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-27418

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the total percentage is of teachers who are currently not enrolled in a pension scheme.

This information is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Whilst the Scottish Public Pensions Agency holds information about teachers who are currently contributing to the Scottish Teachers' Pension scheme, individual local authorities and other employers of teachers such as independent schools and further and higher education bodies will separately hold information on the overall percentage of their employees not enrolled in a pension scheme.

Question reference: S6W-27408

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what role the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) has in managing the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme (STPS), and how teachers can raise any concerns or enquiries regarding their pension plan.

Question reference: S6W-27409

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of rising living costs, whether it is considering any measures to increase the pension payments for current retirees who are members of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme (STPS).

Question reference: S6W-27398

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of (a) the number of paediatric pathologists based in Scotland and (b) any paediatric pathology services that have been acquired from elsewhere in the UK, over the past 24 months.

a) The information requested on how many paediatric pathologists are based in Scotland is not centrally available. Information on paediatric pathologists, employed by NHS Scotland, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence.

b) The information requested on any paediatric pathology services that have been acquired from elsewhere in the UK, over the past 24 months is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-27367

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what barriers there have been to the implementation of placental growth factor (PlGF)-based tests, and what action it is taking to resolve any such barriers.

While there are differences across Scotland, the results following the latest update on progress towards implementation of PlGF-based testing indicate that capacity and infrastructure pose challenges for NHS Boards striving to effectively implement their plans.

The Scottish Government is initiating a new scoping exercise to better understand NHS Board’s current position in relation to using the PIGF test. Subsequently, officials will analyse the collected data to determine if further support is necessary to advance implementation plans.

Question reference: S6W-27386

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which minister will take decisions on any matters relating to the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio that the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture has recused himself from.

Question reference: S6W-27515

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown of its reported £21,489,000 spend on external consultancies in 2022-23, and what it predicts the costs to be in the current financial year.

Attached is a list of suppliers with spend for Consultancy. The data has been sourced from The Procurement Information Hub and includes all suppliers that fall under the consultancy classification.

Due to the wide range of services captured under the term consultancy we are unable to predict the expenditure for financial year 2024-2025.

Core Trade	Core Trade
Proclass 10.1 Level 3	(Multiple Items)

Row Labels	Sum of Aggregate Spend
7 Gen Analytics Limited	£5,000.00
ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd	£152,728.47
AchieveGood Limited	£25,661.74
Actica Consulting Limited	£8,910.00
Aether limited	£17,768.00
Alcumus ISOQAR Limited	£6,180.00
Alma Economics Limited	£120,621.80
Anderson Centre LLP, The	£53,636.00
Animate Consulting	£25,461.23
Anita Franco	£11,970.00
Anthesis (UK) Limited	£29,513.00
APEM Limited	£12,500.00
Aquatera Limited	£16,262.00
ARMILA Sustainability Services Limited	£6,462.50
Bramble Hub Limited	£81,794.99
British Standards Institution (BSI)	£10,353.25
Business Partnership Limited, The	£84,422.46
Cackette Projects Limited	£20,695.00
Cadgwith Health Limited	£3,850.00
CAPP & CO LIMITED	£2,523.00
Civil Service Learning (CSL) - KPMG LLP	£278,150.73
CJ Williams Consulting Limited	£14,600.00
Connect Three Solutions Limited	£39,000.00
CONTINUITY SHOP	£2,745.00
Core Solutions Group Limited	£13,940.06
Cornwall Insight Limited	£25,000.00
Craigforth HCAS Limited	£257,202.75
Daniel Dearnley	£6,659.68
Deloitte LLP	£8,298,702.55
Donald Nicholson	£1,328.25
E4tech Limited	£10,000.00
EFQM UK Limited	£2,566.66
Ekos Limited	£149,845.19
Environment Systems Limited	£126,015.00
Environmental Resources Management	£28,162.43
Ernst & Young LLP	£3,917,671.36
Eunomia Research and Consulting Limited	£64,020.00
Experties InfoTech Services Limited	£5,000.00
FarrPoint Limited	£35,283.35
FD People Limited	£4,500.00
Figure 8 Consultancy Services Limited	£9,642.40
Fraser McKinlay Consulting Ltd	£8,000.00
Frontier Economics Limited	£19,600.00
FutureArk Limited	£8,740.00
Geospatial Insight Limited	£3,237.04
Glen Shuraig Consulting Limited	£38,950.00
Graham Morgan Creative and Consulting	£5,591.15
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership	£250,902.40
Helen Chambers Consulting Limited	£16,875.00
Humanly Limited	£62,090.00
Indigo Business Services Ltd	£26,804.57
Indigo House Group, The	£17,700.00
Inspire & Impact	£3,742.30
Ipso-Facto Management Limited	£90,072.83
Ironside Farrar Limited	£81,002.50
James Harvard Limited	£558,950.00
Jenny Copeland trading as Secrets of Success	£5,300.00
Jeremy Evans Associates Limited	£1,175.00
Korero Studio Limited	£25,575.00
Lance R Guilford	£11,070.00
Land Use Consultants Limited	£26,069.25
Leigh & Glennie Limited	£12,632.50
Linda Dempster Consultancy	£16,968.75
Living Organisation, The	£9,536.49
Lloyds Register EMEA	£49,233.75
MacArthur Green Limited	£24,400.00
MainStreet Consulting Limited	£4,166.67
Martin Seddon Limited	£5,649.44
Matter of Focus Limited	£10,282.00
Merritt-Harrison Catering Consultancy	£171,712.03
Michael Fuller Consultancy Limited	£194,866.19
Mike Croft	£2,083.87
Nature Metrics Limited	£46,278.60
New Economics Foundation	£32,043.75
Nick Wright Planning	£10,000.00
NORTHLINK	£1,135.68
NQC Limited	£105,737.50
Occupational Psychology Matters Limited (OPM)	£87,727.50
On Board Training & Consultancy Limited	£14,700.00
Opsia Consulting Limited	£5,000.00
Optimal Economics Ltd	£75,550.00
Optimat Limited	£22,300.00
Oxford Economics Limited	£14,212.50
Palladium International Limited	£517,364.31
Pennington Choices Limited	£146,648.29
Personal Power UK	£7,834.78
Purchasing & Materials Management Services (PMMS) Limited t/a ArcBlue	£2,655.00
Quo Imus Limited trading as QI Consulting	£272,745.00
Resource Futures Limited	£7,747.50
Ricardo-AEA Limited	£1,585,598.88
Ridgeway Consulting	£36,991.26
Rob Huntley Planning Consultancy	£14,050.60
Rocket Science UK Limited	£128,078.75
RSK ADAS Limited	£23,490.00
RSM UK Consulting LLP	£58,374.00
SAC Commercial Ltd	£4,571,346.65
Serco Integrated Services	£6,735.00
SIDE Labs Limited	£11,000.00
Skye Conservation	£7,894.00
Sniffer	£341,667.00
Social Care Commissioning & Consultancy Services Limited	£38,310.00
Southern Uplands Partnership	£36,987.98
SQW	£33,372.50
Steve Field Planning Consultant	£11,258.00
Strathesk Resolutions Limited	£3,472.98
Sue Bell Ecology	£16,809.20
Sustainable Procurement Limited	£44,415.00
Talent Works Performance Consulting Limited t/a Silvermaple	£31,500.00
Taleos Consulting Limited	£1,305,222.50
Taylor Clarke Partnership Limited	£26,105.30
This is Milk Limited	£518,035.00
Thistle Dubh Limited	£2,025.00
Thrive Associates Limited	£33,000.00
TIMBERLAKE CONSULTANTS	£2,664.00
Trex Ecology Limited	£31,954.00
UEA Consulting Limited	£15,683.20
UK Accreditation Service	£48,229.75
Valuta Limited	£34,650.00
We are Snook Limited	£65,798.70
Well Working Matters Limited	£93,734.01
WWW.CAPITA.CO.UK	£2,727.60
WWW.KPMG.CO.UK	£3,751.92
WWW.LR.ORG	£7,286.10
Xception Management Solutions Limited	£3,825.00
Xi Engineering Consultants Limited	£18,408.00
Xpand Group Limited	£5,000.00
Zulu Forest Limited	£5,000.00
Grand Total	£26,343,459.87

Question reference: S6W-27507

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support local authority leisure services to (a) develop and (b) deliver community-based rehabilitation services.

As set out in the Once for Scotland Rehabilitation Approach, good rehabilitation happens when health care, social care, leisure and third and independent sectors work together to support individuals to access the right kind of rehabilitation for them, at the right time.

The Approach describes the standards expected of NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships, working together with these partners, to develop and deliver community-based rehabilitation services using their collective resources. We also encourage and support self-management to help improve individuals’ functional abilities and live well with long-term conditions.

Question reference: S6W-27460

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14445 by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023, whether it will provide updated information on how many public libraries have closed in each year since 2009, based on the latest information available.

Further to the answer provided to question S6W-14445, according to information gathered by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) in financial year 2022-23, 8 out of 474 public libraries closed in Scotland.

The data for the total number of libraries in Scotland provided by SLIC for financial year 2022-23, relates solely to static library venues and does not include mobile library services.

Information for financial year 2023-2024 is not yet available.

Question reference: S6W-27405

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any provisions within the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme (STPS) that allow teachers to adjust their contribution rates to potentially increase their future pension benefits.

The provisions of the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme allow members to adjust their contribution rates and increase their pension benefits by purchasing Additional Pension or opting for Faster Accrual.

Additional Pension is an amount of extra pension which can be bought in multiples of £250 up to a maximum of £7,000 and can be paid for by additional monthly contributions over a period of 1 to 20 years. Faster Accrual allows members to earn pension at a faster rate than the standard accrual of 1/57 th by making extra monthly contributions. There are three faster accrual options: 1/45th, 1/50th and 1/55th.