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: S6O-03238

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to any local authorities that are struggling to meet the rising costs associated with providing school transport, so that children and young people can travel to school in a safe, efficient and affordable manner.

Question reference: S6W-25847

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the processing time for major planning applications in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24 was 62.1 weeks, in light of the statutory timeframe being 16 weeks.

There can be many reasons for delays in determining applications including requests for and submission of additional information, delays with responses from statutory consultees and the requirement for a legal agreement. The specific reasons for the time taken to determine individual major planning applications would be held by the individual planning authority making the determination.

The average timescale for all major applications determined without a processing agreement was 35.2 weeks in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24. Due to the low number of applications involved, average determination timescales are volatile and can be affected by one or two lengthy cases. In the same period, 23 of the 57 major applications not subject to processing agreements were determined within the statutory timescale, and 46 of those 57 major applications determined within the same period were determined in a time faster than the national average.

Question reference: S6W-25554

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding their obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months.

The statutory minimum walking distances set out in legislation are a long-standing feature of our education system and there are no plans to change them. The Scottish Government published guidance for local authorities regarding home to school transport in 2021.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with representative bodies for local government on education related matters. However, no requests have been made to discuss local authorities’ obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months. The provision of home to school transport is responsibility of local authorities and decisions about changes to eligibility for free school transport are for local authorities to make, subject to the applicable statutory requirements.

Question reference: S6W-25848

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) First Minister and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills plans to read the recent Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) report on violence in schools, in light of it highlighting an EIS survey of nearly 800 members in Aberdeen, which found that 42% of respondents reported violent pupil behaviour in school every day, 37% said they had been physically assaulted by a pupil, over 50% felt their school did not have clear strategies to prevent violence and 60% of teachers in Aberdeen were considering leaving the profession.

Question reference: S6W-25818

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to announce or propose any further Council Tax freezes during the current parliamentary session, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Council Tax Freeze that was announced by the First Minister, and accepted by almost all Councils, relates only to the 2024-25 financial year. It will provide certainty to households during a time of economic uncertainty and rising prices.

The funding provided in 2024-25 for the purposes of freezing Council Tax will be baselined into the General Revenue Grant in future years for those councils which freeze their Council Tax.

Question reference: S6W-25841

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24886 by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024, whether clinical outcomes are reviewed monthly to assess the reasons for any mental health incidents reported to NHS 24 not being triaged.

Question reference: S6W-25830

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish a specific just transition plan for the Grangemouth industrial cluster.

The Scottish Government is developing a place-based, industry specific Just Transition Plan for the region, committed to in our 2023 Programme for Government, that will outline the strategic long-term future of the industrial cluster.

The plan will outline a range of possibilities for operations at Grangemouth in 2045, including low-carbon hydrogen manufacture, carbon capture and Storage, bio-manufacturing and alternative low-carbon fuels as well as wider Just Transition impacts on the workforce, community and surrounding environment.

SG leads on this work, in partnership with the Grangemouth Future Industry Board, and has been working extensively with multiple industrial operators including Petroineos, and wider stakeholders to develop a baseline as well as a co-designed vision for the future Grangemouth Industrial Cluster.

A draft Grangemouth Just Transition Plan and Vision will be published in May 2024.

Question reference: S6W-25829

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that vaccination rates in Scotland are in line with the European region of the World Health Organization recommendation that, on a national basis, at least 95% of children are immunised against diseases preventable by immunisation and targeted for elimination or control, including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), measles, mumps and rubella, and, in light of recent measles outbreaks in the UK, what the MMR vaccine uptake currently is in each NHS board, broken down by (a) first dose, (b) second dose and (c) age.

Public Health Scotland (PHS), through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP), is responsible for oversight and leadership of vaccine delivery in Scotland. The Scottish Government is part of SVIP and is working closely with PHS and NHS Boards to promote and encourage uptake of all childhood immunisations.

It is important that all parents and carers ensure that children attend their routine scheduled childhood vaccinations when invited to give them the best protection possible against vaccine preventable diseases.

The NHS Inform website provides details of how to arrange an appointment for anyone who has not had two doses of the free MMR vaccine.

The most recent childhood immunisation uptake statistics, which were published on 19 December 2023 for the quarter ending 30 September 2023, can be found on the PHS website: Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Quarter ending 30 September 2023 - Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-25877

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what methods and sources of information it uses to (a) estimate the number of adult and young carers and (b) avoid undercounting in this regard.

a) Estimates of the number of adult and young carers in Scotland are produced using the Scottish Government’s Scottish Health Survey and the National Records of Scotland mid-year population estimates , as detailed in the most recent publication of unpaid carer estimates .

The Scottish Health Survey asks respondents whether they provide any regular help or unpaid care for any sick, disabled or frail person. The percentage of respondents who indicate that they provide care is then applied to the relevant mid-year population estimates for Scotland, to provide an estimate of the number of people providing unpaid care. As the Scottish Health Survey samples children aged 4 and over, this provides an estimate for adult carers by using the percentage of people over the age of 18 providing care and for young carers by using the percentage of people under the age of 18 providing care.

b) Different surveys will give different percentages of those providing care. For instance, the Scottish Survey Core Questions (SSCQ), which pools samples from the Scottish Health Survey, the Scottish Household Survey and the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, tends to give a higher percentage than the Scottish Health Survey alone which in turn, would lead to a higher estimate of unpaid carers aged 16+.

However, the Scottish Health Survey is the only one of these surveys to sample people under the age of 16, which allows us to produce estimates for both adult carers and young carers. It also includes further questions specifically for carers which allows for more detailed analysis.

Question reference: S6W-25842

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24886 by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024, whether it will provide details of how exactly frontline staff are supervised and supported to improve their knowledge, in respect of mental health.