Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-06040

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government has met the leader of Orkney Islands Council since May 2021; what was discussed at each meeting, and what the agreed outcomes were.

I regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities, and their national body COSLA, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website. The spreadsheets include a wide-range of information including details of the organisation / individual I met along with the subject discussed.

Question reference: S6W-06033

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government has met the leader of Glasgow City Council since May 2021; what was discussed at each meeting, and what the agreed outcomes were.

I regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities, and their national body COSLA, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website. The spreadsheets include a wide-range of information including details of the organisation / individual I met along with the subject discussed.

Question reference: S6W-06038

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government has met the leader of North Ayrshire Council since May 2021; what was discussed at each meeting, and what the agreed outcomes were.

I regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities, and their national body COSLA, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website. The spreadsheets include a wide-range of information including details of the organisation / individual I met along with the subject discussed.

Question reference: S6W-06167

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a three-week notice period is a suitable length of time for creel fishers and other fisherman, in light of the planned removal of customary exemptions to a seasonal ban on white fish catches, which is expected to come into force on 14 February 2022.

Although we carried out a consultation on this issue in autumn 2021, we acknowledged the strong reaction from the fishing industry around this change of policy in January 2022 and engaged further with them and other stakeholders to refine the policy. We have worked at pace to develop revised closure areas which minimise disruption to fishers (through a reduction in size of the overall closure areas) while increasing protection for cod in the areas where they are spawning.

Question reference: S6W-06018

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government has met the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council since May 2021; what was discussed at each meeting, and what the agreed outcomes were.

I regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities, and their national body COSLA, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website. The spreadsheets include a wide-range of information including details of the organisation / individual I met along with the subject discussed.

Question reference: S6W-06022

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government has met the leader of Dundee City Council since May 2021; what was discussed at each meeting, and what the agreed outcomes were.

I regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities, and their national body COSLA, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website. The spreadsheets include a wide-range of information including details of the organisation / individual I met along with the subject discussed.

Question reference: S6W-06596

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that everyone with a learning disability has access to clear and understandable information about the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme, including the provision of easy read information.

Question reference: S6W-06519

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many FOI requests were made to each NHS board, and of those how many were not responded to within 20 working days, in each year since 2007.

The Scottish Government does not gather information about the FOI performance of other Scottish public authorities. However, the Member may wish to note that since April 2013 public authorities have submitted FOI handling data to the Scottish Information Commissioner on a quarterly basis: FOI and EIR statistics database (itspublicknowledge.info) .

Individual NHS Boards may hold additional information.

Question reference: S6W-06370

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that a homeowner cannot, for financial or practical reasons, raise the EPC rating in their property to C or above, by or after the date required to do so, (a) what it anticipates the impact will be on their ability to mortgage the property, (b) whether it anticipates they will be able to sell or rent their property, and what it anticipates the impact will be on its value and (c) whether there will be (i) a penalty for not and (ii) an incentive for complying.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce, subject to consultation, regulations requiring Scotland’s homes to meet EPC Band C equivalent, where that is technically feasible and cost effective from 2025. We plan to consult during 2022 on our proposals for such regulations, and this will include details of any exemptions including those linked to cost and availability of finance, clarity on the burden of responsibility, and matters relating to compliance and enforcement.

Question reference: S6W-06281

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether a producer registration system has been established for its Deposit Return Scheme, and, if not, when one will be established.

Under the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020, producers must register with SEPA either directly or via a scheme administrator for their products to be sold legally onto the Scottish market. In line with the full implementation date that I announced in my statement to Parliament on 14 December 2021, the window for producers to make such registrations will run from 1 January-28 February 2023.

SEPA’s digital registration service is currently in development and will be online from 1 January 2023 in accordance with the producer registration window.

Chamber and committees