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-17158

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with (a) COSLA and (b) individual local authorities to discuss reusable nappy schemes.

Question reference: S6W-17072

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with (a) COSLA and (b) local authorities to discuss the roll-out of universal free school meals to P6 and P7 pupils.

Question reference: S6W-17055

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the First Minister’s recent announcement to commit £25 million to the north east of Scotland from the Just Transition Fund (JTF), whether it will publish an impact assessment of this spending, and whether it will confirm if this spending represents additional money to the existing £500 million JTF.

The £25 million allocated to the Scottish National Investment Bank from the Just Transition Fund is part of the Fund’s existing £500 million commitment over ten years, and will be invested by the Bank on a commercial basis, in line with its Investment Strategy and in support of the just transition to net zero in the North East.

The Bank reports publicly on the performance of its investments including through their annual Impact Report.

Question reference: S6W-17071

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the decision of Glasgow City Council to write off school meal debt, and whether it will commit funding to help other local authorities introduce similar measures.

Question reference: S6W-17070

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with (a) COSLA and (b) local authorities to discuss school meal debt.

Question reference: S6W-17347

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland regarding attracting more people to apply for (a) environmental health undergraduate places and (b) work in local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-17074

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the opening of overdose prevention centres.

Following detailed partnership working between the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, Police Scotland and the Crown Office (COPFS), facilitated by the Scottish Government, details of a new service specification have been developed and shared with COPFS.

The specification, which seeks to meet the parameters set out in the Lord Advocate’s statement from November 2021, will now be considered by COPFS.

If appropriate, it will then be referred to the Lord Advocate for consideration of any related statement of prosecution policy

We have worked carefully with partners to help them develop a sustainable approach which will allow for any such facility to operate to maximum effect.

Parliament will be notified when further updates become available.

Question reference: S6W-17059

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met with their counterparts in the (a) Welsh and (b) UK Government to discuss any impact on Scotland of the UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Trade Ministers from the Scottish, Welsh and UK Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive meet quarterly as the Inter Ministerial Group for Trade. The last meeting of this group took place on 9 January 2023, and was attended by the then Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee MSP; Minister for Economy in the Welsh Government, Vaughan Gething MS; and the then UK Minister for Trade, Greg Hands MP. The UK Government provided an update on the CPTPP negotiations. Subsequent developments towards accession to CPTPP have been covered in official engagement and Ministerial correspondence.

Question reference: S6W-17348

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to improve surgery waiting times for ovarian cancer patients to ensure that cells do not grow in between gaps of chemotherapy.

The Scottish Government is aware that there has been and are challenges in delivering complex surgery (such as ovarian) across all regions. Regional action plans have been developed to address the specific issues in those areas.

The NHS continue to prioritise emergency, urgent and cancer care, and where there is an urgent suspicion of cancer, they make every effort to ensure a patient is seen as quickly as possible, with the majority receiving appointments within the appropriate time frame.

Significant pressures may result in longer waiting times and efforts are being made to reduce waiting times and support patients to be seen as quickly as possible.

Question reference: S6W-17156

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been carried out regarding the affordability of nappies in Scotland, and whether it is monitoring demand for (a) nappies and (b) baby products at (i) foodbanks and (ii) other charities.

We have not undertaken any assessments regarding the affordability of nappies in Scotland and food banks do not currently publish data on nappies and other baby products. However, we will continue to work with partners to ensure that our financial offerings are maximising the support available for young families.

This includes our work to increase the value of the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per child per week and expanding it to all eligible children under the age of 16 from November 2022.

Our five family payments, including the Scottish Child Payment, could be worth over £10,000 by the time an eligible child turns 6 with Scottish support providing over £20,000 by the time an eligible child is 16 years old.

The Child Poverty Action Group estimates that low income families in Scotland will be around £28,000 better off by the time their child turns 18 as a result of more generous support and lower costs for childcare provided by the Scottish Government.