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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 3203 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-17468

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with churches, regarding the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2021, since 1 January 2023.

Question reference: S6T-01415

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what advice and support it can provide to parents and carers who are struggling to afford nappies and infant feed, in light of recent reports regarding nappy need, difficulties in accessing baby formula at foodbanks and families with young children being forced to cut back on essentials.

Question reference: S6W-17951

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16997 by Tom Arthur on 9 May 2023, whether it can confirm that 6% of its contractors do not pay employees a minimum wage of at least £10.90 an hour, as stated in its answer to question S6W-15469, including employees not directly involved in the delivery of its services, and whether it will provide a list of those companies that it contracts to deliver services that do not pay all of their employees a minimum wage of at least £10.90 an hour.

The Scottish Government now routinely mandates the payment of at least the Scottish real Living Wage (£10.90) to employees directly involved in the delivery of its contracts. The 6% of contractors referenced in the Annual Report 20-21 was made up of 16 suppliers. Recent analysis of these suppliers and the associated contracts has revealed that of these 16, 14 now pay the real Living Wage either through a change of contractor during a re-let or via contract management processes. For the 2 remaining suppliers, one contract is currently being retendered due for award in July 2023 and the other is due for re-tender in 2024.

The Scottish Government is taking steps to maximise the payment of the real Living Wage, by including Fair Work First Criteria, including providing fair pay for workers in the delivery of the contracts where relevant and proportionate.

Question reference: S6W-17949

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed with UK ministers any impact of the Public Order Act 2023 on free speech and the right to protest in Scotland.

The right to public assembly is an important human right that the Scottish Government is committed to uphold.

We have no plans to extend the provisions in the Public Order Act 2023 which create new offences and new police powers relating to protests in England and Wales. In May 2022, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans wrote to the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Probation and confirmed that the Scottish Government would not be requesting that any of the provisions in the Public Order Bill be extended to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18089

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) will be included as a priority in any future version of its Women's Health Plan, in light of a new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) review that recognises the experiences of chronic UTI patients and the issues that they face when seeking specialised care.

The Women’s Health Plan: A plan for 2021 – 2024 aims to reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes for women and girls. The Plan focusses on a specific set of priorities and whilst chronic urinary tract infections are not specifically mentioned in the priorities for this iteration of the Plan we do recognise that many women are significantly affected by the condition.

The Women’s Health Plan is one part of much wider picture when it comes to the Scottish Government’s work to improve the health and wellbeing of women and girls. As part of our £70m Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal plan national urology referral and management pathways for visible and non -visible haematuria in adults were published in August 2021 supporting clinicians to make the appropriate referrals for urinary tract infections at the right time.

The priorities for any future Women’s Health Plan are not yet determined. Future aims and priorities will be developed in collaboration with women and girls, including our lived experience stakeholder group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders alongside the most up-to-date evidence base.

Question reference: S6W-17952

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the three legislative stages of its proposed Circular Economy Bill will conclude.

Question reference: S6W-17953

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce.

The Scottish Government established the time-limited Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce, in partnership with industry, to: agree a vision for a zero-emission bus sector in Scotland; co-design the solutions for ending the bus sector’s contribution to climate change and; set out a collaborative pathway for achieving zero-emissions. The Taskforce met six times between November 2020 and August 2022, and delivered its remit.

All meeting papers and minutes of the taskforce are published at https://www.cpt-uk.org/news/bus-decarbonisation-taskforce/

The Pathway to Zero Emission Buses can be found at the same web address, as can the additional resources that the Taskforce produced, including:

The Pathway to Zero Emission Buses
A Bus Finance and Ideas Pack
A guide for fleet operators about connections to the electricity grid,
A guide for fleet operators about electric vehicle batteries and how to maximise their performance
A research report about the impact of electric buses on the Scottish second-hand bus market
Three case studies of effective bus decarbonisation

Following the success of the first iteration of the Taskforce, industry are now considering reconvening the group and will take responsibility for any future meetings. The Scottish Government stands ready to support this very positive development as and when requested to do so.

Question reference: S6W-17950

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Danish Government officials regarding community energy and the involvement of co-operatives in the renewable energy market.

The Scottish Government has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Danish Government to promote collaboration on zero emissions heat, heat networks and energy efficiency, plus onshore and offshore wind energy and hydrogen economy. As part of this, Scottish Government officials have held multiple knowledge sharing sessions with Danish Government officials in the past regarding heat in buildings and heat networks, including a session in June 2022 on heat network ownership models in Denmark, such as community models and co-operatives.

Question reference: S6W-17915

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider extending the Social Care Staff Support Fund.

Question reference: S6W-15691

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 19 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to amending the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to grant communities equal rights of appeals, in light of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) recently accepting the admissibility of a complaint by the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Planning Democracy, RSPB and Friends of the Earth Scotland, reportedly stating that there is a lack of equal rights of appeal in the planning system, which is unfair and in breach of the convention.

A number of amendments that sought to introduce a third party right of appeal were considered, and rejected, by the Scottish Parliament during consideration of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. We are aware of the communication brought to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) concerning planning appeal rights in Scotland (ACCC/C/2022/196). A response will be issued to the ACCC in due course.