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-15436

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the final version of its Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is currently open for consultation, and whether it will provide an update on its policy of a presumption against new oil and gas developments.

The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan is open for consultation until 9 May 2023. The final version of the Energy Strategy and Just Transitional Plan will be published once we have conducted a thorough review of the consultation responses and engaged with the full range of stakeholders. The Scottish Government’s position on oil and gas is part of the consultation process and we will provide an update in the final Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. We are not pre-empting responses.

Question reference: S6W-15527

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the amount of school meal debt that has been forgiven since 1 January 2022, broken down by local authority area.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, are at the discretion of each individual local authority. Local authorities' approaches to school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, should be compassionate, proportionate, and seek to minimise as far as possible the stigmatisation of children, young people, and their families.

Question reference: S6W-15528

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much public money was spent on the regeneration of town centres in the (a) North Lanarkshire, (b) South Lanarkshire and (c) Falkirk local authority area, in each financial year from 2016-17 to 2021-22.

The Scottish Government does not hold complete information on the expenditure of public money on town centre regeneration in local areas. Local authorities are responsible for delivering local economic development and local regeneration in their areas and public money from the wider public sector will contribute to regeneration of town centres.

While noting that many wider public sector budgets and funds contribute to town centre regeneration, the Scottish Government has provided targeted funding to support regeneration, including in town centres. This includes support available through the:

Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which includes the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
Town Centre Fund (TCF).
Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP); and
Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF).

Allocations to North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk from these funds are in the following tables:

PBIP LA Allocation	2021-22
North Lanarkshire	£2,807,000
South Lanarkshire	£ 797,000
Falkirk	£1,391,000
Total	£4,995,000

Town Centre Fund	2019-20	2020-21
North Lanarkshire	£ 3,250,000	£1,168,000
South Lanarkshire	£ 2,506,000	£ 902,000
Falkirk	£ 4,335,000	£ 711,000
Total	£10,091,000	£2,781,000

RCGF	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
North Lanarkshire			0	£1,740,000	0	£1,421,270
South Lanarkshire	£1,000,000		0		0	£1,020,000
Falkirk		£1,125,547	0		0
Total	£1,000,000	£1,125,547	0	£1,740,000	0	£2,441,270

Note: The above RCGF figures include investment awarded to support regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

VDLIP	2021-22
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire	£ 380,150
Falkirk	£ 563,621
Total	£ 943,771

Note: The VDLIP was launched in 2021. The table above includes projects that were awarded funding for regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

VDLF	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
North Lanarkshire	£1,982,000	£2,375,064	£2,396,000	£2,886,000	£1,956,000	£1,938,000
South Lanarkshire	£ 936,000	£1,082,000	£ 901,000	£1,120,000	£ 697,000	£737,000
Total	£2,918,000	£3, 457,064	£3, 297,000	£4,006,000	£2, 653,000	£2,675,000

Note: The above table shows the full allocation of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for each local authority. Each local authority is responsible for developing proposals based on its local regeneration priorities and funding may have been allocated across the local authority.

Question reference: S6O-02017

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with its Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, including in relation to expanding free school meal provision.

Question reference: S6W-15227

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a reported trend of incidents of youth violence in Scotland being filmed and circulated across social media platforms, what action Police Scotland (a) can and (b) will take to ensure that such videos are immediately (i) removed from social media and (ii) investigated, and whether it will allocate funding to create community safe spaces for young people in Scotland who are experiencing bullying.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone lives free from violence, in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe.

For Police Scotland to take any action, the uploading images of violence would be deemed criminal if they breached the evidential threshold of Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 in terms of sharing grossly indecent, obscene, menacing character or offensive messages etc.

The removal of offensive content is the responsibility of the social media platforms themselves and can be done by users flagging the content as breaching the community guidelines/terms and conditions. There are report/removal tools operated by Police Scotland’s partner organisations to remove content from the internet, however these are generally aimed at indecent images.

We are providing nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement, an increase of over £793 million compared with the 2022-23 budget. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate financial resources available to them, including on youth services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S6W-15463

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the independent report of the detailed analysis of the future prospects for the North Sea and how Scotland's energy activity aligns with its climate change commitments, as referred to in the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is currently open for consultation.

The analysis was published on 3 March and can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-system-transition-independent-analysis/ .

This publication is an independent report, reviewed by an independent panel, which provides a significant volume of evidence and analysis and will contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and challenges in energy transition. To allow stakeholders to fully consider this material before responding, the consultation period for the draft ESJTP has been extended by 5 weeks, and will now close on 9 May.

Question reference: S6W-15468

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people currently employed in the public sector are paid at least £10.90 an hour or an equivalent salary.

The Scottish Government has supported payment of the real Living Wage in our Public Sector Pay Policy since 2011. Data from the 2022 Annual Survey of Hourly Earnings (ASHE) shows that 97.6% employees in the whole Scottish public sector (devolved and reserved) earn at least Real Living Wage or more. The recent increase to the real Living Wage to £10.90 per hour should be applied as part of public sector pay settlements from April 2023. The 2023 ASHE data (expected to be released in October / November) will show the proportion of employees who are paid the £10.90 Real Living Wage in the Scottish Public Sector.

Question reference: S6W-15155

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14330 by Lorna Slater on 8 February 2023, when it anticipates that Zero Waste Scotland's urgent review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes will report.

Question reference: S6W-15249

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to piloting opt-out HIV testing in NHS emergency departments in areas of highest prevalence, as has been done in other parts of the UK.

We know that opt-out testing in emergency departments in areas of high prevalence in other parts of the UK has worked well. However, it is important to evaluate the learning from this to understand both how it might apply in a Scottish context. Specifically how it compares to other interventions recommended by the HIV Transmission Elimination Oversight Group in their HIV Elimination Proposal which was published in December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15247

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will allocate to the HIV transmission elimination implementation group.

The Scottish Government is committed to reaching its target of eliminating HIV Transmissions in Scotland by 2030.

On 1 December 2022 the Public Health Minister announced the establishment of the HIV Transmission Elimination Implementation Group for Scotland. The groups primary focus will be on prioritising the recommendations within the HIV transmission elimination proposal, having particular regard to their impact, deliverability and resource implications.

In her statement on the 1 st of December the Minister announced significant funding of £400,000 to support two pilots, the development of an E-PrEP clinic and a national media campaign. Both pilots support the findings within the HIV Elimination Proposal.

Officials will continue to liaise closely with the chairs of the implementation group as this process unfolds to understand any implications for central funding.