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 219 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-29954

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the Commonwealth Games potentially being hosted in Glasgow in 2026.

The Scottish Government has conducted a thorough assessment of Commonwealth Games Scotland’s proposal for Glasgow to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games. That assessment has been conducted alongside Commonwealth Games Scotland, the Commonwealth Games Federation, Glasgow City Council, the UK Government and, most recently, Commonwealth Games Australia. The collaboration has been extremely positive and productive and has resulted in the finalisation of a strong event proposal that will help to support a new future for the Commonwealth Games and deliver economic and sporting opportunity for Scotland.

On that basis, I have written to the Commonwealth Games Scotland today to inform them that the Scottish Government will give its support for the proposal.

Scotland, and in particular Glasgow has built a track record of successful event delivery, including being the first to host newly modelled events such as the multi-city European Championships in 2018 and the more recent UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023. It is because Glasgow is a world class event hosting destination with the facilities and expertise required to deliver an event such as the Commonwealth Games that we are able to proceed. Glasgow will deliver a world -class sporting event which will reimagine the Commonwealth Games for future generations to come and support more of our Commonwealth partners to be able to host future iterations of the event. In return, this proposal will bring economic benefit to businesses in Glasgow and Scotland and support a programme of capital upgrades to a number of existing venues in Glasgow to create an additional legacy for public sports facilities and local communities.

The proposal will also ensure we retain the Commonwealth Games’s significant importance for Scottish sport. The Games allows our athletes to compete under their national flag, marks the pinnacle of sport for some Scottish Sports Governing Bodies and is a key influence in how Scottish performance funding is distributed. Glasgow 2014 provided a catalyst for success for many Scottish athletes, including those who won medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games; 25 of the 34 Scots on Team GB have competed for Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, including six of the nine medallists. This reimagined model will help to inform future Games and enable the Commonwealth Games Federation to encourage hosts for 2030 and beyond.

No public funding is required from the Scottish Government for the delivery of the event and the Scottish Government will not provide any financial underwriting. This has been clearly communicated in my letter to Commonwealth Games Scotland and will be included in the final legal documentation.

The Commonwealth Games Federation will cover the majority of costs using money secured in a compensation negotiation with the Victorian Government following their withdrawal as hosts in July 2023. The Commonwealth Games Federation have provided a further £20m of funding to support delivery of the event and required contingency: this includes a £5 million investment for Glasgow City Council to utilise for capital upgrades and a cultural programme. The UK Government has agreed to provide a ringfenced contingency funding of up to £2.3m that can be accessed if existing budget funds and contingency have been exceeded and all efforts to reduce costs have been exhausted.

An additional multi million pound investment has also now been accepted to support the Games to take place. The final quantum of investment and the balance of direct funding and contingency provision will be finalised shortly but Commonwealth Games Australia have indicated flexibility in their approach. The Scottish Government is grateful to Commonwealth Games Australia for agreeing to provide financial support to the event in recognition of the importance of the Commonwealth Games to Australia’s sporting system.

The additional amount of funding and investment agreed since negotiations began is in excess of £24 million. That funding will be supplemented by commercial income from ticketing, sponsorship, hospitality and merchandising.

The Scottish Government would like to thank Commonwealth Games Scotland for the leadership they have shown in developing this proposal and to partners, for their engagement and contributions to enable us to reach this point. The Commonwealth Games Scotland Board will now make a formal decision on whether to proceed. If it decides to proceed, it will seek approval to host from the Commonwealth Games Federation and undertake final work with partners to ratify an agreement for Scotland to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Commonwealth Games Scotland and the Commonwealth Games Federation will make further announcements in due course.

Question reference: S6W-29793

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angus Robertson on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Registrar General will publish information on education, labour market and travel to work from the 2022 Census.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

National Records of Scotland have today published: ‘Scotland’s Census 2022: Education, labour market and travel to work’.

Scotland’s Census results are designated as Accredited Official Statistics and form an integral part of the statistical system in the UK. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, awards Accredited Official Statistics designation based on the quality, good practice and comprehensiveness of official statistics.

More detail about the schedule for future reports can be found here.

Question reference: S6W-29660

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost of employing special advisers was in 2023-24.

Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers.

The total cost of Special Advisers employed during the financial year 2023-24 was £1,906,963. Total cost includes all salary costs, employer NI, and employer pension contributions. The level of employer NI, and civil service pension contribution is reserved and is not a matter for the Scottish Government.

The cost of Special Advisers during 2023-24 was based on the following Pay Bands and Pay Ranges:

Pay Band	Pay Range (£)	Number of SpAds in Band
1	£56,611 – £60,378	1
2	£61,894 – £76,426	8
3	£78,383 - £88,473	5
4	£106,143 - £ 113,043	3

Question reference: S6W-29422

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 August 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Paul McLennan on 30 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Short-Term Let Licensing Implementation Update will be published.

Question reference: S6O-03683

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any steps that it is taking to ensure that any increases in the Scottish Police Authority resource budget continue to support further police recruitment, in light of any challenging financial circumstances as a result of the UK Government’s proposed financial settlement.

Question reference: S6W-28670

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 July 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what legislative consent memorandums it anticipates lodging in the Parliament in connection with the legislative programme of the UK Government announced in The King’s Speech on 17 July 2024.

The Scottish Government’s analysis is ongoing, but the Bills that appear to require legislative consent include, but are not limited to, the following:

· Renters’ Rights Bill

· Planning and Infrastructure Bill

· Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill

· Railways Bill

· GB Energy Bill

· Digital Information and Smart Data Bill

· Tobacco and Vapes Bill

The Scottish Government will consider the content of all Bills in the King’s Speech before making its recommendation to the Parliament on legislative consent. It will then be for the Scottish Parliament to determine whether to give or withhold consent.

Question reference: S6O-03644

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any specific measures or alternative programmes it is considering as a replacement to Erasmus+ in Scotland, whether it can provide a timeline for any support that may be available for Bishopbriggs Academy and other schools.

Question reference: S6O-03504

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that disabled people who receive Scottish social security benefits are treated lawfully, in light of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s reported investigation into the treatment of some disabled benefits claimants by the UK Department for Work and Pensions.

Question reference: S6W-27672

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any implications of the UK Spring Budget for the 2024-25 Scottish Budget, and what its current position is on the 2023-24 Scottish Budget.

The UK Spring Budget, announced by the Chancellor on 6 March, generated £293 million of resource consequentials for 2024-25, of which £237 million relates to Health. Health consequentials will be passed on in full to the Health portfolio, in line with our manifesto commitment.

The remaining £56 million of resource funding will be passed on to local authorities to support the Council Tax freeze. This comes on top of the record funding I announced for local authorities back in December.

Disappointingly, Scotland received no new capital or financial transactions funding so the Scottish Government will continue to see a real-terms cut in our capital block grant – a cumulative loss of over £1.3 billion by 2027-28.

The 2023-24 budget in both resource and capital will be delivered on balance, which is a significant achievement given the pressures we have faced. As per normal practice, following the year-end process, Scottish Ministers will confirm the 2023-24 provisional outturn position to Parliament in June.

Question reference: S6O-03406

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on devolved benefits in Scotland, what representation it plans to make to the UK Government regarding its proposed changes to welfare benefits for people with mental health issues.