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-08872

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many times and (b) on what dates it has been represented at meetings of the specialised committees established under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, also broken down by which committees it was represented at, and what information it has regarding how this compares with the overall (i) number and (ii) dates of meetings of these bodies.

There have been two Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) specialised committee meetings so far this year:

The Specialised Committee on Energy, on 30 March 2022
The Specialised Committee on Fisheries, on 27 April 2022

Scottish Government officials accepted invitations as observers to these meetings from the UK delegation.

In 2021 Scottish Government officials accepted invitations, from the UK delegation, as observers to 18 TCA specialised committee meetings:

Social Security Coordination, on 6t July
Fisheries, on 20 July
Energy, on 14 July
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, on 22-23 September
Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, on 7 October
Trade in Goods, on 8 October
Services, Investment and Digital Trade, on 11 October
Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development, on 12 October
Regulatory Cooperation, on 13 October
Air Transport, on 14 October
Technical Barriers to Trade, on 15 October
Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, on 19 October
Fisheries, on 27 October
Trade Partnership Committee, on 15 November
Aviation Safety, on 23 November
Road Transport, on 24 November
VAT and Recovery of Taxes and Duties, on 15 December
Participation in Union Programmes, on 21 December

There were a further two TCA specialised committee meetings during 2021 that Scottish Government officials did not observe:

Public Procurement, on 12 October
Intellectual Property, on 13 October

Question reference: S6W-08846

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of pharmacy provision in Roswell, Bonnyrigg, Dalkeith and Gorebridge.

Question reference: S6W-08848

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the (a) maximum and (b) minimum number of patients for a pharmacy practice should be.

The Scottish Government does not stipulate the maximum or minimum number of patients that can access a community pharmacy. Health Boards are responsible for the provision of pharmaceutical care services within their areas, taking into consideration neighbourhood, the adequacy of existing pharmaceutical services in the area and the necessity and desirability of approving an application to secure adequate pharmaceutical services in the area.

Community pharmacy owners are responsible for ensuring that pharmacies are safe and effective for pharmacy teams and patients. This includes setting safe staffing levels in line with the guidance provided by the regulator, The General Pharmaceutical Council.

Question reference: S6W-08847

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure pharmacy capacity is increased in areas of high population growth.

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-08660

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 its position is on whether there are potential risks associated with any increased prevalence of instant win games offered by the new operator of the National Lottery.

The Scottish Government recognises that there are potential risks associated with playing instant win games. Instant win games can have some of the characteristics of commercial gambling products such as increased speed of play and instant gratification which are associated with higher risk of harm. Instant access to these activities through online methods can also create more continuous-play formats which are the most highly associated with harms.

The Scottish Government understands that the Gambling Commission, the body responsible for the regulation of the National Lottery, has recently investigated the National Lottery £10 instant win games. These have now been withdrawn due to the possible link between higher priced games and problem gambling. The new operators of the National Lottery are obligated to ensure that those at risk from gambling harms are protected from them. The Scottish Government would therefore expect the new operators to take the appropriate measures to protect people from harm.

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: 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-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: 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.