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-35697

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost per member of staff was in 2022-23 to support multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) in each relevant public body, including Police Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service, NHS boards and local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-35695

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were convicted of aggravated offences under section 1(1)(a) of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 in 2022-23; of those convicted, how many (a) were given (i) prison sentences of 12 months or longer and (ii) community payback orders and (b) are subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) notification requirements.

Data sourced from the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2022-2023 data set shows that 7807 people were convicted of aggravated offences under section 1(1)(a) of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 in 2022-2023. Of those convicted, 251 were given prison sentences of 12 months or longer and, of those convicted, 2407 were given community payback orders. The remaining 5149, are made up of other disposals which may include: fines, short-term prison sentences (under 12 months) and admonishments.

Sentencing is of course a matter for the independent courts.

We have interpreted part (b) of the question as relating to sex offender notification requirements (SONR). Section 1(1)(a) of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 does not create an offence. It creates an aggravator which is something that is applied to an existing offence. Section 1(1)(a) (or section 1 as a whole) is not listed in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (offences which trigger SONR).

Therefore, whether the offender would be subject to SONR would depend on the offence they were convicted of and whether that was on the list in Schedule 3. Schedule 3 of the 2003 Act does also contain paragraph 60 which is a provision which allows the court to trigger SONR where the offence is not on the list in Schedule 3 but the court determines that there was a significant sexual element in the offender’s behaviour.

Data on the numbers of those with this aggravator who are also subject to SONR is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-35621

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to answer to question S6W-35211 by Fiona Hyslop on 11 March 2025, what its response is to claims that not incorporating the existing heavy rail connection to East Kilbride within the scope of Clyde Metro does not represent effective, joined-up, public policymaking.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any suggested claims regarding the East Kilbride rail line within the context of Clyde Metro. If the member believes that this should be included with the scope of the Clyde Metro’s network development then I would encourage him to contact Strathclyde Partnership for Transport ([email protected]) who are leading the work for the ongoing Case for Investment stage.

Question reference: S6W-35606

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the recently announced £100 million of apprenticeship funding by (a) sector and (b) region.

Scottish Government are unable to provide this information at present.

The recently announced £102 million apprenticeship funding for 2025-26 represents a projection of the funding Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will spend to support 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship (MA) starts and 2,500 Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) starts, as well as MAs and FAs already in training.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) are currently completing the contract/grant award process for 2025-26 so are unable to confirm the exact figure until all contracts are accepted by providers.

It should be noted that SDS are exercising a Plus 1 extension period to the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) contracts for 2025-26, therefore providers are allocated the same volumes as they were awarded at the start of the 2024-25 contract year.

The 2024-25 MA awards have been published and can be accessed via the link below for further insight into the distribution of provision: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/1r4etei1/modern-apprenticeships-april-24-25-contracts-by-framework.pdf

Foundation Apprenticeship Grant Awards totalling 2,500 opportunities have been issued to existing SDS-funded learning providers, including Local Authorities and Independent Learning Providers, for delivery commencing in academic year
2025-26. SDS is unable to confirm an exact figure until all contract awards are accepted by providers.

It should be noted that the Scottish Funding Council also support both Modern and Foundation Apprenticeships, and will provide 2,500 Foundation Apprenticeship opportunities this year.

Question reference: S6W-35611

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering reviewing the reported cap on domestic university student numbers, in light of Scotland's universities' reported reliance on international fees to compensate for any shortfalls in government funding.

Through the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) annual allocations process, universities are allocated funding for the provision of funded undergraduate places for eligible Scottish domiciled students. It is then for the universities themselves to decide how to distribute these places along with postgraduate and alternatively funded undergraduate places between faculties and the courses they offer. Universities are responsible for their own admissions policies but should consider their long-term stability by actively diversifying their international student intake and seeking alternative funding sources. Indicative allocations of funding for 2025-26 will be published on SFC’s website in the next few weeks.

Scotland’s first International Education Strategy, published in February last year, highlighted the positive impact that international students make to our universities, colleges, communities, and economy.

Through the SFC, we invest over £1.1bn for teaching and research in Scotland’s universities and this investment in university education ensures that Scottish domiciled and international students benefit from the learning provided by our world-class universities in near-record numbers. We have boosted financing for the entire university sector by £27 million, or 3.5%, as part of the 2025-26 budget, which is higher than the 3.1% increase that English universities receive through tuition fees. It’s important to be clear that institutions across the UK often cross-subsidise teaching and research activities through other sources of income, this practice is common across the UK under different funding models.

Question reference: S6T-02446

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider an independent external evaluation of the pilot scheme that provides victims in rape and serious assault cases with access to transcripts, in light of reports of some waiting a year for transcripts of their court cases.

Question reference: S6T-02448

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what practical steps it is taking to review the funding model for Scottish universities, in light of recent reports that the number of international students enrolled at Scottish universities fell by more than 10% between 2023 and 2024.

Question reference: S6T-02447

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the reported £203 million it spent on external advisers to help administer agricultural support payments to be good value for money.

Question reference: S6F-03968

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent instances of water scarcity in 2025.

Question reference: S6F-03941

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the UK Government’s Spring Statement.