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-28659

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19595 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 July 2023, whether Social Security Scotland has been subject to (a) denial of service (DoS) attacks and (b) other forms of cyber attacks since that response was provided and, if so, how many.

Question reference: S6W-28863

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in each local authority area contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Question reference: S6W-28266

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many audiology health professionals in Scotland are registered with the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS).

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. The Academy for Healthcare Science is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) , which demonstrates that it has achieved the PSA standards in governance, standard-setting, education and training, management of the register, complaints handling and equality, diversity and inclusion. It is the register itself that is accredited by PSA, not the practitioners who register with it.

Question reference: S6W-28265

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to undertake a review of the regulation of the audiology workforce, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

The Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland made recommendations with regard to ensuring that audiologists are eligible for registration upon completion of training but did not include a recommendation for audiologists to be regulated by statute. At present, audiologists below the academic qualification threshold for statutory registration with the Health and Care Professions Council are expected to join the Professional Standards Authority-accredited voluntary register held by the Academy of Healthcare Science (AHCS). The review implementation group will be considering whether accreditation with the AHCS remains appropriate and sufficient. Discussions on the statutory regulation of audiologists would also need to take place on a four-country basis.

Question reference: S6W-28268

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of vehicles that are not compliant with low emission zone (LEZ) standards that have been abandoned in each local authority area.

As previously stated in the responses to S6W-28174 on 27 June 2024 and S6W-28267 on 10 July 2024, information is not held centrally on the number of abandoned vehicles in local authority areas, but management information is available from Police Scotland on police-recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles.

Any assessment of abandoned vehicles specifically regarding non-compliance with Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards is a matter for local authorities.

Financial support is available for the disposal of eligible non-compliant vehicles for lower income households and smaller businesses through the LEZ Support Fund. Households and smaller businesses are encouraged to visit the Energy Saving Trust website to apply.

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-28267

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many abandoned vehicles have been reported in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

As previously confirmed in the response to S6W-28174 on‎ 27 June 2024, information regarding the number of abandoned vehicles reported to local authorities is not centrally held.

Management information is available from Police Scotland on the number of police recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles. This is provided below, split by the local authority within which the incident occurred.

It should be noted that not all abandoned vehicles will relate to cars and an incident may relate to more than one abandoned vehicle. This information was consistently recorded across all police divisions from the calendar year of 2019 onwards and therefore the figures provided below relate to the period 1 January 2019 to 18 June 2024. As such the 2024 figures relate to only a partial year.

Recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles, 1 January 2019 to 18 June 2024.

Local Authority	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Scotland	18,422	13,471	14,109	13,702	13,549	6,770
Aberdeen City	1,208	797	784	639	639	311
Aberdeenshire	680	559	534	553	496	261
Angus	367	282	320	248	295	123
Argyll and Bute	249	162	182	164	168	82
Clackmannanshire	145	103	131	130	99	49
Dumfries and Galloway	407	317	348	313	278	149
Dundee City	615	494	579	517	518	264
East Ayrshire	404	283	318	251	282	152
East Dunbartonshire	337	267	300	248	272	119
East Lothian	327	241	292	303	303	174
East Renfrewshire	280	215	227	224	214	114
Edinburgh, City of	1,889	1,208	1,388	1,402	1,286	657
Falkirk	526	425	408	419	450	238
Fife	1,093	854	859	846	907	437
Glasgow City	2,219	1,501	1,654	1,668	1,636	837
Highland	798	610	609	627	654	324
Inverclyde	236	185	199	167	147	70
Midlothian	409	255	302	261	304	151
Moray	258	208	192	202	217	103
Na h-Eilean Siar	44	32	26	34	25	10
North Ayrshire	417	315	345	328	297	132
North Lanarkshire	1,317	918	927	832	839	379
Orkney Islands	27	16	16	24	21	14
Perth and Kinross	478	374	374	425	369	202
Renfrewshire	696	482	447	517	485	243
Scottish Borders	287	256	249	260	252	137
Shetland Islands	23	22	20	22	20	15
South Ayrshire	337	295	264	261	300	131
South Lanarkshire	1,145	832	864	902	780	452
Stirling	264	215	224	211	246	101
West Dunbartonshire	327	253	235	179	232	119
West Lothian	613	495	492	525	518	220

Source: Police Scotland Management Information

Question reference: S6W-28007

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to invest in the (a) Hillend Junction and (b) A704.

Detailed design of traffic signals for the A702/A703/Old Pentland Road junction is currently being carried out by specialist engineers. Provided no issues arise through the detailed design process and resources are available, construction of these improvements is programmed to begin this financial year. We are continuing to liaise with Midlothian Council to coordinate these works with other projects affecting the A702. The start date of the construction of these works will be planned to reduce disruption wherever possible.

The A704 is not part of the trunk road network and is the responsibility of the Local Authority, in this case West Lothian Council. Any investment plans for this road would be for them to comment on.

Question reference: S6W-28269

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of supporting the Pain Management Task Force has been since it started meetings in June 2022, including a breakdown of any payments for (a) workers, (b) secondments, (c) members, (d) travel costs, (e) IT and (f) other expenses.

Question reference: S6W-28271

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the cost to the public of producing the report, Scottish Government Pain Management Panel: Report on Phase 2 of engagement with the panel, regarding chronic pain information compiled by The Lines Between, which was the private firm commissioned by the Scottish Government.

In summer 2022, the Lines Between were commissioned to recruit, support and engage a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland to establish a Pain Management Panel to help inform the Pain Management Implementation Plan. The total cost of the contract with The Lines Between was £40,000 exclusive of VAT. The cost of formatting the report for publication on the Scottish Government website was £516.58.

Question reference: S6W-28270

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of setting up the Pain Management Task Force prior to it commencing meetings in June 2022, including a breakdown of any payments for (a) workers, (b) secondments, (c) members, (d) travel costs, (e) IT and (f) other expenses.