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: S6F-01264

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 June 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government plans to appoint a Women's Health Champion, in light of the appointment of a Women's Health Ambassador for England.

Question reference: S6W-08993

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that its investment in the provision of support for patients with long COVID will also take account of those with other related chronic conditions.

Question reference: S6W-08992

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when further details will be released on the care coordinator roles, including the timeline for introduction, as referred to by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in the debate on long COVID on 19 May 2022, and whether these roles will also support patients with other long-term and complex conditions, such as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).

The specification of, and recruitment to staff roles supported by investment through the long COVID Support Fund is a matter for individual NHS Boards.

The Strategic Network for long COVID managed by NHS National Services Scotland is providing support to NHS Boards as they plan and implement service developments.

We are supporting NHS Boards to test the introduction of models of care that will generate learning and benefit the management of other long-term and complex conditions, including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).

Question reference: S6O-01252

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions justice ministers have had with ministerial colleagues regarding using antisocial behaviour laws to prevent people carrying out intimidating protests outside abortion clinics.

Question reference: S6W-08798

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported cost of living crisis, what measures it has put in place to ensure that the relatives of clinically extremely vulnerable people can access their family members safely at home without being left out of pocket.

As a result of the pandemic, local PPE Hubs were set up all over Scotland to provide free PPE to people providing social care support who need it, including unpaid carers. The Scottish Government continues to offer free PPE for unpaid carers and provision has been extended to September 2022. Unpaid or family carers who think they require PPE due to their caring role should contact their local carer’s centre and they will advise on how to access supplies locally. If their local carers’ centre is unavailable, they can call the Social Care PPE Support Centre on 0300 303 3020.

Where we have recommended symptomatic or regular asymptomatic testing to unpaid carers (and the population) this has always been provided free of charge. Our testing programme continues to be based on clinical advice and is kept under review.

We are committed to ensuring that people living in adult care homes can spend time with the people who are important to them. Open with Care guidance, which was updated on 1 June, emphasises the importance of maximising opportunities to spend time with others. Where a care home has an outbreak, residents should be supported to see one of their named visitors.

Using legal powers under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act, two new statutory care standards were introduced on 31 March to ensure people living in care homes remain connected to their loved ones in order to support their health and wellbeing. The Scottish Government will further strengthen rights by including Anne’s Law as part of the forthcoming National Care Service Bill which will be introduced to Parliament shortly.

Question reference: S6W-08518

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland, and, in particular, recommendation 4, which states that no further planning permission should be granted to incineration infrastructure unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity.

Question reference: S6W-08519

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives, including financial support initiatives, it has in place to support young families to install renewable energy technologies in their homes.

The Scottish Government, through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) provides interest-free loans and grant funding to improve the energy efficiency of homes in Scotland.

Funding is available in the form of interest-free loans with up to 75% cashback for eligible renewables measures, 40% cashback for eligible energy efficiency measures and in the form of grants through our Warmer Homes Scotland fuel poverty scheme.

Funding is available to all households who meet the eligible criteria.

To further support households to make their homes greener, HES also provide:

free, impartial advice through Home Energy Scotland, including specialist home renewables advice;
the Green Homes Network which allows households to find out about the experience of others who have already installed measures; and
the Renewable Installer Finder Tool which helps households find installers and suppliers in their area.

Under the HES Loan and Cashback scheme, homeowners can borrow up to £17,500 for a total of two renewables measures (attracting up 75% cashback). For energy efficiency measures, loans of up to £15,000 is available (attracting up to 40% cashback).

Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) is the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, designed to make homes warmer for those living in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty through installing insulation and heating measures into individual properties.

Home owners and private rented sector tenants struggling to heat their homes may benefit under the Warmer Homes Scheme. Heating measures are available to those in receipt of certain benefits and who are pregnant or with children under the age of 16 years.

Full details of both schemes can be found on the Home Energy Scotland website.

Question reference: S6W-08520

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what further plans it may bring forward to encourage young families to invest in home renewables and make more environmentally sustainable lifestyle choices.

We are committed to a Just Transition, reducing emissions from our homes and buildings in a way that leaves no one behind. Planned actions that will support a wide range of households, including young families, to invest in home renewables and make sustainable lifestyle choices include:

Introducing a standalone grant through the Home Energy Scotland support scheme, giving young families and other households more flexibility to tailor support for home renewables to their needs
Collaborating with a range of partners through the Green Heat Finance Taskforce on innovative mechanisms needed to ensure an affordable transition to zero emissions heating, for example, ‘heat as a service’ models
Developing a specific Heat in Buildings Public Engagement Strategy that will increase awareness and understanding of the heat transition and the benefits it can deliver.

Heat in Buildings Strategy: https://www.gov.scot/publications/heat-buildings-strategy-achieving-net-zero-emissions-scotlands-buildings/

Question reference: S6W-08399

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the forthcoming ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, what plans it has to (a) encourage all communities in Scotland to embrace the planned shift towards electric vehicles and (b) prepare areas, such as East Ayrshire, that were highlighted in a recent study by Moneyshake as being the least prepared for the planned shift, through direct intervention.

I also refer the member to the answer to S6W-08398 on 23 May 2022. In addition to the £60m that will be invested through the EV Infrastructure Fund, the Scottish Government has provided a wide range of incentives to support the early uptake of electric vehicles including more than £145m loan funding to support vehicle purchase (of which £3.5m has gone to households and business in East Ayrshire) and over £50m investment in the ChargePlace Scotland Network of public chargepoints. Electric vehicles now make up a significant proportion of monthly car sales highlighting a rapidly developing and competitive market. This will create further opportunities and incentives for people and businesses across all of Scotland to shift to an electric vehicle.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-08398

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in order to prepare for the forthcoming ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, what plans it has to create more electric vehicle charging points in (a) general, (b) communities where drivers are least prepared for the change, (c) Ayrshire and (d) Dumfries and Galloway.

The Draft Vision for Scotland’s Public Electric Vehicle Charging Network published in January provides the guiding vision on how Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging network will continue to grow across Scotland in a fair and inclusive way.

The Scottish Government’s £60m Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, that aims to leverage at least half of this funding from private sector sources over the next 4 years, will target investment in growing the public charging network across all of Scotland in areas where commercial investment on its own is unviable. This year, Scottish Government funding has already been provided or is being made available to all of Scotland’s local authorities to develop public electric vehicle charge point strategies and expansion plans including the Ayrshire Councils as well as Dumfries and Galloway.