors. Of these, 78 have been in Radiology (68 in Clinical Radiology and 10 in Interventional Radiology). This followed a Ministerial commitment in 2018 to create 10 additional Clinical Radiology places per year over a 5-year period. The final 10 places are being recruited to by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in 2022.

The most recent NES statistics from end-November 2021 show that the 182 established training places in Clinical Radiology were 100% full with no vacant posts.