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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 41980 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6F-03437

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-30089

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £8 million that the UK Government reportedly committed to providing to carry out a feasibility study on the A75 it has received.

The previous UK Government had committed £8m of Union Connectivity funding for the Scottish Government to take forward design development and assessment of options for the realignment of the A75 around the settlements of Springholm and Crocketford. This funding was over the period of 2024/25 to 2026/27 of which £1,480,500 was received for 2024-25.

However, the UK Chancellor in her recent statement announcing £22 billion of cuts, also included a number of investment projects that will now no longer proceed as planned but will need to wait for the conclusion of forthcoming spending review process.. The earliest point at which we will know whether or not the UK Government is able to commit to this funding over the relevant future financial years, allowing the design development and options appraisal for these by-passes to be concluded is Spring 2025. We have therefore been offered no guarantee that such funding will be available.

The Scottish Government is disappointed that this lack of commitment by the UK Government is impacting on our ability to make meaningful and demonstrable progress for the people and businesses of the South-West of Scotland who rely on this vital route.

Transport Scotland officials have progressed a robust procurement process to appoint a technical advisor to take forward the design development and assessment work, however, re-confirmation of the UK Government’s funding position is awaited prior to awarding the contract.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving safety, resilience and reliability on the A75 for all users traveling on this important route to benefit not just the people of Scotland but those from the wider UK too. As such, the Scottish Government will continue to engage positively and collaboratively with the UK Government on our shared priorities for transport.

Question reference: S6W-30079

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much direct subsidy it has given to the group of companies referred to in the BBC’s recent reporting on slavery in the Scottish fishing sector since 2019.

Question reference: S6W-30102

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29506 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024, what the estimated cost to the taxpayer is of administering the tender process for this contract.

Question reference: S6W-30078

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it was aware that workers at companies referred to in the BBC’s recent reporting on slavery in the Scottish fishing sector had been recognised by the Home Office as victims of trafficking when it awarded any funding to those companies.

Question reference: S6W-30157

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of comments reportedly made by a Transport Scotland official at Shetland’s external transport forum on 17 September 2024 that fares on the Serco NorthLink Northern Isles Ferry Service are “fairly priced” and “not astronomical”, what work has been done by Transport Scotland to assess the affordability of fares, giving consideration to inflationary increases on household budgets in Shetland and across Scotland, to provide a basis for these claims.

Scottish Ministers make contractual grant payments based on the projected cumulative difference between Operating Costs and Revenue for each Service Year.

Islander fares on Northern Isles routes were frozen from 2020 to 2024 along with a 20% reduction in cabin fares. This meant that government effectively bore the loss of revenue.

These initiatives have required the Scottish Government to invest an additional £4.8m since 2020, over and above the general subsidy, in order to protect islanders from the impacts of recent high levels of inflation.

Question reference: S6W-30122

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided to community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services in the Scottish Borders since 2020, broken down by (a) year and (b) project.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to community-based mental health and wellbeing support services for children, young people and their families in the Scottish Borders since 2020. This is broken down into:

2019-20	£62,500
2020-21	£82,250
2021-22	£329,000
2022-23	£334,000
2023-24	£335,000
2024-25	£338,000
Total	£1,480,750

A further breakdown of this funding by project is not available as this is a matter for Scottish Borders Council, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

In addition, residents of the Scottish Borders have also benefitted from the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults which was established in 2021. The funding is for grassroot community-based projects supporting mental health and wellbeing and is distributed through the Third Sector Interface Network.

In the first three years of the Fund, Scottish Borders (Borders Community Action) have received more than £1,778,000.00 of the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults to distribute to grass root projects. The breakdown of the annual grants can be found below:

Year 1 (2021-22)	£1,133,848.47*
Year 2 (2022-23)	£321,858.00
Year 3 (2023-24)	£322,909.32

*Scottish Borders received £318,924.96 plus a further £814,918.51 from the additional £6 million funding made available nationally, totalling £1,133,848.47

A list of the projects funded in Year 1 and 2 can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund Projects awarded funding in Year 1 2021/2022 (www.gov.scot)

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults - Projects awarded funding in Year 2 - 2022/2023 (www.gov.scot)

A list of funded projects in the Scottish Borders in Year 3 has not yet been published but can be found in the following table.

Organisation Name	Name of Project	Funding Awarded
Allanbank Arts, Social Enterprise	Berwickshire community arts and information project	£5,630.00
Borders Additional Needs Group	ASN Peer Hubs Parents	£26,774.00
Borders Disability Sport	Physical Activity Intervention for Adults with Disability	£45,413.00
Central Borders Citizens Advice Bureau	CAB Wellbeing Project	£10,668.00
Clubsport Borders	Headstrong - Evolution	£15,500.00
Duns Senior Citizens Club	Summer Trip to Eyemouth + Meal	£600.00
Gavinton Village Hall Association	Gavinton Village Hall Hearing Loop & Caster	£4,388.00
Greener Peebles	Greener Wellbeing	£25,520.00
Innerleithen, Traquair & Walkerburn Parish Church of Scotland	3 Communities Craft & Chat	£5,600.00
Interest Link Borders	New Learning Disabilities Groups 2024	£8,965.00
Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham Community Council	Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham Community Council	£2,709.00
LGBT Youth Scotland	LGBT Youth Scotland - Scottish Borders	£31,300.00
Nature Unlimited CIC	Thrive in Nature	£20,088.00
Nature Unlimited CIC	Connect in Nature	£8,998.00
Nomad Beat	Recollective	£4,955.00
Outside the Box Development Support Ltd	Borders Queer Chosen Families (working title)	£17,049.00
ParentSpace (SCIO)	Getting it Right for Every Parent	£9,996.00
Peebles Old Parish Church of Scotland	Grand Hands, Hearts & Minds	£7,200.00
PMH Borders	Funding for Counsellor	£14,560.00
Quarriers	Quarriers - Breaking Down Barriers	£36,429.00
Recovery Coaching Scotland CIC	Recovery Coaching - Self Coaching - Additional Support for Learning Group	£17,339.00

Question reference: S6W-30143

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to the relevant authorities to tackle any misogynistic and racist attitudes within the justice system.

Justice agencies are operationally independent of the Scottish Ministers.

However, misogyny and racism should play no part in the operation of the justice system. We will continue to support all justice agencies and bodies who operate within the justice system to eradicate racism and misogyny.

In April 2023, Scottish Government published a landmark summary of data on Ethnicity and Justice. This presents a picture of what is currently known about the experiences of minority ethnic people within Scotland’s justice system and supports the development and delivery of evidence-led actions.

Through our Cross Justice Group on Race Data and Evidence, the Scottish Government continues to improve our understanding of the experiences of minority ethnic people within Scotland’s Justice system. Generally, our approach supports the commitments contained within the Race Equality Framework (2016-2030) and Immediate Priorities Plan (2021-2023).

In relation to policing specifically, in May 2023, the former Chief Constable of Police Scotland declared that it is institutionally racist and discriminatory. This is an important recognition of the work still to do to ensure that policing and justice feel trusted by, and provide the right service to, all our communities. Their Policing Together programme is taking forward a range of actions to move towards this goal.

Question reference: S6W-30142

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to build more social housing to meet the needs of women and families.

Our ambition is for everyone to have a safe, good quality and affordable home that meets their needs in the place where they want to be, including women and families. Since 2007, we have supported the delivery of more than 133,000 affordable homes, over 94,000 of which were for social rent, including over 26,000 council homes. We remain committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 with at least 70% for social rent and 10% in rural and island areas, and between 23 March 2022 and end of June 2024, we have delivered 22,743 affordable homes towards the 110,000 target, of which over 17,000 have been homes for social rent.

We continue to work closely with partners to deliver the right homes in the right places and it is for local authorities through their Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans to identify the type, location, size and tenure of homes required in their areas.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes figures on homes delivered, which can be found online at:

Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-30155

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the next Northern Isles Ferry Service contract will include provision to exempt islanders from seasonal fares.

The draft Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP) Strategic Approach paper was published for public consultation earlier this year. Building on the Fair Fares Review, we said that we would take forward detailed consideration of a number of ferry fare proposals, including on Road Equivalent Tariff, islander fares and under 22s.

The outputs from the consultation and engagement, published on 3 September, will support the finalisation of the ICP Strategic Approach, and will inform the development of the remaining elements of the ICP, including work on future ferry fares policy.