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 MSPs 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-07326

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total estimated (a) cost of Scottish Social Security benefits, (b) funding provided through the fiscal framework and (c) additional Scottish Government funding required is for 2022-23.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission published updated forecasts alongside the 2022-23 Scottish Budget on 9 December 2021.

In line with their forecasts, the Scottish Government is committing £3,949 million to social security assistance in 2022-23, and is investing an additional £2.7 million to uprate eight Scottish benefits by 6% from 1 April, subject to parliamentary approval.

The UK Government Spring Statement was made on 23 March and provided an updated set of Social Security Block Grant Adjustments for 2022-23 which total £3,601 million.

Therefore, the Scottish Government is making an additional investment of over £346 million in the social security benefits in 2022-23.

Social security spending is demand-led which means it is variable and harder to control than other areas of spending. We will manage any variance between actual and forecast expenditure or Block Grant Adjustment, in a competent, responsible and balanced way.

Question reference: S6W-07465

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the view in its 2021 Fuel Poverty Strategy that energy price increases since 2017 will have increased the number of households in fuel poverty, whether it will provide an up-to-date estimate of the cost of delivering an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C rating for all fuel poor households.

We have not yet calculated the impact of the April 2022 rise of the fuel price cap on the cost of raising households to EPC C.

The Fuel Poverty Strategy Technical Annex ( Supporting documents - Tackling fuel poverty in Scotland: a strategic approach - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )published in December 2021 sets outs the estimated cost of retrofitting fuel poor households to meet EPC C under different scenarios.

Scottish Government analysis of the impact of the rise in the fuel price cap suggests that the proportion of households in fuel poverty in Scotland could increase to between 807,000 (32.3%) and 831,000 households (33.3%). The higher number of households in fuel poverty would therefore lead to an overall increase in the total cost for these households to reach EPC C.

Scottish Government is in the process of commissioning work which will consider revision to the EPC metrics and which in part will estimate the total cost of raising dwellings’ energy efficiency rating to meet energy efficiency targets.

Question reference: S6W-07466

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many Test and Protect staff have been employed since the start of the pandemic, broken down by the number recruited by (a) the Scottish Government and (b) external contractors; how many staff are currently employed, and how many staff are expected to be employed on 1 June 2022.

Whilst the Scottish Government is provided with management information on the scheduled capacity of the contact tracing element of Test and Protect only, the management of the workforce including all recruitment to the Test and Protect service throughout the pandemic has been managed by individual employers, not the Scottish Government directly.

External contractors who have supported the Test and Protect system consist of: those who have supplemented the core and fixed-term workforce and have been recruited by NHS National Services Scotland for the National Contact Centre; and those appointed by the UK Government to support contracts associated with testing. The Scottish Government was not directly involved in the process to recruit or manage either of these groups of contractors and therefore does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government is actively working with NHS Health Boards, Local Authorities and private employers to understand the exact current number of staff employed across Test and Protect which at the moment is more than 7,000. This exercise will allow us to ensure we maximise our support to each individual member of staff to sustain employment with their current employer to have access to support to move to other opportunities across the public or private sector.

In line with the timescales set out in the Test and Protect Transition Plan published on 15 March, we are in the process of engaging across the Test and Protect system to identify future resource needs.

Question reference: S6W-07451

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05936 by Maree Todd on 14 February 2022, whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding by NHS board area.

The breakdown of the additional funding provided to Health Boards for Breastfeeding Initiatives since 2018/19 is as follows:

	In £m				Total spend per board
HEALTH BOARD	2018- 19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22

NHS Ayrshire and Arran	0.09	0.12	0.12	0.07	0.40
NHS Borders	0.05	0.08	0.08	0.05	0.25
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	0.02	0.03	0.03	0.05	0.13
NHS Fife	0.05	0.08	0.06	0.07	0.25
NHS Forth Valley	0.04	0.05	0.05	0.04	0.18
NHS Grampian	0.02	0.02	0.04	0.05	0.14
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	0.19	0.13	0.17	0.19	0.68
NHS Highland	0.07	0.03	0.06	0.06	0.21
NHS Lanarkshire	0.05	0.06	0.04	0.03	0.17
NHS Lothian	0.07	0.10	0.12	0.12	0.42
NHS Orkney	0.03	0.03	0.04	0.06	0.15
NHS Shetland	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.06	0.18
NHS Tayside	0.08	0.09	0.11	0.11	0.38
NHS Western Isles	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.05

TOTAL	0.79	0.86	0.98	0.96	3.58

Funding has also been provided to Third Sector partners and for other nationally-led projects during this time period. Third Sector partners work in collaboration with NHS Boards and HSCPs to establish local peer support models.

Annual funding is provided to NHS Boards through the Outcomes Framework allocation to deliver a range of core services, including for breastfeeding. The value of this allocation, by Board, for each of the four years is set out below:

In £m - Outcomes Framework
	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	4.1	3.9	4.4	4.7
NHS Borders	1.2	1.1	1.3	1.4
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	1.6	1.6	1.7	1.9
NHS Fife	4.0	3.8	4.2	4.5
NHS Forth Valley	3.4	3.2	3.5	3.8
NHS Grampian	6.6	6.3	7.0	7.5
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	16.9	16.1	17.3	18.4
NHS Highland	3.4	3.2	3.5	3.8
NHS Lanarkshire	6.4	6.1	7.1	7.6
NHS Lothian	10.5	10.0	10.9	11.6
NHS Orkney	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5
NHS Shetland	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
NHS Tayside	6.0	5.7	5.9	6.4
NHS Western Isles	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.6
National Services Scotland	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.4
Scottish Ambulance Service	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
NHS Education Scotland	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NHS 24	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
National Waiting Times Centre	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
State Hospital	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NHS Health Scotland	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
PHS	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Total	66.2	62.9	68.9	74.1

The table below is funding for community services in Scotland since 2019 by Board. This is comprised of investment in specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health, Infant Mental Health and Maternity/Neonatal Psychological Interventions. This combined with other investment including Mother and Baby Units, the Wellbeing for Wee Ones campaign, training, workforce and the Perinatal Mental Health Managed Clinical Network makes up the full £16m spend.

	£m
Ayrshire & Arran	0.06
Borders	0.21
Dumfries & Galloway	0.28
Fife	1.15
Forth Valley	0.33
Grampian	1.17
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	1.93
Highland	0.72
Lanarkshire	1.58
Lothian	2.07
Orkney	0.09
Shetland	0.07
Tayside	0.77
Western Isles	0.04
Total	10.46

Question reference: S6W-07052

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government from where it has located the additional £6 million funding for the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, which it announced on 25 February 2022.

The additional funding to deliver the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults in 2021-22 has been identified as part of the £120 million Mental Health Recovery & Renewal (MH R&R) Fund to ensure the delivery of commitments set out in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan.

The new Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults was launched in October 2021 with £15 million of funding from the Mental Health Recovery & Renewal budget. The Fund aims to support grassroots community-based initiatives across Scotland which promote good mental health and wellbeing and early intervention for those in distress and tackle the impact of social isolation, loneliness and the mental health inequalities made worse by the pandemic. The Fund is managed locally by Third Sector Interface (TSI) bodies and is designed to support the development of an integrated culture of mental wellbeing and prevention within local communities.

Following a very positive response to the Fund from communities across Scotland, the additional £6 million funding for 2021-22 announced in February has been provided to TSIs to meet the demand for local mental health and wellbeing projects, bringing total funding to £21 million in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-07484

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding the potential introduction of a national garden waste tax.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions to date, relating to the introduction of a national garden waste tax.

Decisions on local service provision and charges are for local authorities to make. However we want to make sure that the best choice for the environment is also the easy choice for households and will be consulting in May on a new set of measures to achieve our waste and recycling targets to 2025 and beyond.

Question reference: S6W-06974

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the requirement to take a COVID-19 lateral flow test before entering a care home will continue as restrictions ease, and whether these tests will continue to be free for people entering care homes.

Question reference: S6W-07360

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish an all-tenure target of at least 25,000 homes per year in order to meet current levels of need and demand.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing and evidencing housing need and demand, and setting out through local housing strategies and local development plans the housing requirements for their area. The Scottish Government continues to collaborate with a wide range of housing delivery partners to ensure the delivery of more high quality homes to meet the need of communities across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07208

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether immuno-compromised people who need to undertake COVID-19 testing more regularly than the wider population, from numerous times a week to daily, will remain able to access lateral flow testing for free.

Question reference: S6W-06898

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address the reported backlog of NHS hospital appointments for children and young people, in particular for those aged 15 to 17.

We published our NHS Recovery Plan on 25 August 2021, which sets out our ambition of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% as quickly as possible in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs for people across Scotland.

Backed by over £1 billion of funding, the Plan will support an increase in inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address the backlog of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements through new models of care.

Health Boards’ elective activity is being actively monitored through daily and weekly returns to the Scottish Government and support provided where required.