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-29578

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the forthcoming commercial tender to procure a new fleet of Intercity trains will provide for bi-modal power options, and what steps are being taken to further expand and accelerate the Scottish Government’s rail electrification programme to enable any new fleet to play a key role in decarbonising Scotland’s railway from the moment that it is introduced into revenue-earning service.

Question reference: S6W-29579

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has engaged with trade unions and train operators with experience and knowledge of other intercity rail fleets within the UK, to learn from their best practices when specifying key aspects of the commercial tender to procure a new fleet of trains for ScotRail's Intercity rail network, including in relation to required luggage capacity, toilet provisions, appropriate furnishings, the provision of plug sockets, catering services, size and position of saloon windows, information screens, and onboard ventilation and air conditioning.

Question reference: S6W-29218

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the cost of travel on intercity journeys within Scotland of comparable length can reportedly be up to 50% more expensive than those in the south west of England, and what is being done to further reduce fares for ScotRail passengers to ensure that green transport options are accessible and affordable for all.

Question reference: S6W-29230

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much each action in the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy Delivery Plan with a deadline of 2024-25 will cost.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing over £3.8m of grant funding towards the delivery of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy in 2024-25. This includes funding for Scottish Refugee Council to provide a comprehensive, nationwide Refugee Support Service. There is also funding made available to progress a Family Reunion service with the British Red Cross, a contribution to the continuation of Bridges Programme's Refugee Doctors Project, and partner resourcing to ensure actions they are responsible for delivering are progressed.

Additionally, we continue to fund a number of third sector organisations to support refugee integration. This funding totals £488,000 in 2024-25, with a number of these organisations working to the outcomes of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-29228

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the free bus travel for asylum seekers pilot referenced in the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy Delivery Plan will no longer proceed due to emergency spending controls, whether it expects that any other actions in the strategy will be cancelled in the current financial year.

Question reference: S6W-29229

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much money was allocated to the delivery of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy in its 2024-25 Budget; whether this allocation has changed due to its emergency spending controls, and, if so, what the revised total allocation is for the current financial year.

The Scottish Government has ensured that we have enhanced the support we are providing to new Scots in 2024-25, despite a very challenging financial context. We have provided over £3.8m of grant funding towards the delivery of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy in 2024-25.

Additionally, we continue to fund a number of third sector organisations to support refugee integration. This funding totals £488,000 in 2024-25.

This investment represents an increase in the funding the Scottish Government has provided in previous years, to mitigate the impact of the end of EU funding.

Question reference: S6O-03721

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to enhance protection of the nation's built heritage and listed buildings.

Question reference: S6W-29173

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the civil service headcount in Scotland reportedly increased by 51% between 2019 and 2024.

The Scottish Government workforce size has had to grow over several years to deliver on newly devolved powers, the implications of EU Exit, responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and now supporting our recovery from that. More recently the Government has had to respond to the conflict in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis and the establishment of ScotWind within our wider Net Zero commitments, as well as the introduction of a National Care Service.

Devolved powers relating to certain aspects of social security to the Scottish Government in 2018 and Forestry in 2019 have also seen growth in the three related agencies to take on this additional work – Social Security Scotland has grown by 3,425 FTE since 2019, and Scottish Forestry and Forestry & Land Scotland have grown by 1,310 FTE since 2019.

In support of the wider Public Sector Reform agenda and budget constraints, Scottish Government is proactively addressing the need to reduce in size to remain fiscally sustainable, and we have seen further reductions in overall workforce in the 12 months since March 2023.

Recruitment controls have been in place since April 2022 and have been successful in controlling growth within the Scottish Government and ensuring any recruitment activity is aligned to Ministerial priorities.

Question reference: S6W-29258

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue official confirmation to third sector organisations in the asylum and refugee sector to (a) confirm that it has cancelled the national pilot of free bus travel for people seeking asylum and (b) set out how that decision was reached.

The Scottish Government is having to make very difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year. It is therefore unaffordable to progress piloting free bus travel for all people seeking asylum in Scotland.

It was considered appropriate in the first instance to inform members of the Working Group established to help develop the pilot. Accordingly, the group, consisting of representatives from third sector organisations supporting people seeking asylum and those with lived experience of the asylum system, was informed at a scheduled meeting on 16 August. Formal confirmation was provided by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government Shona Robison during a Ministerial Statement on the Pre-budget Fiscal Update in Parliament on 3 September 2024.

This decision sits within the wider context of extremely challenging financial constraints across the whole of the public sector in Scotland. I can confirm however, that people seeking asylum in Scotland who are currently eligible for free bus travel through the National Concessionary Travel Schemes, including those under 22, those aged 60 and over and those with qualifying disabilities, will continue to be able to make use of their entitlement.

Question reference: S6W-29166

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds information on how many (a) dentists and (b) dental nurses are currently employed to provide dental healthcare to Armed Forces personnel in Scotland, and, if so, whether it will provide the total given as a (i) headcount and (ii) full-time equivalent figure.