Miles Briggs

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many allotment spaces have been available in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: In accordance with section 121 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities report annually on provisions on allotments in their areas. Reports are available from each local authority online. The Scottish Government does not hold histor…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which powers and responsibilities it plans to remove from local authorities under its proposed National Care Service.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Independent Review of Adult Social Care recommended that accountability for adult social care should be transferred from local authorities to Scottish Ministers, creating a National Care Service. The Scottish Government is currently consulting on proposa…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Funeral Support Payments have been made since the scheme was launched.

Answer · Ben Macpherson: Social Security Scotland routinely publish information as part of the quarterly Official Statistics release ‘Funeral Support Payment’. This includes information on the number and value of payments made since launch. In the most recent publication, which cover…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support (a) disabled people and (b) people considered to be furthest from the labour market into green jobs.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Our ‘A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan’ sets out key actions we as a Government will take to meet our commitment to reduce the employment gap between disabled people and the rest of the working age population by at least half by 20…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what training it has funded or provided in each of the last five years to support disabled people to use public transport.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Since 2016 the Scottish Government has directly funded or provided the following training specifically aimed at supporting disabled people in using public transport:The rail First Time Traveller Programme – supports people with autism in experiencing rail tra…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cyberattacks have taken place on public bodies in each year since 1999.

Answer · John Swinney: In December 2017, the Scottish Government introduced a cyber incident reporting procedure to notify the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre of cyber incidents with the purpose of providing support to affected Scottish p…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been awarded in compensation for medical errors in each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02957 on 12 October 2021. 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-committ…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many holiday vouchers have been given to carers through the ScotSpirit Holiday Voucher Scheme since its launch, and what steps it has taken to promote uptake.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Since this Scheme to help low income families and unpaid carers take a break in Scotland, opened for sign-ups in mid-August we have already seen 35 families (including 73 children) on a break for the current October school holidays. VisitScotland, working wi…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points, and how much funding it has provided to each local authority in each of the last five years in this regard.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government has provided £45M to all 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities and continues to offer support to enable the further increase in the number of electric vehicle chargers. Investment in public charging infrastructure has enabled the develop…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions its ministers have had with the university and college sector regarding the workforce skills needed by the construction industry in the future.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: As Scotland emerges from COVID-19, our colleges and universities have a key role to play in rebuilding our economy. Ministers have been liaising with our education and skills system to address skills needs across various sectors of the Scottish economy, both …

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) mental health workers and (b) Community Link Workers have been recruited in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: (a) Mental Health Workers The main Mental Health professional groups that the Scottish Government holds data for are Psychiatrists, Mental Health Nurses and Psychologists, including other psychological clinical staff and therapists. The Scottish Government a…

28 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when a new Public Dental Service contract will be delivered.

Answer · Maree Todd: There are no plans to renegotiate the Public Dental Service contract.

27 Sep 2021 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that, in the last year, ministers overturned almost 50% of planning applications.

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its consultation, Building standards (fire safety) - external wall systems, presents three options, with only option 3 introducing a ban on the use of combustible cladding and insulation on the external facades of certain 18m-plus residential and high-risk buildings.

Answer · Shona Robison: The fire safety review panel considered a broad range of evidence on fire safety of cladding systems. Some of the evidence supported the retention of the large scale fire test, BS8414, as a means to demonstrate the safety of cladding systems with some combust…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scotland’s high-rise threshold being reduced from over 18m to over 11m in 2018, for what reason option 3 in its consultation, Building standards (fire safety) - external wall systems, considers introducing a ban on combustible cladding and insulation on the external façades …

Answer · Shona Robison: England introduced a ban on combustible materials used in the construction of external walls for all new residential buildings over 18m in December 2018. The 11m threshold introduced from 1 October 2019 is contained in regulatory guidance, with the alternativ…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has only recently begun its consultation, Building standards (fire safety) - external wall systems, on the introduction of a ban on the use of combustible cladding and insulation on the external facades of certain residential high-rise buildings, in light of such a ban…

Answer · Shona Robison: The 2018 Building Standards (Fire Safety) Review Panel set up following the Grenfell Tower fire did not support an outright ban on combustible cladding. A further review was intended to address concerns raised by some stakeholders since the fire safety standa…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by each local authority in each year since 1999 on energy efficiency for homes.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The amount spent by each local authority in each year since 1999 on energy efficiency for homes is a matter for individual local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a self-directed support scheme for young people to access mental health services.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Self-directed Support (SDS) is Scotland’s mainstream approach to social care, applying to both children and adults and enshrined in law through The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013. This approach to social care has been chosen to ensure…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role it will assign to the third sector to support its plans to increase the level of support services available to children and young people in community settings.

Answer · Clare Haughey: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02964 on 28 September 2021. 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…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in legal fees by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained directly from Health Boards.

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in compensation by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Answer · Tom Arthur: Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individ…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms will be put in place in community settings as part of its commitment to increase support services for children and young people.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The commitment to investing at least £500m over the life of this Parliament to create a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund is significant. This will enable transformational change through the building of universal, holistic support services available in communities …

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for cleft pallet surgery for babies in each year since 1999.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Statistics on waiting times for Cleft Palate Surgery amongst babies is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or Public Health Scotland. Information relating to the waiting time for Cleft Palate Surgery amongst babies could be requested from individu…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to community sports clubs, broken down by sport.

Answer · Maree Todd: As the national agency for sport, sport scotland is committed to supporting community sport clubs to offer local opportunities for participants and athletes to get involved and develop in sport. sport scotland have a range of programmes to support clubs. Thes…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports have been made each month by (a) NHS and (b) social care staff to the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government contract with the whistleblowing charity Protect, who provided the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line, ended on 31 October 2020. The final report is available to view on: https://www.gov.scot/collections/nhs-confidential-advice-and-…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to help diversify high streets.

Answer · Tom Arthur: We have established a Place Based Investment Programme, backed with £325 million capital investment over 5 years, to accelerate ambitions for place, 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre revitalisation and community led regeneration. This programme will inclu…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in compensation by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Regarding payments made under the NHS Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS), I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-01770 on 24 August 2016 and S5W-32423 on 30 October 2020 . All answers to written parliamentary questions a…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop policies to (a) help prevent and (b) assist the victims of domestic abuse.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government’s message to those experiencing domestic abuse is very clear– you are not alone, you do not have to wait and you should not hesitate to come forward and get support. Equally Safe is Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate all for…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each local authority area have applied for self-directed support each year, also broken down by how many applications were rejected.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Self-directed Support (SDS) is Scotland’s mainstream approach to social care. Under the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 , all people in Scotland who are assessed as being in need of social care support have a right to choice, control…

9 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in legal fees by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Answer · Tom Arthur: Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individ…