Parliamentary questions
Alex Rowley
554 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
31 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the overall capital and revenue budget allocated to NHS Fife has been in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Board’s baseline revenue allocations are set out annually in the Scottish Budget, as published on the Scottish Government’s website. In addition, resource and capital spending limits are reported in Board’s annual accounts, which are published on their websit…
31 May 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards are currently subject to special measures.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: In Scotland, NHS Boards are subject to the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework which has a five stage escalation process. There are currently five territorial Health Boards escalated to Stage 3 or above on the framework. These boards are subject to add…
3 May 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address reported shortages in the labour market.
20 Apr 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its cross-government co-ordination of Covid Recovery policies will address the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the population.
19 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people who signed up to help deliver the COVID-19 vaccination programme have now taken permanent roles within the NHS in Scotland.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: We are grateful to all those staff who supported the delivery of Scotland's Covid-19 vaccination campaign, a significant number of whom were already employed across primary care services or drawn from substantive roles across NHS Scotland. All those individua…
19 Apr 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards will have any future role and responsibility for vaccination and immunisation services once the deadline has passed for them to complete the Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP).
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Vaccination Transformation Programme covers all routine immunisations that are delivered in Scotland. From the 1 st of April, NHS territorial Health Boards have responsibility for the delivery of vaccination programmes, with models varying across Scotland…
12 Apr 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many new teachers have been recruited, and how many have left the profession, in the current academic year.
31 Mar 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the completion rate has been to date of Scotland's Census 2022, and whether it is taking any further action to increase uptake.
Answer · Angus Robertson: As of 4 May, 2,108,468 households in Scotland have successfully submitted their response to Scotland's Census 2022. It is essential we maximise participation and ensure that everyone is heard and their needs captured. That is why the census online completion…
23 Feb 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much COVID-19-related funding from the UK Government it (a) received in 2020-21 and (b) has received in 2021-22, broken down by how much (i) has been allocated to (A) COVID-19-specific spending, (B) non-COVID-19-specific spending and (ii) remains unallocated.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government has received £14.564 billion in Covid-19 related funding from the UK Government. Amounts received for 2020-21 were £9.752 billion and for 2021-22 are £4.812 billion. Details of the timing and split of funding received are included in t…
22 Feb 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase bus usage across the country.
21 Feb 2022 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the reported view from Common Weal that action is needed to address weaknesses in social care provision due to it being in a critical state, not fit for purpose, underfunded, rationed, fragmented, centralised and risk averse.
16 Feb 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that financial support to assist with the rising cost of living reaches those most in need.
1 Feb 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact Brexit has had on its policies across government, including how it invests in business.
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many FTE staff have been employed in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in each of the last 14 years.
Answer · Ash Regan: The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) came into being as a national service on 1 April 2013. In its first year of operation (2013-14) employment statistics were collated by the Scottish Government and in that year SFRS had 7690 FTE employees at 31 March…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the reported recruitment issues in the retained fire service, and whether it will list the (a) actions that it has taken and (b) additional resources that it has provided in this regard.
Answer · Ash Regan: Recruitment of any staff group to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is a matter for the SFRS Board. The Scottish Government is aware of the challenges of recruiting and retaining Retained and Volunteer Duty System (RVDS) firefighters as fewer people…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people in Scotland have been food insecure in each of the last 14 years.
Answer · Shona Robison: In Scotland, food insecurity questions were introduced into the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) from 2016. As of 2019, food security levels are measured for the whole of the UK, including Scotland, as part of the Family Resources Survey (FRS). Despite differen…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on legislation to provide a statutory right to food.
Answer · Shona Robison: In the 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to the introduction of a Human Rights Bill within this Parliamentary session. The Human Rights Bill will incorporate into Scots law, as far as possible within devolved competence, the…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether adopting Passivhaus standards for newbuild housing would make a positive contribution to achieving Scotland's climate targets.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: New homes built to a standard which results in lower energy demand and emissions than are achieved under current regulations would make a positive contribution to achieving Scotland's climate targets. Accordingly, consideration of the performance and process…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons it has stated that it will not take forward the recommendation of the Climate Assembly to adopt Passivhaus standards for newbuild housing.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Climate Assembly recommended adoption of Passivhaus standards (or an agreed Scottish Equivalent) within the next five years. Our response to the recommendation agrees with the need for review of regulation to further improve energy and environmental stan…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether adopting Passivhaus standards for newbuild housing would have a positive impact on reducing (a) domestic energy bills and (b) greenhouse gas emissions.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: New homes built to a standard which delivers lower energy demand and emissions than are achieved under current regulations would have a positive impact on reducing both domestic energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, consideration of the per…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on strengthened fire alarm standards on 19 January 2022, whether it will provide detailed clarification of what the implications will be for homeowners who have not complied with the new legislation on interlinked fire alarms by 1 February 2022.
Answer · Shona Robison: The legislation provides flexibility for people to fit the necessary alarms in due course if they are unable to do so by the February 2022 deadline. The rules place a legal duty on local authorities, not homeowners, to ensure homes are fitted with the correct…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on strengthened fire alarm standards on 19 January 2022, what estimates it has made of the number of homes that will (a) comply and (b) not comply with the new legislation on interlinked fire alarms by 1 February 2022.
Answer · Shona Robison: Once the new standard comes into force, the Scottish Government will collect data on fire alarms in Scottish homes in future iterations of the Scottish House Condition Survey. Following the Scottish Government’s mass media awareness campaign in 2021, we know …
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding compliance with the new interlinked fire alarm legislation.
Answer · Shona Robison: We have worked very closely with partners including the SFRS throughout the legislative process and they fully welcome any measures that support fire prevention.
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on strengthened fire alarm standards on 19 January 2022, whether it will provide further details of what it has done to alert the public to the new legislation on interlinked fire alarms.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government ran a very successful five-week, multi-media marketing campaign last autumn to raise awareness of the new standard. This was supported by over 96,000 leaflets distributed to all libraries in Scotland as well as posters, website and an onli…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reducing opening hours at rail ticket offices will increase or decrease rail passenger numbers.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05860 on 7 February 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-committ…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the appointment of (a) trade union and (b) passenger representatives on the board of the new company that will run Scotland's Railway.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: a) Discussions with the Rail Trade Union representatives are underway on this topic and we have recently received a proposition from the Unions that is now under consideration. b) There is an existing Stakeholder Board on which passenger representatives sit,…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed closure and reduction in opening hours of rail ticket offices has been the subject of an Equality Impact Assessment, and, if so, what the outcome was.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05834 on 4 February 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-committ…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many trade union representatives will be on the board of the new company that will run Scotland's Railway.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05865 on 4 February 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-committ…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the proposed closure and reduction in opening hours of rail ticket offices will increase or decrease levels of (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) safety for (i) passengers and (ii) staff (A) at train stations and (B) on trains.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Abellio ScotRail has carried out an assessment of all ticket sales, passenger assistance, ticket buying facilities, waiting areas, toilets, passenger footfall, links to local schools, colleges and businesses for every station with a ticket office. In addition…
20 Jan 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reducing opening hours at rail ticket offices will increase or reduce services to assist (a) (i) disabled, (ii) women, (iii) visually impaired and (iv) digitally excluded passengers and (b) passengers with mobility problems.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: ScotRail's review, the first of its kind in over 30 years, proposes changes to contribute to the modernisation of Scotland’s stations and offer passengers a more efficient and cost effective service for the future. The consultation has enabled rail users inc…