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-07682

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential for using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to enforce School Streets.

Using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to monitor and fine moving traffic would require local authorities to have the powers to enforce moving traffic violation. Local authorities currently do not have the powers for such enforcement. This would require a change to primary legislation and to date there has been no significant call for these powers from local authorities in Scotland.

In Scotland, moving traffic violations remain a matter for the Police.

Question reference: S6W-07680

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what financial support it will offer to people who are detrimentally affected by the upcoming increase to the energy price cap.

Through our £290 million Cost of Living support package, we will give 1.85 million (73%) of Scottish households £150 of extra support via the Council Tax. We have also allocated a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which is aimed at those in greatest need.

The Fuel Insecurity Fund is delivered through trusted third sector partner organisations, providing direct support to people at risk of severely self-rationing their energy use, or self-disconnecting entirely, due to the cost of their fuel bills. Assistance can be accessed by households on any tariff type and using any fuel source.

Question reference: S6W-07776

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support women who have long COVID and who are struggling to balance maintaining their employment with existing caring duties.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is determined everyone with long COVID gets the care and support that is most appropriate for them - regardless of their gender. NHS Scotland is already providing support and care across the full range of NHS services, including primary care teams and community-based rehabilitation services with referrals to secondary care where necessary.

We understand many unpaid carers have required extra support balancing work and care during the pandemic and we have made it very clear that employers should use carer’s leave flexibly in these circumstances. We are promoting awareness and flexibility for unpaid carers in the workplace through the Carer Positive initiative.

Flexible working practices are another way to support women in the workplace and is especially important for those with health concerns and those with caring responsibilities– particularly women, to whom the balance of caring still too often falls.

The Scottish Government funded Flexibility Works in 2021-22 with £94,850 to support and promote the development of flexible and family friendly workplaces. We are developing a programme of further support this year which will include offering vital advice and support to business and organisations on the benefits of flexible working practices such as working from home, hybrid and remote working.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government also introduced new criteria in its Fair Work First approach, asking employers who are receiving public sector grants and delivering public contracts to commit to offering flexible and family friendly working practices – helping people to balance work and family life.

We have worked in partnership with NHS 24 to develop a long COVID information resource on NHS Inform, in order to provide people living with long COVID with clear and accessible guidance about self-management. This resource includes specific advice on navigating a return to work.

Question reference: S6O-01003

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland, Network Rail, Winchburgh Developments Limited and West Lothian Council relating to the provision of a railway station at Winchburgh.

Question reference: S6W-07681

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it will offer to people who experience a decrease in income as a result of the upcoming increase to National Insurance contributions.

As National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and most taxation levers are reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government does not have the range of options to provide support that are available to the UK Government. This is why I wrote to the Chancellor prior to the Spring Statement, urging him to consider all options to help those hardest pressed – from cutting existing VAT on energy bills, to a new windfall tax on those who have enjoyed excess profits from the Covid pandemic, cost of living crisis and now the situation in Ukraine. The Chancellor’s decision to ignore our calls and press ahead with the NICs rise was extremely disappointing. The increase in the payment threshold does nothing to help the lowest earners who need support now. That is why the Scottish Government is taking all measures we feasibly can under the current devolution settlement, such as the £290 million cost of living support package, uprating eight Scottish benefits by 6% from 1 April 2022, providing more than £4.5 billion to support businesses and keep people in employment, and doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £20 – with this increasing further to £25 by the end of 2022.

Question reference: S6W-07363

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 29 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect people in self-funded places in care homes from any unaffordable rises in the costs of their care.

In Scotland, all adults who have been assessed as requiring personal care do not pay for this service, regardless of their condition or means. Nursing care is also free at the point of delivery.

For individuals self-funding their own care, the local authority will pay for these elements of residential care for all those assessed as needing them. The Scottish Government recently announced a 10% increase in the rates of these payments, taking rates to £212.85 for personal care and £95.80 for nursing care, from 1 April 2022. This will be the second consecutive year that these rates have increased above the rate of inflation in recognition of the increasing costs of providing these services.

The National Care Service consultation which ran between August and November 2021 contained questions relating to the future of charging for residential care, including for self-funders. We will consider the responses to these questions, alongside the impact of the recent above inflationary rises to payments for Free Personal and Nursing Care, prior to making decisions on future reforms.

Question reference: S6W-06856

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the specific requirements of women using ScotRail services will be addressed from April 2022.

In addition to taking forward a National Conversation on rail, we will be consulting specifically on women’s safety when using public transport.

Specific timescales will be outlined following the discussion underway with relevant representative groups on the preferred approach for carrying out this engagement.

We have already made initial contact with Engender. We will also engage with groups who represent women working on our public transport network to capture the views of female staff.

Question reference: S6W-07216

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that the process for requesting a paper copy of Scotland's Census 2022 is easy for people who (a) do not have, or are not confident using, online technology and (b) are uncomfortable with using, or unable to use, an interactive voice system.

Everyone living in Scotland is included in the census and we understand that not everyone will be able to, or wish to, complete their census online. That is why paper copies are available upon request by anyone who needs them either by calling our Freephone helpline on 0800 030 8308, by visiting our website www.census.gov.scot . Or, by writing to:

Scotland’s Census 2022

National Records of Scotland

New Register House

3 West Register Street

Edinburgh

EH1 3YT

Copies of the paper questionnaire can be ordered via the automated service over the phone, or by asking to speak to an adviser. Paper questionnaires can also be requested on behalf of someone else with their permission.

Question reference: S6O-00925

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the possible resettlement in Scotland of refugees who may be fleeing conflict or persecution, including in relation to Afghans, Syrians, Iranians and Uyghurs, as well as Ukrainians.

All 32 Scottish local authorities welcomed refugees under the Syrian resettlement scheme. Local authorities have also re-affirmed their continuing support for resettlement with all 32 Scottish local authorities committing to participate in the Afghanistan resettlement and relocation schemes and to support those arriving from Ukraine.

The Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities, COSLA, UK Government and wider partners to support people arriving through the UK Resettlement Scheme, Afghanistan relocation and resettlement schemes and the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

We have a wealth of experience and learning from previous schemes to support and resettle displaced people. Scotland stands ready to offer refuge and sanctuary to anyone who may need it.

Question reference: S6W-07174

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-14658 and S5W-24160 by Shona Robison on 6 March 2018 and Jeane Freeman on 22 July 2019 respectively, what steps it is taking to raise public awareness of the reported potential impact of Essure contraceptive implants on women's health.