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-20911

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many students (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland will receive free university tuition in the 2023-24 academic year.

Data on tuition fee support for academic year 2023-24 is not yet available as students have up until 31 March 2024 to apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for their financial support package.

In the 2022-23 academic year 5,855 full-time Higher Education (HE) students with addresses in Aberdeen City local authority received tuition fee support. In the same academic year 130,900 full-time students received tuition fee support whilst studying a course of Higher Education at college or university in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-20909

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many care experienced students (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland have received bursary support.

Data on the Care Experienced Bursary for Higher Education (HE) students for 2023-24 academic year (AY) is not yet available. In the 2022-23 academic year 75 HE students with addresses in Aberdeen City local authority received the Care Experienced Bursary. In the same academic year 1,840 HE students throughout Scotland received the Care Experienced Bursary.

Data on the Care Experienced Bursary for Further Education (FE) students for 2022-23 academic year is not yet available. In the 2021-22 academic year 150 FE students at North East Scotland College received the Care Experienced Bursary. In the same academic year 3,890 FE students throughout Scotland received the Care Experienced Bursary.

Question reference: S6W-20924

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to allow people who are currently funeral celebrants to officiate at weddings.

The current arrangements for religious and belief celebrants, and civil registrars, to solemnise marriage and register civil partnership allow couples to choose from a wide range of options for their ceremony to satisfy both the requirements of the law, and of any religion or belief.

These arrangements were broadened under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act). Couples can now have their marriage solemnised by a celebrant from a belief body as an alternative to having a civil or a religious ceremony. Intended civil partners also have the same options as those who wish to marry.

The Policy Memorandum that accompanied the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill in the Parliament set out the Government’s reasons for rejecting the option of opening the solemnisation of marriage to celebrants with no link to a religious or belief body at paragraph 28.

This remains our position and we have no plans to change the law.

Question reference: S6W-20941

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing the proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill.

The Scottish Government wants to improve opportunities, outcomes and support for autistic people, people with learning disabilities, and neurodivergent people. We are continuing to work on a proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill. Following scoping work in 2022, and an extended period of further engagement with stakeholders, practitioners, and people with lived experience, we will launch a public consultation on a proposed Bill by the end of 2023.

The Scottish Government is taking a human rights-based approach to the Bill’s development and is working to ensure that it is fully co-designed with people with lived experience.

3 Panels have been supporting the work to develop policy for the Bill – a professional panel, a stakeholders panel and a lived experience panel. The members of the lived experience panel are all neurodivergent people with a wide range of life experiences.

Question reference: S6W-20912

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, according to the latest data, how many people (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland are in receipt of a free bus pass.

By 31 August 2023, there were 84,660 cardholders in Aberdeen City within the National Concessionary Travel Schemes. In Scotland, there are a total of 2,263,403 cardholders. This includes cardholders in the free bus schemes for those aged 60 and over, those aged under 22 and eligible disabled people.

Cardholder data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO) and is provided by local authority.

NECPO supports the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data. The figure includes travel products collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile app.

Question reference: S6O-02554

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help businesses take full advantage of Scotland’s hydrogen potential.

Question reference: S6W-21055

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work is being done to accelerate the winter vaccination programme.

In response to the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant BA.2.86, we have taken the precautionary measure of bringing forward the vaccination of those at highest risk – notably residents in care homes for older adults, those aged 75 and over and those aged 12 and over with a weakened immune system.

Although there is currently insufficient data to assess the potential severity, transmissibility or immune escape of BA.2.86, it is felt that this ‘no regrets’ approach is wisest until we understand more about this variant.

Officials and Public Health Scotland are working closely with Health Boards to operationalise this change to the programme, which happened after some Boards had already scheduled their lower risk groups from 18 September, in line with the original plan. We have instructed them to honour these appointments.

This means that although many of those at highest risk will be called forward sooner than the original plan, this will not apply to everyone. We are however endeavouring to bring forward as many of these appointments as we can, while honouring appointments that had already been scheduled before the change.

To this end, some Boards began vaccinating in care homes the week of 4 September, six weeks earlier than originally planned.

A letter to all MSPs on the re-phasing will be issued shortly.

Question reference: S6W-21013

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of COVID-19 cases in Scotland, and what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the newly-identified Eris strain, which the World Health Organization has classified as a "variant of interest".

Public Health Scotland continue to monitor all COVID-19 variants in Scotland and publish this regularly within the “National respiratory infection and COVID-19 statistics” report available at Publications - Public Health Scotland . The latest report was published on 14 September and included a section dedicated to EG.5.1.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published an initial Risk Evaluation for EG.5 and EG.5.1 on 9 August 2023 and has assessed the risk to global public health as low. 320 cases of EG.5 (or “Eris”) and its descendant lineages have been detected in Scotland as of 11 September 2023. The current risk in Scotland is low, we continue to advise, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection. Vaccination remains the best way to protect ourselves and we encourage all those eligible to take up their invitation when they are offered.

The Government will continue to work closely with Public Health Scotland and other partners to monitor, assess and be ready to respond to any new outbreaks of COVID-19.

Question reference: S6W-20942

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have an up-to-date autism strategy, and which do not.

Question reference: S6W-20940

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the delivery of local authority autism strategies.

Scottish Government officials engage individually with local authorities and health and social care partnerships alongside accessing feedback on autism strategies via the Social Work Scotland Learning Disability and Autism Subgroup meetings and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) programme of work.

Local strategies are based on The Scottish Government Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan.