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: S6O-03504

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that disabled people who receive Scottish social security benefits are treated lawfully, in light of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s reported investigation into the treatment of some disabled benefits claimants by the UK Department for Work and Pensions.

Question reference: S6O-03500

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to address child poverty.

Question reference: S6O-03493

Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Question reference: S6W-27103

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to people seeking asylum who are resident in Scotland, including anyone who may be impacted by the Illegal Migration Act 2023.

The Scottish Government is strongly opposed to the Illegal Migration Act that will push vulnerable people further into destitution and increase the risk of exploitation and we have raised our serious concerns with the Home Secretary.

We continue to deliver a range of interventions to support people seeking asylum living in Scotland including providing £3.6m of grant funding to Scottish Refugee Council this year for a comprehensive, nationwide Refugee Support Service.

The Service will support refugees and people seeking asylum to settle into communities through providing advice, information and resources, improving access to support services and facilitating social connections and will support the implementation of the third New Scots refugee integration strategy.

Many of the essential services which support people seeking asylum are devolved and are delivered inclusively for everyone living in Scotland, as far as possible within UK immigration legislation and rules. For example, people seeking asylum can access NHS healthcare and asylum-seeking children are entitled to school education.

Question reference: S6W-27517

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Scottish Football Association to discuss sectarianism.

Question reference: S6W-27434

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards publishing Scotland's first Flood Resilience Strategy in 2024.

The Scottish Government launched a public consultation on the Flood Resilience Strategy on Tuesday 21 May. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and seeks views on our approach to improving flood resilience and what actions are needed in the long term to make our places more flood resilient.

Over the consultation period officials will hold a number of public engagement workshops. The consultation will close in mid-August and a report analysing the responses will be published thereafter. The Flood Resilience Strategy is due to be published in Autumn 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27516

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its policies aimed at tackling sectarianism to assess their effectiveness and report any findings to the Parliament.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling all forms of prejudice and discrimination, including sectarianism. Football has a role to play in tackling sectarianism but, like all societal problems, it manifests across society and therefore our approach to tackling it cannot be confined to football alone.

Since 2012, we have invested over £16.5 million to tackle sectarianism and as Minister for Victims and Community Safety, I have committed £402,000 in 2024-25 for projects working in schools, colleges, workplaces and communities providing opportunities for learning and engagement with children and adults, delivered through Sense over Sectarianism, Nil by Mouth, Sacro, Youth Scotland, The Fair Play Foundation, Youthlink Scotland and The North Kelvin Sports Development Group. This work is monitored and reviewed annually to ensure it continues to make an impact including within football.

The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport works closely with both the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Premier Football League on all matters related to football participation and governance. As part of this on-going engagement, Ministers last met with the SFA on 20 December 2023 and the SPFL on 1st February 2024 to consider how we can use the power of football and its exceptional reach in communities right across the country to deliver positive outcomes on a wide range of societal problems including sectarianism.

Question reference: S6W-27519

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government who has ministerial responsibility for tackling sectarianism in football.

Question reference: S6W-27347

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the impact of the reductions in the number of police officers since 2008 on the force’s ability to respond to reports of a crime.

Police Scotland implemented the THRIVE approach as part of the roll out of its Contact Assessment Model (CAM) across 2019/20. THRIVE is used to ensure a consistent response to an incident report by evaluating threat, harm, risk, investigation, vulnerability and engagement. That places the needs of the individual at the centre of the police’s decisions while ensuring that effective prioritisation is in place.

It is vitally important that the Chief Constable has the flexibility to develop her workforce in a way that responds to the challenges she faces by ensuring the right workforce mix. She confirmed to the Criminal Justice Committee on 20 December that the extra £75.7m of resource funding provided by Scottish Government in 2024-25 will enable Police Scotland to bring officer numbers up to around 16,500-16,600. With plans in place to bring in over 1000 new officers this financial year and around 320 having joined since March, she is bringing in the resources that will ensure that frontline policing is prioritised.

Question reference: S6W-27332

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund in each year since it was established.

The Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund had an annual budget of £120 million and ran from 2021-22 to 2022-23. It supported delivery of the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan Coronavirus (COVID-19): mental health - transition and recovery plan - summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and funding was allocated on an annual basis to a number of different organisations and delivery partners including the Third Sector, Local Authorities and NHS Boards. From 2023-24, the Recovery and Renewal Fund annual budget has been incorporated into the overall direct programme budget for mental health.

Going forwards, the direct programme budget for mental health published in the 2024-25 Scottish budget will be used to meet the priorities set out in our recently published Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy 2023-25 Mental health and wellbeing strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .