Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-35524

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is a statutory requirement for initiatives that are aimed at increasing public transport use, in order to reduce emissions, to be cost neutral.

All initiatives that are aimed at increasing public transport use must represent Value for Money (VfM) and a good use of Scottish Government resources. The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, Section 24 states "(21) The plan must also set out an estimate of the costs and benefits associated with the policies set out in the plan" which would include any public transport incentivisation policies included in the Climate Change Plan. There is no requirement statutory or otherwise that they are cost neutral.

Transport interventions are assessed for VfM for Government spend. Major interventions, in line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual and the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), are assessed against a range of criteria covering Economy, Climate Change, Environment, Health, Safety and Wellbeing and Equality and Accessibility.

Question reference: S6W-35525

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what changes there have been to (a) rail passenger numbers and (b) the patterns of useage of rail services following the end of the removal of the peak fares pilot, including by passengers from lower income households.

Question reference: S6W-35528

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the ScotRail Peak Fares Removal Pilot Final Evaluation Report to cover the whole of the trial period.

Transport Scotland is currently analysing data to the beginning of March and expects to publish results shortly. This will cover the whole period of the pilot and beyond. As detailed in the answer to S6W-35525 on 24 March 2025, daily journeys have increased (on average) since the pilot ended and the analysis is exploring this further.

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

Question reference: S6W-35480

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of estates applying for a section 16AA licence to shoot grouse in the 2024-25 season has registered the grouse moor only, rather than the whole landholding.

Question reference: S6W-35538

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many external tutors have been employed in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2004, also broken down by what the associated costs were each year.

Question reference: S6W-35540

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have left the profession within five years of qualifying, in each year since 2004.

Question reference: S6W-34986

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what each NHS boards’ policy is regarding compliance with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, which mandate that employers provide adequate and appropriate welfare facilities for staff, including suitable changing rooms where employees are required to change into special work clothing, and whether each board ensures that separate facilities are provided for men and women, or that shared facilities are used by only one sex at a time.

Question reference: S6W-35547

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has had with the (a) Law Society of Scotland, (b) chief constable of Police Scotland and (c) Scottish Retail Consortium since 29 March 2023, and what subjects were discussed.

Meetings with the Law Society of Scotland

1. I have had the following meetings with the Law Society of Scotland since 29 March 2023:

Date	Meeting	Subjects Discussed
1 June 2023	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims
26 July 2023	Law Society of Scotland	Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill
25 September 2023	JUSTICE Scotland Roundtable (Head of Research at Law Society of Scotland attended)	Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill
30 November 2023	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims
20 June 2024	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims
21 November 2024	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims

Meetings with the Chief Constable

2. I have had the following meetings with the Chief constable since 29 March 2023 as part of their regular series of meetings:

Date	Meeting	Subjects discussed
27 April 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Chief Constable’s reflections Call handling Police Estate – Fettes Next meeting
18 May 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Pay and industrial relations Progress on Recommendations of the Independent Review of Police complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues Officers on Restricted Duties HMICS/HIS Custody Inspection in Lanarkshire Handover to new Chief Constable Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Use of tasers
14 June 2023	Trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair	Chief Constable Statement on Institutional Racism Pay Succession planning Local Policing Improvement Plan
14 June 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	PVG Certificate – Morgan Prior Chief Constable reflection
14 September 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Police staff pay Officer numbers Resource prioritisation North East pilot Recorded Police Warnings (RPWs)
05 October 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget HMICS reviews Forward look
09 November 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Operation Moonbeam Armistice Day Early observations from the new Chief Constable Criminal justice system Financial planning for a sustainable police model
18 December 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget and workforce numbers Consultation on Police Scotland estate HMICS Thematic Inspection of Organisational Culture in Police Scotland and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Criminal Justice System efficiencies
9 January 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget and workforce numbers New operating model Criminal Justice Committee 20 December 2023 Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act
9 January 2024	Quarterly trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair	Budget and new operating model Mental health
8 February 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget, workforce and Police Scotland operating model Estates review Proportionate response to crime Safeguards on XL bully dogs Dashcam
1 March 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Emma Caldwell case and call for a Public Inquiry Brian Low Case
30 April 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Hate crime Criminal justice system Police officer and staff pay Revised model of policing
4 June 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Scottish resilience Partnership Emma Caldwell Investigation – NPCC Request Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill Revised model of policing Criminal justice system
26 June 2024	Quarterly trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair (meeting combined with the scheduled June Chief Constable meeting)	Body worn video (BWV) Proportionate response to crime (PRTC) Criminal justice system improvements Revised model of policing Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) Mental health and policing Hate crime Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill Police officer numbers
20 August 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Update on far-right violence and disorder Police officer numbers Police pay negotiations Mental health and policing Criminal justice system reform Body worn video Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill Emma Caldwell public inquiry
19 September 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Commonwealth Games 2026 Police officer numbers Police pay negotiations Police Scotland three-year business plan Estates Masterplan Emma Caldwell public inquiry Sheku Bayoh public inquiry Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill
29 October 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Policing budget Estates Masterplan 2025/26 budget proposal Police officer numbers Police officer pay Emma Caldwell public inquiry Police Scotland three-year business plan Commonwealth Games 2026
31 October 2024	Quarterly trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair	Police Scotland three-year business plan Estates management Police officer and staff pay Recording of sec and gender
19 December 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Policing budget Officer and staff pay Estates Masterplan Body worn video Police Scotland three-year business plan Sustainable roads policing Workforce planning Mental health and policing demand Football disorder in Glasgow
16 January 2025	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill Officer and staff pay Emma Caldwell investigation Sheku Bayoh public inquiry Football disorder Mental health and policing demand Estate Masterplan Police Scotland three-year business plan
27 February 2025	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Sheku Bayoh public inquiry Sentencing review Secure accommodation Police complaints Police dogs insurance Policing budget 2025-26 3 year business plan Police officer pay UEFA Championship (Scotland) Bill Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

3. The purpose of these meetings is to focus on matters of strategic importance and understand the challenges, risks and issues facing Police Scotland, and plans to mitigate these, as well as implications for policing.

4. I have met the Chief Constable outside these regular meetings. The most recent meetings are in the table below:

Date	Meeting
31 March 2023	Introductory meeting with the Chief Constable, Iain Livingstone
1 August 2023	Cabinet Secretary visit to Police Scotland, Tulliallan Castle
10 October 2023	Introductory meeting with the new Chief Constable, Jo Farrell
2 August 2024	Meeting with the Chief Constable to discuss officer numbers
5 August 2024	First Minister and CSJHA meeting with the Police Scotland following far-right violence and disorder across the UK
4 September 2024	Scottish Police Memorial Service

5. From January 2024, all notes of my regular meetings with the Chief Constable (and with the SPA Chair) are published on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/collections/police-minutes-of-regular-meetings. Notes of other meetings involving Police Scotland and the Scottish Government, including those outside regular meetings detailed in the table above, are not routinely published.

6. The note of the meeting between myself and the Chief Constable on 27 February will be published on the Scottish Government website once this has been reviewed by the Chief Constable and myself.

Meetings with the Scottish Retail Consortium

7. I have not met with the Scottish Retail Consortium since 29 March 2023.

8. It may be helpful to note that Siobhian Brown MSP, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety has met with the Scottish Retail Consortium since 29 March 2023 which is listed in the following table:

Date	Meeting	Subjects discussed
19 March 2024	Scottish Retail Consortium	Retail crime

Question reference: S6W-35481

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason relevant offences under the Animal Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, Badgers Act 1992 and other similar legislation, are not included in the NatureScot licensing conditions relating to a whole landholding for an estate that has only licensed its grouse moor under section 16AA of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

Question reference: S6W-35479

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what advice (a) it and/or (b) NatureScot has received regarding the enforceability of the grouse shoot licence condition pertaining to raptor crimes on land outside the area licensed for killing or taking grouse, and whether it will publish this.

Chamber and committees