- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the effectiveness of Transport Scotland’s delivery and oversight of the Blue Badge scheme across local authorities.
Answer
Delivery of the Blue Badge scheme is the responsibility of local authorities. While Transport Scotland does not formally assess Blue Badge delivery, officials regularly engage with local Blue Badge teams and stakeholders to encourage a consistent approach to Blue Badge delivery across Scotland.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what qualifications, professional registrations or training are (a) required and (b) recommended for staff undertaking initial or face-to-face Blue Badge assessments, and whether it collects data on how many assessors across Scotland have received training in assessing non-visible disabilities such as Parkinson’s disease, autism and dementia.
Answer
Transport Scotland considers it good practice for local authorities to refer applicants for an independent mobility assessment, if that is required to make a clear and robust decision on eligibility.
An independent mobility assessment should be conducted by a regulated healthcare professional, such as an occupational therapist, who acts upon the instruction of the local authority to provide an assessment of blue badge entitlement.
Occupational therapists or physiotherapists are best placed to assess an applicant's eligibility, (independent of the applicants GP) due to their specific training courses, accredited by their professional bodies and subsequent registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Transport Scotland does not collect data on the numbers of assessors or their training records. This information would be held by individual local authorities.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it provides guidance, or allows automatic or simplified Blue Badge renewal, for individuals with progressive conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, and, if so, how it makes eligible people aware of this.
Answer
The reapplication process is required by the legislation, with the maximum period of issue for a Blue Badge being 3 years. This mitigates the potential for fraudulent applications being submitted and ensures that local authorities meet the needs and demands of future audits.
At a minimum of every 3 years, local authorities need to be satisfied that existing Blue Badge holders continue to reside in the same local authority area and still meet the eligibility criteria. This helps to ensure that the Blue Badge, an extremely valuable concession, is protected from misuse and fraud.
Transport Scotland recommends that applicants who have previously been assessed by a regulated healthcare professional and have been deemed as requiring no further assessment for future badge applications should be able to experience a quicker and easier process when they come to re-apply for a blue badge.
It is recommended that the local authority or regulated healthcare professional should make eligible applicants aware of their ‘not for reassessment’ status after the assessment process has been completed. Following this process, eligible applicants can reapply by completing the ‘Not for Reassessment’ (NFR) application form issued by their local authority.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the accessibility of the Blue Badge application process, and, if so, what the outcomes were.
Answer
In 2022-23, Transport Scotland undertook a desk-based review of each Scottish local authority’s application process. Based on the findings, Transport Scotland provided local authorities a list of recommendations, including improved signposting, considerations for applicants requesting paper applications, regular updates on estimated waiting times and publicising the consequences of Blue Badge misuse.
Transport Scotland continues to work closely with local authorities, DfT and Social Security Scotland to continually improve the online application process. More recently, this has resulted in the successful introduction of new Social Security Scotland benefits and their eligibility towards Blue Badge.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Blue Badge applications submitted to Scottish Borders Council in 2024 were (a) approved, (b) rejected and (c) referred for further assessment, based solely on the initial application form.
Answer
Transport Scotland does not hold data on rejections or referrals so would be unable to provide the proportions as requested. However, this information would be held by individual local authorities.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the rateable value threshold for business rates relief, in light of reported concerns that approximately one third of grassroots music venues in Scotland will not qualify for relief under the current £51,000 threshold.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no plans to revisit the non-domestic rates relief policies announced for 2025-26.
In recognition of the challenges faced by smaller music venues, and the crossover with parts of the hospitality sector such as pubs and nightclubs, the Scottish Budget 2025-26 announced that music venues with a capacity of up to 1,500 will be eligible for the new 40% hospitality relief from 1 April 2025 where the property meets the other eligibility criteria for this relief, including the £51,000 rateable value threshold which aligns with the threshold for the Basic Property Rate. We estimate that up to 13,000 properties in Scotland could benefit from hospitality reliefs this year.
In addition to hospitality reliefs, the package of reliefs available in 2025-26 also includes the Small Business Bonus Scheme which remains the most generous relief of its kind in the UK. Around half of the properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are expected to be eligible for 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme relief this year.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is a statutory requirement for local authorities to collaborate with (a) healthcare professionals and (b) independent mobility assessors in the administration of the Blue Badge scheme.
Answer
While there is no statutory requirement, the decision on whether an applicant should have further assessment is a decision for the local authority to make. Blue badge administrators may use desk-based screening tools to inform decisions and identify which applicants should be referred to regulated health care professionals.
Transport Scotland considers it good practice for local authorities to refer applicants for an independent mobility assessment, if that is required to make a clear and robust decision on eligibility.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Dorothy Bain on 5 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to expand the use of non-invasive post-mortem technologies, such as CT scanners, for non-suspicious deaths.
Answer
COPFS rely on pathology providers as the medical experts to determine the nature and extent of the examination required to establish a cause of death.
COPFS would support any proposals where evidence is provided that a particular approach would fully meet the requirements of our investigation in a timely and cost-effective manner, whilst reducing distress to families from the post mortem examination process.
The potential further use of CT scanners has formed part of regular discussions with the current pathology providers. From May 2025, Glasgow University Pathology and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board will undertake a service development pilot to investigate the potential benefits of incorporating CT scanning in Procurator Fiscal-instructed post mortem examinations taking place at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Mortuary in Glasgow. The findings of the pilot will be considered by COPFS as part of its future planning.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Dorothy Bain on 5 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider removing non-suspicious deaths from the remit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Answer
COPFS understands the impact that the loss of a loved one can have on bereaved families.
The Procurator Fiscal will investigate every death reported to us thoroughly and independently to establish what happened and consider whether criminal proceedings or a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) would be appropriate.
It is a strength of the Scottish system, which reflects a common European model, that death investigations are undertaken by a public prosecutor. That investigation may, depending on the circumstances, disclose a basis for criminal proceedings.
More than 13,000 deaths are reported to COPFS each year. In 2024-25, 98% of deaths where no investigation was required were closed within 6 weeks and 71% where further investigation was required were concluded within 12 weeks.
COPFS has significantly reformed its processes in recent years to improve the quality of death investigations and reduce the time taken to investigate deaths and bring FAIs to court. We are committed to identifying further improvements that can be made. A Death Investigations Improvement Board has been established to oversee all ongoing pieces of work and new proposals to achieve greater public confidence, improve the service delivered to bereaved relatives and reduce the journey time for concluding investigations.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it will meet with the Equality and Human Rights Commission regarding its recently published consultation on updating the Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, following the recent Supreme Court ruling.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025
