Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6F-03053

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2024

To ask the First Minister what impact he anticipates the Scottish Government's decision to remove the target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 will have on infrastructure projects throughout Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-03047

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2024

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on NHS Scotland's ability to treat patients, in light of the reported scarcity of life-saving medicines in the UK due to Brexit.

Question reference: S6F-03037

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-26479

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the size is of any backlog of cases that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has, and what the SPSO is doing to reduce any such backlog.

As of 18 April 2024, the SPSO had a backlog of 286 non-priority cases awaiting allocation and 0 priority cases awaiting allocation. Over the past two years, the timescales for cases requiring further investigation being allocated has reduced from 11 months to 4 months. This is despite a 33% increase in the number of complaints being received in 2023-24 when compared to 2022-23. The SPSO have received funding from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to recruit more staff to assist with continuing to reduce timescales. In addition, the SPSO continues to monitor resources and service delivery to make best use of their resources.

Question reference: S6W-26715

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Bòrd na Gàidhlig will be ending its Gaelic Officers scheme as a result of the Scottish Government not providing an uplift in funding of £354,000 alongside the 2024-25 budget for the Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Following the 2024-25 budget settlement, the Scottish Government reviewed a number of budget lines in Education and Skills. In relation to Gaelic the outcome of this review is that there will now be no reduction to the MG ALBA funding for 2024-25. There will also be no reduction of the Gaelic, Education and Culture budget line which would have had an impact on the funding of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Storlann and other organisations and the Scottish Government has now provided additional funding to enable Bòrd na Gidhlig to continue its support for the Gaelic Officers’ Scheme in 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-26724

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish guidance for local authorities on bond calculations, inspections and approvals in relation to housebuilding, and whether it has discussed the adoption of a standardised approach toward bond calculations, inspections and approvals in relation to housebuilding with COSLA.

The Scottish Government is reviewing the Competition & Markets Authority’s ‘Housing Markets Study’ which was published on 28 February 2024. The report recommends consideration by the Scottish, Welsh and UK governments of standardised approaches to bond calculations, inspections, and approvals. We are considering the recommendations for Scotland and will respond in a way which respects the Verity House Agreement.

Question reference: S6W-26321

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how its (a) children’s social work, (b) Homelessness in Scotland and (c) youth homelessness statistics differ with regards to capturing the experiences of care experienced young people.

The scope and purpose of the data collections associated with the children’s social work and homelessness statistics are very different. Additionally, this means that the sources cover different periods of the lives of care experienced children and young people.

The looked after children data collection (which is used for the Children’s Social Work statistics) relates to all children and young people who are in the care of their local authority. It includes information on placement type and care plans of children who are looked after.

The HL1 homelessness data collection (which is used for both the Homelessness in Scotland and youth homelessness statistics) relates to all households making an application to a local authority for homelessness support. This includes information on whether any adult member, aged under 25, of a household making a homelessness application was looked after as a child by their local authority.

Looked after status captured within HL1 will largely be self-reported by applicant households. Applicants can choose whether to answer the question. It should also be noted that it is not necessarily the case that the looked after status of all adults aged under 25 in the household will be known.

The Homelessness in Scotland series publishes data on former looked after status of households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness. The youth homelessness workbook presents the former looked after status for households specifically with a main applicant aged under 25.

The HL1 data collection also captures information on the outcome of the application, and circumstances related to the application (such as reason for homelessness, property homeless from etc.). It can also be linked to the HL3 (temporary accommodation placement) dataset. Due to the small number of homeless households with a former looked after status (less than 1,100 in a year), further breakdowns are not published routinely.

Question reference: S6W-26739

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that inflationary costs for hospices and recent Agenda for Change pay awards have resulted in current funding levels being insufficient for hospices to operate sustainably.

The Scottish Government fully understands the pressures that hospices are currently facing. The Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health engages regularly with this sector, and has visited a number of hospices and met with hospice leaders over the last few months.

Integration Joint Boards are responsible for the planning, and commissioning of adult palliative care services, including hospices, using the integrated budget under their control. We have invested over £2 billion in the 2024-25 budget for social care and integration, delivering on our Programme for Government commitment to increase social care spending by 25% over this Parliament. Despite this significant investment the financial climate remains extremely challenging and we are working with partners to understand and address the challenges, within the context of a finite budget.

Question reference: S6W-26730

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its reported decision to suspend the GP Premises Sustainability Fund, how many applications for such loans to GPs have been processed since the scheme was introduced in 2018, and how many applications remain outstanding.

Question reference: S6W-26742

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support the development of a Specialist Practitioner Qualification, at Masters level, for community children’s nursing in Scotland.

Access to continuing professional development and education for community children’s nursing staff in Scotland is vital as it enables children to receive specialist care within a setting that is familiar and comforting to them. However, it is the responsibility of higher education institutions to develop and deliver education at Masters level. It is the Scottish Government’s understanding that Robert Gordon University have developed a contemporary Specialist Practitioner Qualification in community children's nursing, at Masters level, which will be presented for approval by the Nursing and Midwifery Council at the end of May this year. If approved, the programme will move forward with a provisional starting date of September 2024.