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: S5O-04990

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the current benefits system can be used to support people who have been impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic and are currently not receiving the benefits that they are entitled to.

Question reference: S5F-04760

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2021

To ask the First Minister what measures the Scottish Government is putting in place to catch up with the reported six-month backlog of cervical screening tests, and whether priority will be given to people who have previously had an abnormal result.

Question reference: S5W-34603

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to monitor the inclusion of compliance with fire alarm standards in home reports.

Question reference: S5W-34602

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Conditions Survey will be updated to include a question regarding the tolerable standards of people’s homes so that compliance with the updated regulations on fire and heat alarms can be monitored.

Question reference: S5W-34601

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support and other assistance it will offer people on low incomes to help them comply with its updated regulations on fire and heat alarms.

We are considering how householders can best be supported to comply with the updated regulations and will provide an update to Parliament in due course. While it will be the responsibility of the homeowner to meet the new fire and carbon monoxide alarm standard, local authorities have broad discretionary powers to provide advice and assistance to home owners with work needed to look after their homes, as they are best placed to determine what assistance should be provided in their area.

Help for vulnerable people who are at a higher risk of fire, as determined by the SFRS, is available. The Scottish Government has, so far, provided the SFRS with over £1m of funding for this purpose.

Homeowners can contact their local Care and Repair service who provide independent advice and assistance to help homeowners (aged over 60 or who have a disability) repair, improve or adapt their homes so that they can live in comfort and safety in their own community.

Question reference: S5W-33967

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will guarantee that the costs of moving to low-carbon heat will be fully met for households that are living in fuel poverty.

The Scottish Government does not have direct responsibility for the regulation of energy markets and, through them, regulation of the prices that consumers pay, which remain a ‘reserved’ responsibility of UK Ministers under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, as amended, and the UK regulator, Ofgem. Scottish Ministers are consulted on matters affecting electricity and gas consumers in Scotland, and respond to those consultations diligently, but cannot direct UK Government policy decisions or Ofgem market determinations on those matters. It would therefore inappropriate for Scottish Government to provide a guarantee over a matter that is not within our gift, albeit we strive to support those faced with fuel poverty and have adopted statutory fuel poverty targets to drive our own policy interventions.

Fuel poverty is recognised as being damaging to the wellbeing of those it affects and the Scottish Government has therefore has intervened to support households living in fuel poverty, with the costs of retrofitting energy efficiency and low carbon heat measures being fully or partially met through our energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation programmes.

Our Warmer Homes Scotland programme, which utilises significant funding from Scottish Government, has helped more than 20,000 households living in or at risk of fuel poverty across Scotland since it commenced in September 2015. We will continue to embed support for zero emission heating in our Warmer Homes Scotland programme, including increasing the support available to enable a ‘zero carbon first’ approach to offer a greater number of households zero emission heating systems, such as air source heat pumps.

Question reference: S5W-33993

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment in the recently-published Scottish House Condition Survey that (a) before taking account the impact of COVID-19, one in four households live in fuel poverty, (b) progress in tackling fuel poverty is too slow and (c) there has been an increase in fuel poverty in remote rural areas.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ending fuel poverty entirely and fully implementing our ambitious Fuel Poverty Act.

The Scottish House Condition Survey results show that fuel poverty rates have remained similar overall, but increases to energy prices - specifically electricity and sold mineral fuel - have resulted in an increase in fuel poverty in remote rural areas. Indeed, these statistics have highlighted that the cost of electricity per unit, as a driver of fuel poverty, remains a significant issue in terms of tackling fuel poverty. We are determined to address fuel poverty in Scotland but we also need to see action by the UK Government on energy prices as energy markets remain reserved.

Whilst COVID-19 did cause us to pause the development of our Fuel Poverty Strategy this work will resume as soon as possible to meet our commitment to publish in 2021.

In the meantime, our efforts are focused on the immediate support needs of those in fuel poverty through both the £350 million Supporting Communities funding package and the availability of up to £7 million in new funding to support households who are struggling with their fuel bills; part of the £100 million Winter Support fund package announced by the First Minister on 30 November.

Question reference: S5O-04892

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on giving financial recognition to people working in local government during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as agreed at the recent COSLA Leaders meeting.

Question reference: S5O-04837

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its importance to the tourist industry, what additional support it plans to provide to the hospitality sector.

Question reference: S5O-04813

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to allow older people to be visited by their family during the winter period.