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-31089

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Minister for Public Finance's reported statement on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show on 3 November 2024 that the Barnett consequential funding from the recent UK Budget is actually worth an extra £300 million for the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, what calculations it made for the minister to arrive at this conclusion.

The total Resource (RDEL) Block Grant funding received by the Scottish Government (SG) in 2024-25 is currently £39.8 billion. For 2025-26 the Spending Review confirms a resource block grant of £41.1 billion, £1.3 billion higher than 2024-25.

The following table shows the real terms calculations.

	£billions	£billions
	2024-25	2025-26

RDEL (excluding depreciation)	39.8	41.1

GDP Deflator	1.000	1.024

Real Terms Calculation	39.8	40.1

Increase	-	0.3

RDEL figures are as provided by HM Treasury.

GDP deflators taken from OBR publication on the day of the UK Budget.

Question reference: S6W-31041

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which members of the Cabinet have visited a college in the last year.

The following members of the Cabinet have visited a college in the last year:

John Swinney MSP, First Minister
Kate Forbes MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic
Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
Neil Gray MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Jenny Gilruth MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Gillian Martin MSP, Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy
Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Transport
Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

Question reference: S6W-30980

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Education (Scotland) Bill, what its position is on how the new Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework will sit with the work of the proposed inspectorate.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s response to Professor Muir’s report, the move of the inspection function to the new Chief Inspector will work alongside existing ministerial commitments to the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF), which is being implemented from Academic Year 2024-25.

The TQEF has been co-designed, developed and implemented by the SFC in partnership with the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), Education Scotland and other stakeholders.

In order to fulfil its existing statutory responsibilities for quality assurance and enhancement of colleges and universities, the SFC commissions the QAA and Education Scotland to support this work on its behalf.

Under the Education (Scotland) Bill, the Chief Inspector will have the power to enter into an arrangement with the SFC in order to support the latter’s statutory functions.

Question reference: S6W-31011

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, in 2023,16% of primary school teachers nationally moved directly from their probation period to a permanent contract compared with 57% in 2017.

The Teacher Induction Scheme guarantees every eligible student a one-year probationary placement, it does not provide a guarantee of future employment with a particular local authority. Teaching posts should be advertised and filled in a fair and transparent manner.

While the recruitment and deployment of teachers is the responsibility of local authorities, the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to help maximise the number of teaching jobs available. As part of this, we are providing £145.5m to local authorities to protect teacher numbers.

While we cannot direct teachers where to work, it is important to note that teacher vacancies arise across Scotland throughout the year.

Question reference: S6W-31012

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some primary school teachers who do not succeed in moving directly from their probation period to a permanent contract are having to work zero-hour contracts or find low-income employment, and what support it can provide to them until they find a permanent teaching position.

The member may wish to be aware that teachers are not employed on zero hour contracts as supply lists are registers and not contractual. The employment contract only begins once a teacher has taken up the supply work that is offered.

Whilst the recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for local authorities, the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to help maximise the number of teaching jobs available.

As part of this, we are providing £145.5m to local authorities to protect teacher numbers.

Despite substantial investment, and the progress we have made in recruiting thousands of additional teachers since 2018, we recognise that more work is needed to ensure that our teachers have access to long term, sustainable, employment opportunities, regardless of which stage of their career they are at, and we will continue to work with COSLA to ensure this can happen.

Question reference: S6W-30825

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps are being taken to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) outcomes for people with brain tumours.

Through our 10-year cancer strategy, the Scottish Government continues to have a focus on the less survivable cancers, including brain tumours, and improving their outcomes. We will assess the suitability of any new diagnostic tests specifically for brain tumours as the evidence develops.

The Scottish Government is taking various actions to help ensure the right patient is on the right pathway at the right time, and they receive an appropriate diagnosis as early as possible. These actions include:

A clinical review of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer
Publication of a new Headache Referral pathway, which lists red flag symptoms that indicate the need for urgent and/or emergency assessment to exclude a secondary cause, such as a brain tumour
Publication of a Clinical Management Pathway for adult brain tumours, to ensure consistency, equity of treatment and care, and improve outcomes across Scotland.

Brain cancer is one of 11 priority testing pathways with Scottish Government funding provided to NHS National Services Division (NSD) in 2023 to commission enhanced genomic testing for patients with brain cancer in Scotland. NSD are working with the laboratory service on an implementation plan for this testing.

Question reference: S6W-30616

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many public bodies are compliant with the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, which requires them to provide a publicly available report every three years.

Question reference: S6O-03972

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will make available to fully fund and protect hospice care services, in light of the increase in national insurance contributions in the UK Budget and any impact of the Agenda for Change on hospice budgets.

The Finance Secretary wrote to the Treasury on 31 October seeking urgent clarification on the increase to employer national insurance contributions.

We are clear that this change must be fully funded so that there is no impact on our frontline services. Clarity must be provided before we set our budget in just a few weeks’ time. We also need clarity on whether funding will cover the full extent of organisations delivering public services.

We will continue to work with the hospice sector to consider opportunities to deliver pay parity with Agenda for Change for independent hospices.

Question reference: S6O-03991

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with the growing heat pump industry, in light of the potential role that heat pumps can play in helping to achieve net zero.

Question reference: S6O-03984

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the implications of the UK Budget for its allocation of capital budget for health projects.