Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
18 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings of the Cladding Stakeholder Group a minister, other than the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, has attended since the group was established.
Answer · Shona Robison: As the Minister with responsibility for this area, I am the only Minister to attend the Cladding Stakeholder Group.
18 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings of the Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding the previous Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning attended in the last parliamentary session.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning chaired all meetings of the working group, it met five times between 28 April 2020 and 15 March 2021.
18 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for how many of the 25 buildings identified in the Single Building Assessment pilot have payments been received to enable the assessments to take place.
Answer · Shona Robison: Eight buildings have received grant payments and all other buildings are being supported through the Single Building Assessment process.
18 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government has had with her counterpart in the Welsh Government regarding the sharing of best practice on building safety.
Answer · Shona Robison: I have met with Julie James, MS, Minister for Climate Change on 4 occasions to share best practice and to cultivate collaboration on building safety.
17 May 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its Super Sponsor scheme takes account of the preferences of Ukrainian refugees regarding settlement locations within Scotland.
17 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider taking steps to incentivise opt-out testing for hepatitis C in drugs services by (a) including opt-out testing requirements in service contracts and (b) another incentivisation method.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is open to considering all interventions that can be demonstrated to improve access to and engagement with hepatitis C testing and treatment. People who are at risk as a result of their drug use often experience a range of health and …
17 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to (a) raise awareness of hepatitis C and (b) encourage people at risk to access testing and treatment, and what specific action it is taking in prisons on these matters.
Answer · Maree Todd: Eliminating Hepatitis C in Scotland by 2024 remains a priority target for the Scottish Government. The Scottish Health Protection Hepatitis C Network is made up of clinical leads and HCV co-ordinators, local health protection organisations and third sector ag…
13 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent ruling from Lord Ericht at the Court of Session that local authorities must meet their legal duty to provide suitable temporary accommodation (X v. Glasgow City Council), how it will support local authorities to ensure that they comply with their legal duties to p…
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government provides resource for local authorities to tackle homelessness through the annual local government finance settlement. In 2022-23, local authorities received £55.322 million [1] of homelessness grant aided expenditure. In addition, t…
12 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the time taken to receive a coeliac diagnosis, in light of reported concerns raised recently during Coeliac Awareness Week.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government welcomes Coeliac Awareness Week and remains committed to enhancing diagnosis and care for people with coeliac disease in Scotland. We have developed a new Scottish Coeliac Disease Pathway (2020) in partnership with people living with …
12 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the number of board members needed for an organisation under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government has no current plans to specifically review the number of board members needed for an organisation under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. However, in our Programme for Government 2021-22, we have committed to review the C…
12 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the roll-out of a single clinical pathway for coeliac disease across Scotland on a "Once for Scotland" basis.
Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08581 on 31 May 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-committees…
12 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with energy providers regarding residents in Scotland whose developments have a single energy supplier that is classified as commercial rather than domestic, in light of these residents' energy bills reportedly not being subject to Ofgem's price cap.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Powers related to consumer protection, and to the energy price cap set by Ofgem, are reserved to the UK Government. However, I am concerned that energy consumers who are not registered directly with a licenced energy supplier may not be protected by the price…
12 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many training places have been available for all construction trades in each year since 1999, also broken down by specialty; for example, plumber, electrician etc.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Figures for the number of Modern Apprenticeship starts in construction and related frameworks since 2008-09 is set out in the following table. Other opportunities to train in construction trades will have been made available in other educational and training…
12 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether further funding will be provided in addition to the recently announced £15 million Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund investment, in order to match the £22 million investment in the financial year 2021-22.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: In October 2021, I was delighted to launch the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults, supported by a £15 million investment for 2021-22. This funding has now been successfully distributed to a wide range of grassroots, community based projec…
3 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-34944 and S5W-35522 by Clare Haughey on 11 February and 8 March 2021 respectively, whether it will provide the same information for 2021-22.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Scottish Health Service Costs are published annually in arrears by Public Health Scotland. The most recent cost book data available covers 2020-21 and was published on 22 February 2022. Child and Adoles…
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Lord Advocate plans to initiate a corporate homicide investigation into the Scottish Government's reported policies of discharging untested patients to care homes and overruling family power of attorney during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: All Covid-19 or presumed Covid-19 deaths where the deceased may have contracted the virus in the course of their employment or occupation or where the deceased was resident in a care home when the virus was contracted fall to be reported to COPFS. A specialis…
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place regarding its ministers' responsibility for (a) discharging untested patients to care homes and (b) the overruling of family power of attorney, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Decisions to discharge patients are not made by Ministers, they are made by health and social care professionals, alongside the patient and their family, or their legal representative where applicable. As was the case before the pandemic, where someone is m…
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of care experienced children and young people who are (a) handcuffed and (b) otherwise restrained during secure transportation, and the reasons for such restraints being used.
Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government hold data on the number of journeys where children and young people are securely transported for the duration of a custodial sentence. Handcuffs are used in all journeys due to the type of vehicle used. The total number of journeys in …
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects, other than regarding the frequency of use, on the practice of (a) handcuffing and (b) otherwise restraining of care experienced children and young people during secure transportation.
Answer · Clare Haughey: Duties relating to secure transport lie principally with the local authority responsible for the child’s placement. Information is not held centrally on the use of handcuffs and restraint being applied to care-experienced children whilst being securely transp…
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Physical Intervention Working Group last met, and when the group will submit its recommendations to ministers.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is working with partners, including the Children and Young People’s Commissioner, on new human rights-based non-statutory guidance to minimise the use of restraint in schools. The physical intervention working group began work on the …
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it has provided to the Men’s Shed Movement in each year since the movement was established in 2013.
Answer · Tom Arthur: Following the launch of the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA) in November 2015, the Scottish Government has supported the men’s shed movement in Scotland, by providing £645,000 of funding to the SMSA and Age Scotland to date. Our annual core funding sup…
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help to expand the Men’s Shed Movement in Scotland.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government has supported the men’s sheds movement in Scotland since 2016 with sustained core funding provided to the national support organisation, the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA), which has enabled them to grow the men’s sheds movemen…
28 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of what Historical Adoption Support Trauma Service is being developed.
Answer · Clare Haughey: As part of the £145,000 funding we announced earlier in March, we are in the process of commissioning research into support services in Scotland. The analysis and research will help us to understand what support is needed to help the people affected by histor…
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) information it has on or (b) estimate it has made of the number of digital devices distributed to children and young people that have been damaged or broken, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Funding for devices was provided to local authorities by the Scottish Government. As such, local authorities undertook their own procurement exercises and devices purchased became assets of, and are managed by, individual local authorities. Decisions on their…
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth during the debate on National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) on 19 April 2022, whether the renewable energy industry will be included in the high-level group to address the performance and resources o…
Answer · Tom Arthur: The High Level Group on Planning Performance aims to improve the performance of the planning system for all types of development. The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and new planning application fee levels came into ef…
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many single parents have accessed further education in each year since 1999.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government do not have information on the total number of single parents that have accessed further education courses at Scottish colleges.
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth during the debate on National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) on 19 April 2022, what the timeframe will be for the revised draft NPF4 and accompanying delivery programme.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government appreciates the wide interest shown from across society in Draft National Planning Framework 4. The detailed responses received through the Parliamentary scrutiny process and the public consultation are currently being considered. Once…
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of digital devices that have been distributed to children and young people in each local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In 2020-21, we provided £25 million of funding to councils across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion, resulting in over 72,000 pupils receiving a device to support their learning. The following table shows the number of devices distributed via that funding…
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) information it has on or (b) estimate it has made of the number of digital devices distributed to children and young people that have had to be repaired, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Funding for devices was provided to local authorities by the Scottish Government. As such, local authorities undertook their own procurement exercises and devices purchased became assets of, and are managed by, individual local authorities. Decisions on their…
21 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of housing individuals and families in temporary accommodation in each local authority area in each year since 1999.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not collect data on the cost to local authorities for housing homeless households in temporary accommodation. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly. Funding for local authorities is provid…