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-21591

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it being listed as the current site owner on its Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey – site register publication, what plans it has to develop the site of the former Braehead Brickworks in Bargeddie.

Question reference: S6W-23007

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has made available to public sector bodies, including local authorities, for staff welfare in the last two years; what any such funding has been used for, and how it will assess the outcomes.

Our Pay Strategy contains wellbeing measures including encouraging employers to standardise to a 35-hour working week and to implement a Right to Disconnect policy. Employers under the Pay Strategy are required to actively look at how they can promote wellbeing in their workplace to support a positive and healthy work-life balance.

Many employers have introduced more flexible working practices. We are also progressing our four-day working week pilot to assess the benefits of a shorter working week to staff.

The Scottish Budget does not designate funding specifically for staff welfare, but annual funding for public bodies is informed by their delivery priorities and commitments, including for pay and conditions.

For Local Government employees, pay and other employment matters are delegated to Local Authorities.

Question reference: S6W-22518

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been arrested in relation to violence at railway stations in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-22526

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been admitted to A&E in relation to violence on trains in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-22525

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of an offence in relation to violence on trains in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-22510

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been charged with selling cannabis in each year since 2016.

A total of 13,697 accused were reported to COPFS for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2023 with charge(s) which fall within the Scottish Government Classification of "Drugs – Supply, and where it can be identified that cannabis was the relevant controlled drug.

This can be broken down as follows:

		Financial Year Reported
2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
2,096	2,143	2,011	1,915	2,085	1,767	1,680

The information is provided under the caveat that: COPFS uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical analysis, and the information within it is structured accordingly.

The numbers were arrived at following an interrogation of relevant charges however a manual review was not conducted to confirm accuracy.

Question reference: S6W-22400

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what objectives it set for the funding it provided to the Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum in 2022.

STAF received £184,200 (2021-22) and £193,200 (2022-23) in core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning & Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) third sector fund. For both these financial years, the agreed outcomes from this funding were:

That the wellbeing and success of young people leaving care across Scotland is indistinguishable from that of their peers in the general population.
That there is a significant and measurable shift in culture and improved understanding by all corporate parents working with young people from a care experienced background leading to improved outcomes

That young people from a care experienced background are informed and empowered to stay in care longer if that is what they wish in placements that meet their needs.
That STAF increases its influence on behalf of young people and our stakeholders.

In addition a grant of £27,200 was paid to staff for the financial year 2021-22 through the Children and Young People Summer Programme, the objectives of the grant were:

Provide targeted opportunities for care leavers and those who support them to reconnect with each other and to explore local outdoor wild spaces;
Design activities with young people with lived experience to ensure that the programme is relevant to their needs; and
Provide opportunities that promote and support improving physical and mental health in woodlands and forests with young people participating in activities relevant to the wild spaces they are in.

Question reference: S6W-22522

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of violence on trains have been reported in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-22520

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been admitted to A&E in relation to violence at railway stations in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-22517

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of violence at railway stations have been reported in each year since 2016.