Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
8 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to fully implement the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2014.
Answer · Shona Robison: Legislation was laid on 27 May 2021 to extend the temporary exceptions of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order for a further three months until 30 September 2021. Local authorities have been advised that they should prepare for the temporary exceptions to expir…
8 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many classroom assistants have been employed in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.
29 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of mental health education or training are provided to student teachers during each course provide by each of the 11 education institutions.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is the independent, regulatory body for the teaching profession and are responsible for the accreditation and approval of all Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. They will only approve programmes which …
29 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of health and wellbeing education or training are provided to student teachers during each course provided by each of the education institutions.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is the independent, regulatory body for the teaching profession and are responsible for the accreditation and approval of all Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. They will only approve programmes which …
29 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the human right to access to information and participation in environmental matters will be upheld in the process of deciding national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4.
Answer · Tom Arthur: We issued an open call for nominations during our Call for Ideas early engagement programme in early 2020, and we are considering all those received. Our Position Statement published in November 2020 highlighted the importance of National Developments in deli…
29 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the national developments that are to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4 take account of the need to ensure a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in order to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The criteria for analysing national developments was published in January 2020 as part of our Call for Ideas early engagement programme. The four criteria are: reducing emissions; supporting health, wellbeing, sustainability and quality of life of our populat…
29 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what environmental assessments the national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4 will be subject to.
Answer · Tom Arthur: In keeping with our statutory assessment obligations, work on a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Appraisal to inform the emerging National Planning Framework 4 is currently underway. We will also consider the likely health effects o…
29 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will take into consideration (a) legally binding net-zero emissions targets and (b) the aspirations of its Biodiversity Strategy when deciding on national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4.
Answer · Tom Arthur: To ask the Scottish Government how it will take into consideration (a) legally binding net-zero emissions targets and (b) the aspirations of its Biodiversity Strategy when deciding on national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information is has on how many youth centres have been operational in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Youth work is a professional practice delivered in many environments. Delivery is carried out in a range of multi-purpose community facilities, schools, colleges and hospitals. Service provision for young people includes community based youth work, outdoor le…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the Turing Scheme to young people in Scotland to promote study and work abroad, and what information it has on any action local authorities are taking in this regard.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Turing Scheme is currently signposted on the Scottish Government mygov.scot public services website, as well as on the website for the Scottish Funding Council. Any action to promote the Turing Scheme will be for local authorities themselves to decide an…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been provided to each NHS board to help cover the cost of free hospital parking during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The total cost from April 2020 to date for Scottish Government to remove car parking charges at the PFI hospital car parks at Ninewells Hospital, the Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was £6.97million, inclusive of irrecoverable VAT…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) people and (b) households in each local authority area have had access to a community alarm in each year since 1999.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The information you have requested on the number of people who have a community alarm is set out below. We do not gather information on the number of households that this applies to so we cannot provide this information. There also wasn't a national collectio…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been in each of the last five years for a person in each drug and alcohol partnership to enter rehab.
Answer · Angela Constance: Table 1 shows the median waiting time (in days) for individuals with first treatment type recorded as either (1) Community based support and/or rehabilitation or (2) Residential Detoxification/Inpatient Treatment. Figures are presented for each of the last 5 …
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many school clothing grant payments have been made since the scheme was introduced, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Information about number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities has been recorded centrally through the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics returns since the 2017-18 financial year. Information about the number of school clothing gra…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times police officers have (a) drawn and (b) used tasers in each year since their issue.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the school clothing grant has increased by since it was introduced, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In May 2018, we reached a joint agreement with local authorities to set the school clothing grant at a national minimum level of £100 per eligible child or young person. The following table provides information about the value of school clothing grants provi…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many road crossing assistants each local authority has employed in each year since 1999.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. However, you may wish to contact Scottish Local Authorities individually for information they may hold. The Scottish local government page of the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (C…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the longest length of time is that a child has spent in temporary accommodation in each local authority area since 2007.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold the precise information to answer this question. The Scottish Government is investigating whether any related useful analysis can be released based on the data held. I will write to the member with an update on this matte…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been (a) unallocated, and (b) underspent from each fund it has announced to the Parliament, in each year since 2007.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The provisional HMT fiscal underspend against total budget, for each funding type, in each year since 2007 is summarised in the following table: Table: 2007-08 to 2020-21 Provisional Outturn Variances Comparison – HM Treasury Budgets Resource Capital Fin…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has developed for the 2021-22 flu season.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: We are currently working with Public Health Scotland and Health Boards to plan for the 2021-22 Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme for the autumn. We welcome the interim advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation who have indicated that wh…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time has been in each year since 1999 between joining a waiting list for council housing and being allocated a home.
Answer · Shona Robison: The full information requested is not held centrally. Some information is available from figures published from the Scottish Household Survey. This includes estimates of the length of time that households have been on a housing list in each of the years 2016…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding the provision of NET (neuro-electric therapy) treatment for people being treated for drug addiction.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is committed to introducing new and innovative treatment practices to address problem substance use, based on strong and sufficient evidence. We have had discussions with a number of external stakeholders as well as internal policy an…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform access to healthcare services for people who are homeless.
Answer · Maree Todd: Covid 19 has exacerbated, and brought into full focus, the existing inequalities that exist within Scotland. Ensuring equitable access to health services and improving the health outcomes for specific groups within our society, including the homeless populati…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of its Budget local government has received in each year since 1999.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Full details of Scottish Government budget allocations, including those to Local Government can found in the Scottish Government annually published Scottish Budget at Publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of people on council housing waiting lists has been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government annual statistics on the number of household applicants on local authority or common housing register lists as at the end of March each year from 2001 to 2019 are published at https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-scotland-…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many homeless people have accessed emergency healthcare in each year since 1999.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The exact information requested is not available centrally. The following table shows number of people reported on HL1 applications. applying for Local Authority assistance and presenting as homeless or threatened with homelessness, each year between 2016-17 …
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many homes have been recorded as unoccupied in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government annual statistics on the number of long term empty properties and unoccupied exemptions are published at Housing statistics quarterly update: December 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , with detailed local authority level Excel tables wit…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many ALEOs (arm's length external organisations) are facing financial difficulty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government places great importance on the range of services Arms Length External Organisations (ALEOS) provide and believes everyone should have access to these services as we move towards recovery. However, as independent corporate bodies it is …
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prescriptions for antidepressants have been made in each year since 2007, also broken down by NHS board area.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. All information on prescribed and dispensed items are published, and categorised by British National Formulary chapter, in both monthly open data files and as part of the annual Dispenser Paymen…
25 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many youth workers have been employed in each local authority area in each year since 1999.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: There is no statutory obligation for youth workers or for youth work activity to be recorded or monitored by local authorities, third sector organisations or voluntary organisations. However, the CLD Standards Council for Scotland, reports that over two and …