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-03797

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to bring down processing times for the Adult Disability Payment, in light of the most recent high level statistics from Social Security Scotland indicating a reversal in the previous reduction to processing times.

Question reference: S6O-03792

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that diagnostic pathways in Scotland are appropriate for those affected by brain tumours.

Question reference: S6O-03790

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many alcohol-related deaths were reported in the Lothian region in the last year for which data is available.

Question reference: S6O-03801

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how payments made by Social Security Scotland are incentivising people in Fife back into work.

Question reference: S6O-03799

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are homeless in the Highland Council area.

Question reference: S6O-03796

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of locums in local mental health services.

Question reference: S6O-03802

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its proposed timeline and target date are for the establishment of a leavers fund to support victims of domestic abuse to leave abusive relationships.

Question reference: S6O-03783

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what assessment it has made of the impact of Brexit on Scotland's food and drink sector.

Question reference: S6W-29394

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-28676 by Kate Forbes on 27 August 2024, what its position is on whether its answer represents a reversal of its previous position of considering changes to the Scottish Ministerial Code and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, as recommended by the Hamilton Report in March 2021.

The Scottish Government set out in June 2021 its plan for implementing the recommendations of James Hamilton’s report, alongside the recommendations of the reports by Laura Dunlop QC and the Scottish Parliament Committee on the Handling of Harassment Complaints. Implementation was delivered through the Continuous Improvement Programme, which was reported regularly to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee. The final report on the Continuous Improvement Programme was provided in January 2023, and with the agreement of the Committee, the programme was then concluded and activities were absorbed into ongoing work. In line with previous commitments, the Scottish Government considered matters relating to Special Advisors, including the Code of Conduct for Special Advisors, which is reserved to UK Government. The Scottish Government has no plans to ask the UK Government to make changes.

Question reference: S6W-29393

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-03307 by George Adam on 5 October 2021, whether any progress has been made on revisions to the (a) Scottish Ministerial Code and (b) Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

(a) The First Minister announced his intention to publish a strengthened Scottish Ministerial Code later this year on 4 September 2024, as part of his Programme for Government statement in the Scottish Parliament. Under his new Code, the First Minister's independent advisers will be able to launch investigations into alleged breaches of the Code whenever they feel it is warranted, without a referral from the First Minister. They will also be able to provide advice to the First Minister on appropriate sanctions should the First Minister deem that the Code has been breached. The advisers will also be given a role in scrutinizing Ministers' declarations of interests and their Terms of Reference will be published.

The 2023 Scottish Ministerial Code already set an extremely high bar in terms of standards in public life. The forthcoming updates to the Code, which, collectively, will be the most significant since independent advisers were introduced in 2008, will further increase transparency and independent scrutiny. The changes meet a number of the asks of Petition PE2093, which is currently being considered by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee.

(b) In accordance with PQ answer S6W-03307, the Scottish Government has considered matters relating to Special Advisors, including the Code of Conduct for Special Advisors, which is reserved to UK Government. The Scottish Government has no plans to ask the UK Government to make changes to the Special Advisers' Code. The Scottish Government’s plan for implementing the recommendations of James Hamilton’s report, alongside the recommendations of the reports by Laura Dunlop QC and the Scottish Parliament Committee on the Handling of Harassment Complaints, were published in June 2021 and implemented through the Continuous Improvement Programme, which was reported regularly to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee.

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.