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: S6W-27782

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how any learning from the early adopter community programmes set out in the School Age Childcare Delivery Framework will be used to scale up an improved childcare offer at the national level.

Since October 2022 we have invested £4 million to deliver innovative school age childcare services to around 600 children from 500 families through our Early Adopter Community projects in Glasgow, Inverclyde, Clackmannanshire and Dundee.

On 22 May 2024, the First Minister announced a further £16 million investment over the next two years in the early adopter community projects including expanding delivery to communities in Fife and Shetland. This will enable participating local authorities to increase the number of families supported across these communities, expanding parents’ access to childcare, particularly for those families most at risk of living in poverty.

The early adopter community projects are a key driver for change. They will be a leading source of evidence, data, insights, and evaluation relating to the impact, approach and economic outcomes associated with place-based, people-centred systems of childcare focused on understanding the changes local authorities can undertake to expand access to childcare for those families who need it most, and the difference that can make towards reducing poverty. This work is already informing what system changes are needed at national and local levels to support sustainable delivery of childcare services within communities, and how these link with wider public services which families need.

We are committed to sharing learning across the early adopter community network and with all Local Authorities, to ensure we support future development at a national level. Our independent process evaluation report for the early adopter communities, being carried out by IPSOS Scotland, will be published in September 2024. IPSOS have engaged with project leads, service staff, local delivery partners and families to understand what is working well for them and what could be improved, to support next steps and future investment.

Question reference: S6W-27813

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what role existing first responder groups have in assisting the Scottish Ambulance Service response in rural areas of the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Community First Responders (CFRs) are highly valued by the Scottish Ambulance Service and are a dedicated and valuable asset to the communities they serve across Scotland including Mid Scotland and Fife. They form an integral part of the Service’s response, especially but not solely, to Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA)

CFRs are community-based volunteers that, subject to their availability, work to a clinically assured scope of practice to enhance and complement, but not replace, the emergency ambulance response within an agreed geographical area.

Question reference: S6W-27847

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the absence rate is for (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils with additional support needs, and how these rates compare with pupils without additional support needs.

Question reference: S6W-27727

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent action it has taken to ensure that (a) families have a choice of settings to access the 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare and (b) local authorities are encouraged to increase capacity.

The Scottish Government published updated national policy guidance on Funding Follows the Child in December 2023, which outlines the principles and criteria local authorities should follow when delivering funded early learning and childcare. The local authority is responsible for local delivery and has a duty to ensure that the statutory funded early learning and childcare entitlement is made available for each eligible young child belonging to its area. Local authorities also have a duty to publish local delivery plans outlining the choice available to parents and carers.

Question reference: S6W-27664

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reimbursed the legal expenses sought by the UK Government regarding its legal challenge of the decision by the UK Government to issue a section 35 order in relation to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S6W-27657

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government in what system Police Scotland is currently mandated to record non-crime hate incidents; whether this is a distinctly different system to the system for recording arrest records or formal charges, and, if this is not the case, whether there are strict Chinese wall protocols in place to mitigate the risk of deliberate or accidental disclosure.

Question reference: S6W-27656

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published Police Scotland interim guidance on the recording of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), which states that a report would happen in "exceptional circumstances", what are defined as "exceptional circumstances" in which a party allegedly at fault in a reported incident could have their details recorded.

Question reference: S6W-27695

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support and guidance it plans to provide to Ayrshire College, in light of reports that the college will be required to find an additional £882,000 in revenue savings in order to be able to continue to be financially sustainable, following the reported policy change regarding the transfer of funds between revenue and capital departmental expenditure limit budgets.

The Scottish Government and SFC are very conscious of the challenge colleges face. With regards to the specific issue raised, we are working collaboratively to understand the emerging impact and consider if a solution for 2024-25, as well as the longer term, can be found for affected colleges and keeping the Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group updated.

The tripartite group provides strategic direction on the pressures and opportunities facing colleges. Further detail on the work of this group is available here: Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

My understanding is that the Scottish Funding Council has concluded that the flexibility it was in position to be able to use in previous years is no longer possible because of the budgetary position it is now operating within, therefore, there has not been any change of policy but rather a lack of flexibility to accommodate switching capital to resource.

Question reference: S6W-27748

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the revised guidance on relationships, sexual health and parenthood education.

Question reference: S6W-27763

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether its decision to end funding of the National Parent Forum of Scotland will affect the statutory duty regarding parental involvement in school education.