Chamber and committees

Railway safety is a matter reserved to the UK Government and responsibility for this lies with Office of Rail and Road who provides guidance to railway operators.

As part of wider catering provision in Scottish Government buildings, a catering contract is in-place to ensure value for money for taxpayers. In-line with Scottish Government spending controls, visitor hospitality is only provided in limited circumstances.

Robust contract management arrangements are in place and this includes an annual review of tariffs and costs which are scrutinised by an independent catering specialist to ensure costs are in-line with industry standards and the Consumer Price Index.

A copy of the data requested is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 65639).

We want disabled people in Scotland to have choice, dignity and freedom to access suitable homes, built or adapted to enable them to participate as full and equal citizens.

As the statutory housing authority for their area, local authorities are responsible for assessing housing need and demand, including specialist housing requirements, and for setting out how this will be met through their Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans. This includes the location, size and type of housing required.

Local authorities are also required to include all-tenure wheelchair accessible housing targets as part of their Local Housing Strategy.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme provides a flexible grant system to local authorities and registered social landlords to support the delivery of specialist affordable housing, including wheelchair accessible homes.

In addition, the draft budget includes funding of £20.9 million for 2025-26 to enable registered social landlords to deliver necessary adaptations to ensure disabled people can live independently at home for as long as possible.

Data on recorded road traffic offences is contained in the annual Scottish Government "Recorded Crime in Scotland" publication. Information on road traffic offences in the 2023-24 publication is at:

Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2023-24 - gov.scot

This publication includes data for 2023-24 as well as data relating to the last ten years. Data is provided at Scotland level as well as being broken down by local authority area. No information is provided broken down by trunk road.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34138 on 7 February 2025 for information on recorded levels of road traffic offences in Scotland. No information is held centrally relating to the costs associated with enforcement activity, legal processes and accidents arising from road traffic offences in Scotland.

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/written-questions-and-answers

The Working Group on Misogyny and the Criminal Law recommended the creation of 'gendered' laws which specifically provide protection to women and girls.

There is currently a case before the Supreme Court concerning the definition of 'women and girls'. It will be important to carefully consider the implications, if any, of the judgment in that case for the proposed Bill before any Bill might be introduced in Parliament.

The Rural and Islands Housing Fund operates in categories 4, 5 and 6 of the six-fold urban rural classification. We do not publish a list of postcode areas and applicants can check if a proposed project is located within an eligible area by using the National Records of Scotland’s Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) at Geography products - National Records of Scotland (NRS)

National Records of Scotland publishes an updated SPD every six months and an update is planned for publication in March 2025.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34306 on 7 February 2025. 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/written-questions-and-answers

The Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund operates in categories 4, 5 and 6 of the six-fold urban rural classification. We do not publish a list of postcode areas and applicants can check if a proposed project is located within an eligible area by using the National Records of Scotland’s Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) at Geography products - National Records of Scotland (NRS)

National Records of Scotland publishes an updated SPD every six months and an update is planned for publication in March 2025.