Parliamentary questions
Craig Hoy
1,298 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase dentist capacity in the South Scotland region.
Answer · Maree Todd: We have recently updated the Recruitment and Retention Allowance payments to independent dental contractors providing NHS General Dental Services. This means that newly qualified dentists that have completed their vocational training and are applying to join…
22 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of public bridges that are closed in the South Scotland region, broken down by the number of years that they have been closed for.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has not permanently closed any trunk road bridges in the South of Scotland regions. Decisions on the closure or re-opening of Local Authority bridges is a matter for the relevant Local Authority. Following consultation, Local Authorit…
22 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have benefitted from the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund in 2022, and what the average cost per property is in the South Scotland region.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: From January 2022 to September 2022 the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund has committed grant support for the retrofit of 330 social housing properties across Scotland. The fund offers grant support of up to 50% of the total eligible costs of the project. Pro…
22 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints from (a) passengers and (b) staff have been received by ScotRail regarding train services in the South of Scotland in 2022, broken down by the (i) reason for the complaint and (ii) local authority area.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: ScotRail does not record passenger complaints data by region or local authority area, but by rail route. The following table shows ScotRail’s complaints data for routes which serve the South Scotland region from 1 April 2022: Complaint Type April May June…
22 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints it has received about electric vehicle charging points not being (a) operational, (b) accessible or (c) for other reasons in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022 across the ChargePlace Scotland network, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government have invested over £50 million in ChargePlace Scotland, Scotland’s public charging network, which now has more than 2300 publicly available charge points, over 63 thousand member registrations and over 1,770,000 successful charge sessi…
8 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow individual schools to consider student exam appeals due to any delays resulting from proposed SQA strike action.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10987 on 27 September 2022. 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-commi…
8 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether proposed SQA strike action will affect students who are awaiting the results of an appeal in order to enter into university and other higher education destinations.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: SQA delivered a priority appeals process for learners requiring the outcome of an appeal for immediate progression to university, college, training or employment this year. These appeals were completed on 5 September and students informed of the outcomes. F…
6 Sep 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics.
5 Sep 2022 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of overtime in Scotland’s NHS.
18 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any funding available for the Scottish Seabird Centre in order to access surveillance technology to assess the impact of avian influenza within the northern gannet population on the Bass Rock and the Isle of May.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: NatureScot have made staff available to assist the Seabird Centre with the analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images, which were gathered by the Centre in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. The images have been used to assess the bird popu…
11 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalties for the offence of fly-tipping have been issued in each year since 2007, and how many of these have been paid.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of fixed penalties issued for the offence of flytipping, nor information on how many of these have been paid. This detailed information can be obtained by contacting individual issuing authorities. Aut…
11 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalties for the offence of littering have been issued in each year since 2007, and how many of these have been paid.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of fixed penalties issued for the offence of littering, nor information on how many of these have been paid. This detailed information can be obtained by contacting individual issuing authorities. Auth…
11 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the £80 fixed penalty fine for the offence of littering.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures. The Scottish Government aims to deliver a strong and consistent enforcement model across Scotl…
11 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the maximum fine of £2,500 for the offence of littering.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures. We will publish the final National Litter and Flytipping Strategy later this year, which will …
11 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the £200 fixed penalty fine for the offence of fly-tipping.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures. The Scottish Government aims to deliver a strong and consistent enforcement model across Scotl…
11 Aug 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the maximum fine of £40,000 for the offence of fly-tipping.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures. We will publish the final National Litter and Flytipping Strategy later this year, which will …
13 Jul 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make funding available in the future to support sporting businesses that may be negatively impacted by any lack of gamebirds and associated financial losses, in light of the avian influenza outbreak.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The UK is currently experiencing the worst ever outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Prior to this, the largest outbreak involved 26 cases of HPAI in the UK in 2020/2021 and 13 cases in 2016/2017. In contrast, as of 28 July 2022, there have b…
13 Jul 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the potential impact of avian influenza on the upcoming shooting season.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is meeting regularly with key stakeholders such as the poultry industry, captive/wild bird association representatives (including those from the gamebird and environmental NGO’s sector) and other UK administrations to discuss the risks…
7 Jul 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it intends to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards regulations in the private rented sector.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Our Heat in Buildings Strategy, published on 7 October 2021, confirms our intention to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards equivalent to EPC C for the private rented sector alongside new standards for owner occupied housing. We propose that regulati…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00751 by Tom Arthur on 5 July 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many empty commercial properties there have been in each local authority area in the South Scotland parliamentary region, in each year since 2007.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of empty commercial properties. Data is collected on properties eligible for and claiming non-domestic rates reliefs, including reliefs or exemptions for unoccupied properties, on specific snapsh…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times since January 2019 train services on the Borders Railway between Tweedbank and Edinburgh Waverley have been cancelled for (a) all and (b) part of its journey due to (i) track problems, including signalling and flooding, and (ii) track congestion.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: ScotRail advise that between 6 January 2019 [the start of 2018-19: reporting period 11] and 25 June 2022 [the end of 2022-23: reporting period 3], there were 336 full cancellations and 54 part-cancellations on the Borders Railway as a result of infrastructure…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02449 by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many abdominal aortic aneurysm screenings have taken place in each month since the start of 2019.
Answer · Maree Todd: Further to the answer to question S6W-02449 which provided information on the number of people who attended an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening appointment between January 2019 and July 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on …
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with East Lothian Council regarding the redevelopment of the former Cockenzie Power Station site.
Answer · Tom Arthur: Officials have discussed the site with East Lothian Council in relation to the development of the Draft National Planning Framework 4. The site was last discussed with East Lothian Council in July 2021.
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02233 by Graeme Dey on 10 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many times since January 2019 train services between North Berwick and Edinburgh Waverley have been cancelled for (a) all and (b) part of its journey due to (i) track…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: ScotRail advise that between 6 January 2019 [the start of 2018-19: reporting period 11] and 25 June 2022 [the end of 2022-23: reporting period 3], there were 340 full cancellations and 95 part-cancellations on the North Berwick lines as a result of infrastruc…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02448 by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many newborn screenings have taken place in each month since the start of 2019.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the newborn hearing test and newborn infant physical examination. These would need to be requested from health boards directly. Further to the answer to question S6W-02448 which provided information on the…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01697 by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many property factors have been de-registered in each year since 2011, broken down by whether the factor was de-registered due to (a) no longer being considered to be…
Answer · Shona Robison: The updated information requested is contained in the following table: Year (See Note 1) Number removed from the register of property factors (See Note 2) Removed under S4(7) as registration expired after 3 year period without an application for renewal …
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the new East Linton railway station will open, and how many (a) weekday and (b) weekend services it will have.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: East Linton station is currently scheduled to open by the end of the current Railway Control Period, which ends on 31 March 2024. The station will be served by all ScotRail services on the route. Timetable planning discussions remain ongoing with other train …
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02453 by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many pregnancy screenings have taken place in each month since the start of 2019.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold national data for infectious diseases screening, antenatal haemoglobinopathies screening, or foetal anomaly ultrasound examinations within the pregnancy screening programme. These can be requested directly from individual…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00750 by Shona Robison on 29 June 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many empty (a) private and (b) public sector residential properties there have been in each local authority area in the South Scotland parliamentary region, in each yea…
Answer · Shona Robison: The information requested can be found here: Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Please note the figures provided for each local authority area do not differentiate between the different types of empty property.
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03190 by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many additional GPs (a) have subsequently been recruited each year and (b) it expects to recruit in each of the next six years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: We remain committed to increasing the number of GPs working in Scotland by at least 800 by 2027. We have taken a number of actions, including launching our GP recruitment marketing campaign last month, increasing the number of medical places at universities, …