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: S5O-04054

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce child and adolescent mental health services waiting times.

Question reference: S5W-26886

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the 100% business rates relief for day nurseries will continue after 2020-21.

The Scottish Government introduced a new 100 per cent non-domestic rates relief from 1 April 2018 for all day nursery premises, used wholly or mainly for that purpose, in the public, private and charitable sectors. This is one of a series of actions to support private and third sector early learning and childcare (ELC) providers as set out in our Delivery Support Plan for Funded Providers. The current rates relief for day nurseries is due to run until March 2021.

The Scottish Government accepted the recommendation from the independent Barclay Review of non-domestic rates to evaluate the day nursery relief after 3 years to ensure that the benefits of the relief have been felt, including by parents and carers. We will consider the findings of this evaluation carefully in any final decision on the long term future of the relief.

At Stage 2 of the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill, Conservative, Green and Labour MSPs on the Local Government and Communities Committee supported an amendment lodged by Andy Wightman, part of which would repeal the Scottish Government's power to create non-domestic rates reliefs through secondary legislation. Upon commencement, this would also abolish a number of existing reliefs including Day Nursery Relief. The Government does not support this amendment.

The Delivery Support Plan for Funded Providers can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/delivery-support-plan-early-learning-childcare-providers/ .

Question reference: S5O-03955

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action that it is taking to reduce loneliness among older people.

Question reference: S5O-03886

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Prison Service encourages businesses to give prisoners the opportunity of employment on release.

Question reference: S5O-03878

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Forth Valley to discuss the board’s performance.

Question reference: S5O-03697

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the expansion to 1,140 hours of funded childcare.

Question reference: S5O-03666

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 10 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of antisocial behaviour incidents.

Evidence on antisocial behaviour points towards a long-term, sustained reduction in Scotland. For example the nationally representative Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows that the percentage of adults who think people behave in an antisocial manner in their local area has fallen from 46% in 2008/9 to 29% in 2017/18. National figures from the Scottish Household Survey highlighted that 95% of people in Scotland rate their neighbourhoods as ‘very’ or ‘fairly good’ which positively reflects the community policing approach being taken by Police Scotland across the country.

We remain committed to ensuring police and local authorities have the powers and resources to further reduce antisocial behaviour, including investing in prevention and early intervention, and engage with them on a regular basis to discuss this issue. We will now be examining the Scottish Household Survey results in detail to look at what we can learn to improve the lives of communities across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-25052

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether the revenue funding allocated to local authorities for the expansion of funded childcare to 1,140 hours includes provision for the reported increases of up to 50% in wage costs since 2016 in private, voluntary and independent sector settings.

The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed a multi-year funding package which includes funding to enable the payment of sustainable rates to funded providers delivering the funded entitlement from August 2020 – including funding to enable payment of at least the real Living Wage to all childcare workers delivering the funded entitlement.

In April 2019 we published Funding Follows the Child and the National Standard for Early Learning and Childcare Providers: Guidance for Setting Sustainable Rates from August 2020 to support local authorities to set a sustainable local rate for the delivery of the funded hours from the full national roll-out of 1140 hours of funded ELC entitlement from August 2020.

Question reference: S5W-25050

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that private, voluntary and independent childcare providers, in partnership with local authorities to deliver funded childcare, receive their payments within a consistent and sustainable timeline.

Prompt and efficient payment to funded providers is an important aspect of the Funding Follows the Child approach which will be introduced in August 2020. As set out in Funding Follows the Child and the National Standard for Early Learning and Childcare Providers Operating Guidance it is vital that funded providers are paid promptly and efficiently by local authorities for the delivery of the funded hours, in order that their cash flows are healthy and to support overall business sustainability.

Many local authorities have already adopted prompt payment practices, and we will continue to encourage authorities to share these examples of good practice with others to ensure that all funded providers receive payments for delivering funded early learning and childcare in a prompt and efficient manner.

The Operating Guidance sets an expectation that local authorities should pay a funded provider within 30 days of the start of term and preferably sooner.

The timing of payment should be stipulated in the agreement between the local authority and the funded provider or in the general conditions governing terms of business.

We expect local authorities to work with their funded providers, where payment difficulties arise, to resolve matters timeously to ensure that any funded provider does not suffer unduly as a result of a late payment for delivery of the funded hours.

Question reference: S5W-25051

Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some partner providers that deliver funded childcare, in partnership with local authorities, are receiving payments several months after delivering the entitlement.