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-08036

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 May 2022

To ask the Government whether it plans to increase investment in local advice services, including government-funded services and those provided by housing associations, to help provide people with advice and support amid the reported cost of living crisis, in line with the recommendation of the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce.

Home Energy Scotland (HES), administered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government, provides free, bespoke, impartial advice and support on energy efficiency, renewable heating and fuel poverty support in Scotland.

This year, we have committed to expanding the Home Energy Scotland advice service by 20%. This will allow the service to support an extra 12,000 households a year in making their homes warmer and easier to heat.

HES also acts as the gateway to the Scottish Government’s domestic loans and grants programmes for energy efficiency improvements to homes in Scotland and a referral service to Scotland’s flagship fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland. We are increasing the budget for the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme to £55m for 2022-2023, up from £50m in 2021-2022.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.

Question reference: S6W-08037

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 May 2022

To ask the Government whether it plans to introduce emergency redress funding for social tenants facing higher fuel bills as a result of work to decarbonise their energy supplies, in line with the recommendation of the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce.

The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition to net zero and this includes supporting those who are least able to pay.

As part of a wider package of funding announcements made to tackle the cost of living crisis, we have committed a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which has been helping households at risk of self-disconnection, or self-rationing their energy use, since late 2020.

This money is in addition to the £25m funding we have provided this winter to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6m provided to trusted third sector partners to help low income families.

Anyone struggling with their energy bills can get in touch with our Home Energy Scotland service for advice and support to reduce their fuel costs.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.

Question reference: S6W-08140

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the total funding available from the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for an Occupational Therapy Masters is reportedly £10,000 when the tuition fees for the two-year course at Queen Margaret University amount to £20,000, plus living expenses, in light of reports that, in England, students are offered a £10,000 grant from the NHS learning support fund in addition to a loan of over £11,000 and funding for accommodation and travel costs incurred whilst on placements.

The current full time postgraduate student support package offers a loan of up to £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for fees and £4,500 for living costs). Students whose tuition fees are above the maximum available to them from SAAS have to make their own arrangements for the balance. This applies to all eligible postgraduate courses.

The current student support package has been designed to support students with the costs incurred during their time studying at university, and the support now available in Scotland is at its highest level.

A review of postgraduate funding was part of this Government’s manifesto commitments. This is underway and will include consideration of the overall level of funding available to students.

Question reference: S6W-07595

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position, including that of Transport Scotland, is on the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to enforce School Streets, and whether there are any barriers, including legal ones, that could prevent using ANPR cameras in such a way.

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: S6O-01032

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates will qualify for an indefinite award within the first 12 months of the national launch of Adult Disability Payment.

Question reference: S6W-07458

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland.

We welcome people from Hong Kong who have chosen to move to Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting their integration into our communities and we have also published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website.

The Scottish Government is taking a coordinated cross-portfolio approach to support BN(O) nationals coming to Scotland, working with COSLA to assess the impact on public services in key local authorities. We have been pressing the UK Government to provide clarity on when the £2.98M funding for integration support will be transferred to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-07061

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to end the early medical abortion at home arrangements that were put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and if so, by when.

The Scottish Government has commissioned an independent evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the current approach to early medical abortion at home. The evaluation is being led by NHS Lothian, along with a number of academic experts. The Scottish Government will make a decision on the long-term future of early medical abortion at home once this evaluation has been completed. The Ministerial approval for early medical abortion at home in Scotland is currently being reviewed, with a view to enabling the current arrangements to be extended temporarily in order to allow them to continue until the evaluation has been completed and its findings have been considered.

Question reference: S6O-00854

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) whether it will consider amending its policy on party identity or affiliation appearing on publications paid for by the SPCB.

Question reference: S6W-06339

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation took place to inform its proposed plans to accredit new providers for the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme, and whether people who have already been allocated a vehicle under the scheme will be affected by the change.

The 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland asked correspondents if the new Scottish social security system should continue to support access to the Motability scheme. Of the 200 respondents, 97% answered 'Yes'. During the subsequent consultation on Disability Assistance in 2019, the Government confirmed that a scheme equivalent to the Motability scheme would be put in place in advance of the delivery of Disability Assistance.

The Scottish Government believes that giving disabled people a range of suppliers to choose from will encourage value and promote choice. When the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme was launched in 2019, we therefore set out an intention to invite further applicants at regular intervals. Work to re-open further accreditation rounds will begin later this year.

Any future accreditation of providers under the Scheme will not affect people who have already leased a vehicle under the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-06250

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost will be of its proposed plans to accredit new providers, in addition to Motability Operations, for the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme, and when these plans will come into effect.