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-06972

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the COVID-19 legislation in place.

Regulations amending the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 were made today.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 5) Regulations 2022 (“the Amendment Regulations”) amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (“the Principal Regulations”) and will take effect on 28 February 2022.

The Amendment Regulations remove from the Principal Regulations the provisions in relation to the COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme. In particular, these Regulations:

remove the requirement for persons responsible for certain premises to operate a reasonable system for checking that persons on, or seeking to enter, their premises are fully vaccinated against coronavirus, have received appropriate test results, or are otherwise exempt from the requirement to demonstrate that they are fully vaccinated.
remove the requirement for certain premises to prepare a compliance plan describing how their systems will operate and other measures in place to prevent or minimise the spread of coronavirus.
remove the requirement to treat information as confidential, and;
remove supplemental provisions in relation to licensing for certain premises.

The Regulations have been published at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ssi/2022/74

Question reference: S6W-06354

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 28 January 2022, whether it will publish a breakdown of the number of problematic spaces by (a) local authority and (b) school.

Data is currently being collected within local authorities and will be returned to the Scottish Government to provide a national perspective. We intend to provide the Committee with an update on the overall national picture early next month, subject to receipt of local authority returns.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of problematic spaces in specific schools. This information will be held by local authorities as it is their statutory responsibility to manage their school estate.

Question reference: S6W-06290

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total energy generation capacity is in Scotland of (a) domestic rooftop solar installation, (b) commercial rooftop solar installation and (c) ground mounted solar PV schemes.

There is approximately 400MW of solar PV operational in Scotland, equating to 3% of total operational capacity.

As of 2020, there are at least 60,000 domestic level solar PV installations in Scotland with a capacity of just over 200MW, and around 8000 solar thermal installations.

Of the remaining operational Solar PV, approximately 12,000 of these are community and locally owned PV installations. With around 3500 community and locally owned solar thermal projects, these are typically found across housing associations, public sector, communities and other charitable organisations.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data on commercial or ground mounted only solar PV schemes.

There is approximately 350 MW of solar capacity in pipeline in Scotland, including 32MW in planning, 44MW under construction and 281 awaiting construction, representing 2.25% of the overall renewables pipeline in Scotland. This will take the total capacity of both installed and pipeline of solar in Scotland to in the region of 750MW.

Question reference: S6W-06274

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people the open market shared equity scheme has helped to buy homes that were (a) new build and (b) resold existing property.

Question reference: S6W-06075

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement (a) it and (b) its enterprise agencies have had with Rolls-Royce plc over a Scottish bid for the Heavy Pressure Vessel Factory that the company is proposing to develop as part of its UK Small Modular Reactor programme.

To the best of my knowledge neither Government nor Government enterprise agencies have engaged with Rolls Royce on this particular matter.

I would be delighted to meet with representatives from Rolls Royce to discuss this in more detail should they wish to do so.

To be clear, however, the Scottish Government’s position on traditional nuclear fission energy (which comprises small modular reactors) has not changed. We don’t support the building of any new nuclear power stations in Scotland and therefore it will not feature as part of our wider energy strategy review.

Question reference: S6W-05619

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the justification is for its guidance setting out a COVID-19 14-day self-isolation period for care home residents, and whether there are plans to change this guidance to specify a shorter period, similar to changes to guidance on self-isolation for the wider public.

recognise how difficult self-isolation for 14 days has been for those who live in care homes and their loved ones. While self-isolation has been necessary for minimising the risk of Covid-19 transmission, I understand that restrictions on visiting during isolation periods can be distressing for and negatively affect the wellbeing of care home residents and their loved ones. This is why it is important that restrictions are not in place for any longer than necessary and Scottish Government Officials have worked with clinical experts to keep restrictions under close review throughout the pandemic.

Self-isolation periods for care home residents was, in January, reviewed by clinical experts. The result of this review was a recommendation that there could be a reduction of the self-isolation period for individuals identified as cases or contacts of a Covid-19 case, who live in adult care homes, from 14 days to 10 days. On 19 th January 2022 the Scottish Government communicated this updated guidance to care homes and confirmed that care homes should adopt this change in guidance with immediate effect.

I appreciate the isolation period still differs from the general public, which may be disappointing for individuals living in care homes. This change is in line with guidance issued by Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and the UK IPC cell and reflects the ongoing risks facing vulnerable people living in a communal setting. To minimise the impact isolation periods can have on residents, they can choose a friend or family member to be a named visitor, to visit them during their self-isolation periods. Scottish Government Officials have worked with Public Health Scotland to normalise visiting by named visitors and emphasise that this is the default approach and care homes and health protection teams should support these visits, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

In addition to this, following a review by Public Health Scotland, people transferring from hospitals to care homes will no longer need to isolate, if they have had a negative PCR test in the previous 48 hours, so long as they have no symptoms of a respiratory virus and have had no prior exposure to COVID-19, over the previous 14 days.

Scottish Government Officials continue to work with Public Health Scotland and ARHAI to review all remaining restrictions including self-isolation periods for residents.

Question reference: S6O-00815

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Historic Environment Scotland is considering criteria that could be used to identify sites that could be left to managed decline.

Question reference: S6O-00817

Asked by: Natalie Don, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the UK Government on the devolution of drug legislation to the Scottish Parliament, particularly in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Question reference: S6O-00816

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling any issues related to high numbers of second homes in some parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00812

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to support World Book Day on 3 March 2022.