Parliamentary questions

Daniel Johnson

1,103 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to the introduction of a Scotland-wide shopper stimulus scheme to help less well-off households.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government has supported the development of the Scotland Loves Local (SLL) gift card scheme as part of the SLL programme aimed primarily at economic stimulus and building community wealth. The card can be pre-loaded with funds for rewards and gif…

31 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care met the Astley Ainslie Community Trust when he visited the Astley Ainslie Hospital on 25 August 2022.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: No, I attended the Astley Ainslie Hospital on 25 August to visit NHS Lothian’s Mental health After Covid Hospitalisation (MACH) service. During the visit, I met with staff from the MACH team, service users who have been involved in group therapy delivered by …

31 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care met the Astley Ainslie Community Engagement Group when he visited the Astley Ainslie Hospital on 25 August 2022.

25 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to prevent people taking cans from wheelie bins to return for a deposit, following the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government has no plans to prevent people taking cans from wheelie bins following the introduction of DRS.

25 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the Deposit Return Scheme will affect current kerbside recycling schemes.

Answer · Lorna Slater: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03196 on 29 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…

18 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any planning or research regarding a reduction in the devolved civil service headcount in Scotland.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has not undertaken specific planning or research regarding a reduction in the devolved civil service headcount in Scotland. The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisa…

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the results of its 2021 consultation on Penalty Charge Notices for Parking Enforcement will be published.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The publication of the analysis report is still under consideration however is expected to be published in due course. My officials in Transport Scotland will keep the member updated of any progress.

12 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the Fixed Penalty Notice charge for decriminalised parking offences.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Fixed Penalty Notices are a matter for Police Scotland. You may be referring to Penalty Charge Notices, which were discussed within the Penalty Charge Notice for Parking Enforcement Consultation. The analysis report of this consultation is due to be publish…

10 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected resource requirements are for delivering a 24/7 thrombectomy service, including numbers of physicians, nurses and other required staff.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Through the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG), work is currently underway to establish the optimal approach to increasing the out-of-hours availability of thrombectomies, the resources required to do so and the appropriate timescales for safely increasing acc…

10 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what number of thrombectomies should a 24/7 service be able to perform, how this capacity will be achieved, and in what timescale.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We estimate that a fully functioning 24/7, Scotland-wide thrombectomy service could deliver around 800 thrombectomies per year. Through the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG), work is currently underway to establish the optimal approach to increasing the out-…

10 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many thrombectomy procedures have been performed since 2020 across the three pilot centres.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: As of 30th June 2022, the number of completed thrombectomies across the three centres are: West of Scotland: 22 North of Scotland: 41 East of Scotland: 36

19 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work is being undertaken to reduce the civil service headcount, in light of its reported aim to return to pre-COVID-19 staffing levels.

Answer · Ivan McKee: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09566 on 20 July 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…

19 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any planning or research has been undertaken regarding a reduction in the civil service headcount in Scotland.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has not been requested to research a headcount reduction in the Scottish civil service. The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of…

19 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its target headcount is for the civil service in Scotland, in light of its reported aim to return to pre-COVID-19 staffing levels.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The UK Government has not provided details on how their plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000 will affect their staff working in Scotland. There are around 24,800 1 Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland. For C…

19 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many third sector organisations currently receive 100% of their funding from the Scottish Government.

Answer · Shona Robison: SCVO estimate that the public sector as a whole invests around £1.8 billion each year to support the work of charities and social enterprises. Of that, around £500m comes from the Scottish Government via a broad range of programmes including those supporting …

7 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an impact assessment of the effect on businesses in Scotland of any potential differences in labelling requirements of the Deposit Return Scheme compared with other proposed schemes in the rest of the UK, in light of any differences in the materials that are cove…

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government has not conducted an impact assessment into any potential difference in the labelling requirements elsewhere in the UK. This is because, the Regulations underpinning Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) do not mandate specific labell…

7 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Deposit Return Scheme could impose a potentially higher producer fee for producers in Scotland that do not adopt Circularity Scotland’s labelling requirements and instead choose to adhere to a UK-wide labelling and barcode system.

Answer · Lorna Slater: As independent Scheme Administrator established by businesses, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) is responsible for setting the fees for businesses who wish CSL to administer their DRS obligations on their behalf. The rationale behind a higher fee for producers…

7 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it consulted business representatives regarding the effect of the Deposit Return Scheme on any labelling requirements for businesses, and any associated costs to businesses of complying with new labelling standards.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Regulations underpinning Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) do not mandate specific labelling requirements, but rather give producers and the scheme administrator the flexibility to decide on their preferred approach. We decided to take this approach …

7 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme, whether it has made an assessment of what effect Circularity Scotland’s reported decision to charge a higher producer fee to producers that do not adopt its new labelling requirements will have on food and drink businesses that operate in Scotla…

Answer · Lorna Slater: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09714 on 29 July 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…

7 Jul 2022 · Written Question

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Full Business Case Stage 1 Addendum for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 16 March 2020, models the economic impact of DRS based on a central estimate for the producer fee and concludes that there is a strong economic case for DRS. The…

7 Jul 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme, whether it was consulted on the reported decision by Circularity Scotland to charge a higher producer fee to producers that do not adopt its new labelling requirements.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The specific level of the producer fee is for Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL), as a private business independent of Government, to set through a commercial negotiation with the producers which it agrees to represent. As such the Scottish Government was not con…

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has requested that work be undertaken to research an 8,000 headcount reduction in the Scottish civil service.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has not been requested to research an 8,000 headcount reduction in the Scottish civil service. The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the pe…

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to a civil service headcount reduction.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of Scotland as efficiently and effectively as possible. This ongoing monitoring of our workforce makes sure that as…

29 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has done on whether the Scotland Reserve's £700 million cap will be breached in the next five years.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scotland Reserve provides the Scottish Government with a limited facility to manage the smoothing of all types of spending, assist the management of tax volatility and manage the timing of expenditure between financial years. As the cap is not index linke…

22 Jun 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it has spent the last £41 million of Barnett consequentials as a result of increased spending on the Household Support Fund in England.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The consequentials form part of the savings package of over £500 million set out to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on September 7 th . As stated in the letter, savings have been utilised to meet increased costs as a result of inflationary pre…

13 Jun 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review by the Police Service of Northern Ireland into findings by a tribunal of a "sexist culture" in Police Scotland.

23 May 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its Deposit Return Scheme.

23 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether ATMs at retailers’ premises will be exempted from non-domestic rates; how many ATMs will be affected by their removal from the valuation roll, and whether it will consider backdating refunds, in a similar way to that in Wales and England when ATMs were removed from the valuation …

Answer · Tom Arthur: The valuation of all non-domestic property, including sites of ATMs, is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government. We are aware that Assessors have been considering the valuation of ATM sites and recently conclu…

18 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to evaluate rates and thresholds within the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government monitors and considers the available evidence about the housing market and listens to the views of stakeholders on an ongoing basis in order to inform its approach on Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). Decisions on rates and b…

16 May 2022 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its reaction is to the reported awarding of almost £1 million compensation from Police Scotland to an ex-officer following an employment tribunal ruling of victimisation.