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-08662

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many National Lottery tickets have been sold in Scotland in each year since 2015.

Question reference: S6W-08666

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any implications for Scotland of the potential awarding of the fourth National Lottery licence to Allwyn, in light of its reported links to Russia and its potential role in raising funds to be distributed to charities and local community groups in Scotland and the rest of the UK through Good Causes funding.

Question reference: S6W-08655

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with National Lottery (a) distributors and (b) funding recipients in Scotland regarding the possibility of Good Causes funding being raised from sales of lottery tickets by a company with reported links to Russia.

Question reference: S6W-08661

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the economy in Scotland of any decline in National Lottery ticket sales.

Ministers were alerted to a decline in National Lottery ticket sales and to a consequent reduction in National Lottery good cause income in December 2016.

A mitigation strategy has been in place since October 2016 for a collaborative approach bringing together DCMS, the Gambling Commission, distributors and Camelot to address falling sales.

This includes Camelot undertaking a strategic review to return the lottery to growth; distributors promoting the link between National Lottery and Good cause projects; DCMS and the Gambling Commission are working with lottery distributors on potential levels of income if current trends continue.

Good cause returns for 2019-20 and for 2020-21 were better than expected and a total of £1,887 million was raised in 2020-21.

Question reference: S6F-01183

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the First Minister what her position is on whether Scotland’s Census 2022 has been a credible exercise.

Question reference: S6O-01169

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to support college and university students impacted by the cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6W-08440

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans to meet with any refugees who arrived in Scotland during periods when Welcome Hubs were unstaffed, in order to support them and make them feel welcome.

To confirm, the Welcome desk at Glasgow airport is staffed and my officials continue to work in partnership with the local authority to provide support and services for all arrivals. I am aware of one incident where an individual arrived to an unattended desk, however there was signage in place directing them to contact a helpline number. The individual in question is being well supported and is safely housed, and has expressed gratitude to the Health and Social Care Partnership for all their support and assistance.

Question reference: S6W-08441

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking in response to recent reports of the Glasgow Airport Welcome Hub being unstaffed despite reassurances that face-to-face advice would available from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm.

The Welcome desk at Glasgow airport is staffed to coincide with individuals from Ukraine arriving who may require assistance and my officials continue to work in partnership with the local authority to provide support and services for all arrivals. The welcome desks are staffed during daytime hours, outwith these hours, they can phone the Scottish Refugee Council helpline number who can give advice based on the appropriate visa route.

Question reference: S6W-08442

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a record of any periods during which the Glasgow Airport Welcome Hub was unstaffed, and, if this is the case, how many times it has been left unstaffed since it opened, and, in each case, (a) what the reason was and (b) for how long it was left unstaffed.

The Scottish Government does not hold this level of information, however, I can assure you that the Glasgow airport welcome desk is staffed to coincide with individuals from Ukraine arriving who may require assistance. Outwith daytime hours, signage providing telephone numbers is set up at both the domestic and international arrivals area. A welcome hub has also been established at Glasgow Airport, where displaced people will be fully supported, including an immediate needs assessment. The Welcome Hubs are multi-agency and local authority led. In addition to this, our national contact centre reaches out to people we know have received their visa before they travel to Scotland. Through this we are able to offer travel advice and obtain planned arrival information, including where and when someone is planning to arrive in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01092

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what modelling it has undertaken to estimate the impact on its Covid Recovery Strategy of removing population-wide testing and contact tracing at the end of April.